In the fight against coronavirus, Bosch has now turned its hand to the fully automated production of face masks. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of  Bosch, launched the first special production line for face masks at the Bosch plant in Stuttgart-Feuerbach.

“Containing coronavirus is a challenge for society as a whole. By equipping our associates with masks we make ourselves, we are helping to relieve the burden on the market. Moreover, we are doing the groundwork that will enable us to safely resume operations and protect our associates,” Denner said.

Following a coordinated ramp-up that will run until the end of June, the company will make over half a million masks a day on five production lines at four locations worldwide. The lines were designed by Bosch’s special-purpose machinery unit. Bosch is making the design plans available to interested companies free of charge. Bosch has already received inquiries from over 30 companies regarding the designs of the special production line.

In addition to the lead plant for Industry 4.0 in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, where two lines are planned, mask production will be ramped up at the Bosch locations in Naganathapura, India, and Juárez, Mexico, in successive weeks. A facility at the Rexroth plant in Erbach, Germany, will round off the manufacturing network. Overall, by the end of June, the production volume of the five lines is set to exceed ten million masks a month.