Tektronix and A2LA Partner on Ventilator Production by Reconfiguring and Accrediting Torque Tools at Kokomo, Ind. Manufacturing Plant

Tektronix has shifted its work from supporting vehicle manufacturing to assisting with ventilator production.

Tektronix announces that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the test and measurement company has partnered with accreditation body American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) to rapidly convert and accredit Tektronix for the calibration of tools to be utilized in the ventilator production setup of a plant in Kokomo, Ind. Traditionally an electronic components manufacturing plant, the Kokomo plant has shifted work to instead produce ventilators for Ventec Life Systems. Tektronix is managing the torque screwdriver tools involved in ventilator production.

Ventec Life Systems created the first and only multi-function ventilator, VOCSN, which provides five therapies in one device: ventilation, oxygen, cough, suction and nebulizer. Working in Kokomo with one of the world's top vehicle manufacturers, Ventec has created VOCSN V+Pro Emergency which will be delivered as part of an order of 30,000 critical care ventilators for the Federal Government. On April 17, 2020, the first VOCSN critical care ventilators produced in Kokomo, Ind. were delivered to hospitals in Olympia Fields and Chicago, Ill. at the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Tektronix is committed to the rapid production of these critical machines," says Ken Coughran, vice president of Sales, US Multi Vendor Service at Tektronix. "The work of test and measurement must be accurate and precise to ensure the components of these machines are faultless in order to rely on these life-saving instruments."

Assisting the ventilator production through tool documentation, inventory management, and torque tool check and maintenance, Tektronix has expanded the number of calibration events each month by over three times the traditional amount to meet the manufacturing needs of these critical machines.

To expand the lab's current accreditation with the addition of torque screwdriver capabilities to the plant's required activities, Tektronix completed a remote technical assessment by A2LA. A2LA reviewed the quality records, procedures, training records and metrology practices, while Tektronix successfully demonstrated the calibration of a torque screwdriver virtually. "The process of calibration and accreditation has also seen extensive shifts to protocol and procedure due to the COVID-19 pandemic," says Trace McInturff, VP Accreditation Services at A2LA. "Time is of the essence for these crucial ventilators, and we are proud that even among the potential constraints of virtual assessment, we completed this accreditation with confidence and ahead of schedule, and with the same level of quality that A2LA has maintained throughout our history."

"There has been a tremendous amount of partnership surrounding this initiative," adds Coughran. "We are proud to, in some small way, be contributing to the provisioning of these frontline medical professionals with the machines required to save lives."

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