Mastercam Reseller OptiPro Makes Face Shields for Nursing Homes

Like many businesses these days, OptiPro is learning on-the-fly how to deal with the pandemic. As a certified Mastercam Reseller, OptiPro usually has staff in its shop or visiting customers at their sites. Now, its workforce is mainly working from home. Sales manager, Lynda Bechtold, admitted that the change has been jarring. “We typically have classroom trainings three weeks out of a month, and we do a lot of onsite visits. We miss that interaction.”

The people at OptiPro refuse to let the Coronavirus crisis keep them down, though. The company refocused its efforts to helping those in need almost as soon as the pandemic broke out.

OptiPro staff working on Face Shields

During the first week of the pandemic, an OptiPro employee came forward to explain the dire need for face shields at nursing homes, establishments that sometimes are overlooked in discussions of pandemic relief. His wife is a nurse manager at a local skilled nursing home with cases of COVID-19 and shared how her staff required face shields to protect themselves and residents. OptiPro stepped up immediately and began creating the masks.

A local company, PACTIV, donated the polyester PET film for the project, and OptiPro designed and manufactured the shields. The crew at OptiPro used Mastercam to produce the shields. Once the form was drawn in Solids, engineers used the Nesting feature to minimize the amount of wasted space in the material and maximize the number of shields made from a defined area.

Bechtold shared, “We sandwich the film in between a fiber board that is screwed together. Once they come off the waterjet, various employees that are available while social distancing help wipe them clean.” OptiPro was able to donate more than 1,200 face shields.

As of May 8, 2020, OptiPro had been approached by three more nursing homes looking to acquire face shields. They were able to fill these orders—around 500-800 shields at a time—quickly and efficiently.

Bechtold shared, “We are happy that we can help with the safety of the healthcare workers, especially the aides who are taking care of our elderly who are not able to have visits from family. They are our inspiration. Our day to day is easy in comparison.”

OptiPro’s goal is to continue to donate shields as long as they can, until the need is gone. If your business, like OptiPro, has stepped up in the fight against the coronavirus, please share a quick note about what you are doing to make a difference in the comments section.

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