HP Activates Partners To Support ShieldsUp

HP New Zealand and its partners mobilise their 3D printers to support not-for-profit ShieldsUp and deliver 13,000 face shields to frontline New Zealand healthcare workers

HP New Zealand today announced that it is collaborating with ShieldsUp, a not-for-profit community organisation producing plastic face shields, which has delivered over 13,000 face shields to New Zealand healthcare workers fighting COVID-19.

HP has mobilised its partners, Emirates Team New Zealand and Rodin Cars, to boost the ShieldsUp network by offering their HP 3D printers to print components for the shields, accelerating the existing production levels of the ShieldsUp community.

Oliver Hill, HP New Zealand’s Country Manager says, “Our partners Emirates Team New Zealand and Rodin Cars have generously agreed to work alongside HP to support ShieldsUp. Together, we have been committed to getting more face shields into the hands of New Zealand healthcare workers more quickly.

“We greatly appreciate the selfless commitment healthcare workers make every day by going into work and supporting Kiwis during this unprecedented time. We hope that by assisting the ShieldsUp community with their production levels, we can help more healthcare workers, and their families, feel a little more confident when on the frontline. It’s a team effort and we’re proud to be part of this team.”

Since launching in late March ShieldsUp has received more than 16,000 requests for face shields from healthcare workers across New Zealand and that number continues to grow daily. These include GPs, after hours medical clinics, pharmacies, community health workers as well as many others. Initially, the face shields were produced solely by a network of over 500 3D printer enthusiasts and volunteers from around New Zealand, many of whom are home based.

However, with demand growing rapidly HP New Zealand and its partners joined the ShieldsUp community to provide materials needed to make the shields and increase production levels.

Matt Carter, ShieldsUp medical consultant says, “With HP and its partners working alongside our 500 strong volunteer community, we have been able to significantly increase our daily production and achieve our objective of delivering critical protection to our frontline medical and emergency workers.

“We are continuing to see high demand for face shields within the health sector, which we are now assessing alongside new requests from other industries as they consider how they can protect their staff as workplaces look to re-open under alert level three.”

HP and its partners are pleased to see the face shields they have produced being distributed this week. By 3D printing the components on commercial machines this allows for consistent and durable products to be produced at speed by HP’s partners.

“We are delighted to help ShieldsUp, which is a great example of kiwi innovation and community spirit in action,” says Grant Dalton, Emirates Team New Zealand CEO. “As a team we know the immense value of support from New Zealand when you really need it, so to do our small bit to help the frontline healthcare workers is really an honour.”

“Our team is very proud to be part of the ShieldsUp community and to be able to support frontline workers by utilising our HP 3D printer to assist in the delivery of these much-needed shields,” adds David Dicker, founder of Rodin Cars and CEO of Dicker Data.

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