The Covid-19 crisis has affected each and every one of us in one form or another. NHS staff, and essential workers on the frontline, are exposed on a daily basis while the majority of the country have been following government guidelines and staying at home. Dwindling supplies of PPE have been at the forefront of the governments initiative to protect the NHS and the most vulnerable.

With the demand for PPE among the NHS community growing on a daily basis, Suffolk based FRP manufacturer Broadwater Mouldings have turned over their 3D printer to producing protective shield frames. This initiative has been coordinated by BT at Adastral Park in Suffolk who, with the help of other local businesses, have delivered over 4700 protective shields to local Hospitals, GP practices and Care Homes.

Usually reserved for producing prototypes and machine parts, their Ultimaker S5 printer is capable of producing 15 frames per day from ABS strand. Carl Reddington, Project Engineering Manager said “Broadwater Mouldings produce high quality, precision FRP parts for medical equipment on a daily basis. Our 3D printer has been a reliable and essential tool for development and maintenance, so we were happy to be able to utilise this further, in order to help the PPE cause. I was pleased to deliver our first consignment of 60 to BT, and will continue round-the-clock production until we run out of material”.

Broadwater Mouldings Ltd was established in 1975 and is a subsidiary of the Betts Group of companies, which employs over 180 people. The company specialises in moulding high quality fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) and fabricating finished assembled FRP components for a diverse portfolio of customers in the UK, Europe and worldwide.

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