TouchPoint Medical Collaborates with Southco to Rapidly Produce Face Shields for Personal Protective Use
ODESSA, Fla. – JUNE 22, 2020 – TouchPoint Medical (Touchpoint) announced that it has collaborated with Southco, Inc., a sister company of TouchPoint Medical under TouchPoint Inc.– an engineered solutions manufacturer and 3D printing specialist – to rapidly launch and scale up production of new face shields. The face shields are Touchpoint’s first consumable product and are designed and manufactured by Southco. They are classified as personal protective equipment (PPE) and are available in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Scandinavian markets.
Prior to this project, Southco produced headbands – a core design component of face shields – and donated them to end users via industry networks. Touchpoint reached out to Southco in the hopes of providing additional face shields to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). During process discovery, Southco identified an opportunity to rapidly accelerate production of headbands. By transitioning from automated 3D printing to customized injection molding by a team of specialists, Southco reduced production time by 66%. Working closely with compliance and regulatory teams, Southco and Touchpoint were able to achieve regulatory approval* and launch readiness in a matter of weeks.
“TouchPoint is committed to serving the global health community however it can, and the COVID-19 pandemic has given our team a challenge we must rise to,” said Pascal Testeil, President of TouchPoint Medical. “In order to meet that challenge, our team remained flexible and addressed unmet needs as they arose. The launch of this new product offering is both a testament to that endeavor and the power of positive collaboration.”
“Southco is defined by a can-do attitude, and opportunities like this bring out the best in our organization,” said Phil Kempson, Managing Director of Southco Manufacturing Ltd. “Beyond providing us a chance to make a positive impact in the fight against COVID-19, this experience will help us reach a key organizational goal: to shorten development cycles without sacrificing quality or taking undue risks. Both Southco and Touchpoint exhibited a clear vision and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished using our distinct and complimentary skillsets.”
*Conforms with EU Regulation 2016/425 the Personal Protective Equipment Regulation, following Technical Standard BS EN 166:2002.This product has been authorized by the FDA under an EUA for use by healthcare providers as personal protective equipment. It has not been FDA cleared or approved.