Faced with the urgent need for more respirators, the French government has asked a group of industrial companies led by Air Liquide, to study the possibility of increasing the production of respirators to manufacture 10,000 respirators in 50 days (between the beginning of April and mid-May).

In response, Air Liquide, Groupe PSA, Schneider Electric and Valeo have set up a Task Force composed of around 30 purchasing and industrialisation experts in order to define an action plan to increase the production of Air Liquide Medical Systems respirators, which are already used by a large number of hospitals in France and elsewhere.

To meet this production challenge, the contribution of 100 partner companies will also be sought to manufacture the 300 components that are necessary for the production of the ventilators.

In addition to its participation in the Task Force which has mobilised its engineers full-time since 22 March, Groupe PSA is directly contributing to increasing production potential.

It has created a workshop in its Poissy factory with more than fifty volunteer employees, in order to be able to start producing the central block of the system.

These elements will then be delivered to Air Liquide for assembly and final checks at its Medical Systems industrial site in Antony.

Groupe PSA will ask for volunteers at its R&D site in nearby Vélizy to join the Air Liquide factory in Antony to help boost production.