Swedish Radio interviewed Peter Johnsson, CEO and one of the founders of mShield, about the availability of protective equipment in Sweden. Is there a preparedness in Sweden to cope with the availability of good protective equipment?
Listen to the interview here!
In just a few weeks, the idea was taken from sketch to prototype and production in Markaryd, Småland. Now, the Swedish company mShield has started production of protective visors for Region Skåne and more orders are expected.
The newly founded company mShield has just started manufacturing high quality protective visors in Markaryd and Helsingborg. The first customer, Region Skåne, ordered more than half a million copies.
Behind the venture are entrepreneurs Peter Johnsson and Håkan Liljekvist in Helsingborg, both of whom have extensive experience in the plastics industry.
- We decided to develop our own tool and mould protective visors because it is extremely important to produce a safe product, says Håkan Liljekvist.
The protective visor, with the product name mVisor 7001, is made of polycarbonate, a transparent thermoplastic with exceptional durability. It also allows the visor to be stored and reused after disinfection.
- The design process has been carried out in close cooperation with healthcare professionals who have told us how the visors should look for the right function, and work is currently underway to get them CE-certified," says Peter Johnsson.
Injection moulding takes place at the company's own factory in Markaryd, Småland, while assembly is carried out in Helsingborg. The raw material, polycarbonate granulate, is readily available.
- For us it was important to keep the production here in Sweden in order to have control over the entire production process, being dependent on subcontractors does not work at the moment. We want to be able to guarantee both quality and delivery," says Håkan Liljekvist.
Region Skåne's order for more than half a million visors is the company's first delivery, but there is great interest in several areas. Håkan Liljekvist and Peter Johnsson predict a growing market for PPE, personal protection equipment, also among private customers.
- It's not just the healthcare sector that needs protective equipment, we're seeing a skyrocketing need in areas such as elderly care, public transport and many service jobs. We also see a change in behaviour that will affect both supply and demand," says Håkan Liljekvist.
- This is something we must take seriously, Sweden needs to build up its own industry for protective equipment and it feels good to be able to contribute, says Peter Johnsson.
For more information, please contact:
Peter Johnsson, 0705-651843, peter@mshield.se
Håkan Liljekvist, 0733-552247, hakan@mshield.se
