BNN Bloomberg: Kosher Crisis Hits $19 Billion Market With Rabbis Stuck at Home. “There’s a lot more to the kosher food industry than Hebrew National hot dogs and Manischewitz wine. Kosher food was a $19.1 billion industry in 2018, according to Allied Market Research, which projects it will grow to $25.6 billion by 2026…. While China doesn’t have many Jews, it’s nonetheless an important part of the kosher food industry: Chinese factories produce canned fruit and other packaged goods and also play a critical role in the production of artificial flavorings, amino acids, and other ingredients that make their way into the diets of observant Jews.”
manufacturing
DuurZaam Nieuws: Database reveals worst polluters in Europe
DuurZaam Nieuws : Database reveals worst polluters in Europe. “The Industrial Plant Data Viewer allows users to access and compare data from over 3,000 large combustion plants across the EU, and check whether they are doing their job to prevent pollution. It was launched by the European Environmental Bureau to help fill the dramatic transparency gap in EU industrial emissions reporting.”
Washington Post: The U.S. forced major manufacturers to build ventilators. Now they’re piling up unused in a strategic reserve.
Washington Post: The U.S. forced major manufacturers to build ventilators. Now they’re piling up unused in a strategic reserve.. “Months into a $3 billion U.S. effort to manufacture tens of thousands of ventilators to stave off coronavirus deaths, the government stockpile is facing a glut. General Motors and Ford by early May began delivering the first ventilators they scrambled to manufacture, in part compelled by President Trump’s invocation of the federal Defense Production Act. General Electric, Philips and other manufacturers’ efforts have delivered more than 94,000 of them to the stockpile, and General Motors plans to soon hand over its business to a counterpart.”
RTE: IEA launches database of companies producing PPE
RTE: IEA launches database of companies producing PPE. “The Irish Exporters Association has launched a database of companies producing personal protective equipment. The initiative is led by the Chair of the IEA’s Western Regional Network Group, Dr John Carr.”
NIST: How Automation and AI May Help Level the Playing Field for Women in Manufacturing
NIST: How Automation and AI May Help Level the Playing Field for Women in Manufacturing. “Women make up about 29 percent of the manufacturing workforce despite filling 47 percent of the positions in the overall workforce, according to the Manufacturing Institute. While there have been periods of growth and decline, the dynamic is mostly unchanged since 1970, when women held 27 percent of the manufacturing jobs. But many experts say the growing adoption of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), combined with the critical need for knowledge-based workers, will create more opportunities for women in manufacturing.”
New York Times: China Is Using Uighur Labor to Produce Face Masks
New York Times: China Is Using Uighur Labor to Produce Face Masks. “A Times video investigation identified Chinese companies using a contentious labor program for Uighurs to satisfy demand for P.P.E., some of which ended up in the United States and other countries.”
Radio Prague International: Czech Firm Switches From Car Production To Helping Make Ventilators For US
Radio Prague International: Czech Firm Switches From Car Production To Helping Make Ventilators For Us. “Czech carmakers and associated industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Faced with this challenge, one family-run firm is now drawing on its expertise to fight Covid-19 itself, helping the production of much-needed ventilators in the US.”
Exclusive: Vaccine alliance finds manufacturing capacity for 4 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines (Reuters)
Reuters: Exclusive: Vaccine alliance finds manufacturing capacity for 4 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines. “An influential foundation focused on preparation and response to epidemics that is backing nine potential coronavirus vaccines has identified manufacturers with capacity to produce four billion doses a year, the group’s top manufacturing expert told Reuters.”
The Verge: 3D Printers Are On The Front Lines Of The Covid-19 Pandemic
The Verge: 3D Printers Are On The Front Lines Of The Covid-19 Pandemic. “The US continues to struggle to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, both at a state and federal level. So DIY efforts from academics, hobbyists, manufacturing experts, and professional firms have coalesced around COVID hotspots like New York City to meet the needs of health care workers and others on the front line of the response effort. Some of these initiatives are highly organized, involving partnerships across state lines to source materials and make use of industrial-grade manufacturing facilities. Yet almost all began in the living rooms of people with access to a 3D printer and the ingenuity to put together stopgap measures as existing supply lines struggled to keep up.”
FoodDive: Tracking coronavirus closures at food and beverage factories
FoodDive: Tracking coronavirus closures at food and beverage factories. “While food and beverage manufacturers scramble to keep up with demand as consumers stock their pantries, many now must also contend with coronavirus outbreaks in their factories. The reactions are varied. Some are shutting down plants indefinitely until all workers can be tested. Others have reduced production capacity. Several have temporarily closed to deep clean their facilities and configure their spaces for greater social distancing. Food Dive is tracking the status of operations of major manufacturers’ plants as they navigate the pandemic.”
Man of Many: Nike Adapts Manufacturing to PPE Face Shields and Lenses
Man of Many: Nike Adapts Manufacturing to PPE Face Shields and Lenses. “Nike knows a thing or two about producing personal gear, so turning their attention to personal protective equipment is a natural reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. The athletic gear giant partnered with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) to start producing the personal protective equipment that frontline medical workers and others are in need of, including full-face shields and powered, air-purifying respirator lenses that can protect against the coronavirus.”
CNET: Ferrari banks on coronavirus testing and phones to restart production
CNET: Ferrari banks on coronavirus testing and phones to restart production. “The scheme starts with blood tests for workers, which works with a smartphone app. The blood tests will give workers a green light to return to work and show there’s no trace of illness. If the blood test flags a disease, workers will then receive a COVID-19 test. All the while, the app tracks those registered and lets other workers know if they’ve come in contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19. It should help isolate cases and quarantine those quickly and effectively.”
WPVI: Delaware County workers sleep at job for 28 days to make gear for health care workers
WPVI: Delaware County workers sleep at job for 28 days to make gear for health care workers. “In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, there’s a group of people sleeping at work for nearly a month to make equipment to help keep others safe. At Braskem America in Marcus Hook, workers are sleeping, eating and working at their plant for 28 days to make equipment for health care workers.”
Hartford Business: New website, grant program aim to link manufacturers with healthcare facilities in need
Hartford Business: New website, grant program aim to link manufacturers with healthcare facilities in need. “State officials in partnership with two of Connecticut’s largest business groups launched a website to match healthcare facilities seeking equipment with manufacturers looking to produce it during the COVID-19 crisis.”
Coronavirus: The US clothing firms now making gowns and gloves (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: The US clothing firms now making gowns and gloves. “In a normal year Michael Rubin’s athletic apparel factory in Pennsylvania would be ramping up for the start of baseball season, churning out team uniforms and clothing to sell to fans. Instead his company, Fanatics, has remade itself into a gown and mask manufacturer for hospitals facing shortages of protective gear as they fight the coronavirus. Fanatics isn’t alone. Thousands of companies across the US have responded to pleas for help from hospitals facing shortages of critical health supplies.”
