BRC jumps in to help on GM ventilator project

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—BRC Rubber & Plastics Inc. is used to rapidly turning around orders for customers, but the Indiana company's efforts to create multiple parts for General Motor Co.'s COVID-19 ventilator project is even beyond what the company normally does.

For BRC, declining to help with GM's efforts to build thousands of ventilators to help battle COVID-19 was never a consideration.

The Fort Wayne-based based maker of rubber, silicone and plastic parts is churning out six different parts at its Churubusco, Ind., facility that are being used in the construction of ventilators at a GM site in nearby Kokomo, Ind.

It was in early April that GM put out the call for interested suppliers to help the automotive company ramp up production of ventilators originally manufactured by Ventec Life Systems. In less than a day, BRC had identified which parts it could re-create and supply to the emergency project.

Initially awarded five different silicone parts, a sixth was added within a week, and BRC quickly went to work figuring out how to bring its portion of the project together.

Making parts for the automotive industry is BRC's bread and butter, and a close relationship with GM convinced the company it needed to step up and do whatever was needed to help with the ventilator effort dubbed Project V.

"It's a pride. It's a humanitarian effort. 'No' is not an option. It's got to be done and we're going to do it," said Scott Wellman, director of sales and marketing at BRC.

With that kind of attitude, it was clear from the beginning that this was not going to be a typical project. There was no consideration of details like bidding and profit margins, he said. Even now, the company still has to sort out the financial details.

"Our executive management fully supported knowing going into this program that they were going to spend a lot," Wellman said. "There were no cost models put together. No quotes sent to the customer. The customer said, 'I need this. I need it now. … Will you participate?' "

BRC readily admits it needed help to pull off a project like this.

"It could not have been done without the efforts of our outside supply partners, the tooling shops, the raw material suppliers and the teamwork of all of our internal people," Wellman said. "In less than two weeks, and in some cases just in a matter of days, we had all six of those part numbers tooled up."

Normal lead times, he explained, typically range from six to eight weeks.

"All of these suppliers have just moved mountains to be able to enable the production of ventilators. It's really been this tremendous call to action and dedication of so many people to make this happen. On the GM team supported by the UAW, on the Ventec team, the supply base. It's truly been incredible," GM CEO Mary Barra told CBS Evening News.

More than 90 Tier 1 suppliers are involved in the project, providing some 700 parts needed to make the ventilators.

BRC is both a Tier 1 and 2 supplier to General Motors, meaning they manufacture parts that go directly to the company as well as parts that go to other companies that then supply the vehicle maker.

It's through this existing relationship that the company found itself on GM's Friday night telephone call with suppliers in late March, seeking help with the ventilator project. Interested firms had just until Saturday morning to filter through parts files and determine whether they wanted to be part of the effort.

With COVID-19 rapidly spreading and an uncertain future, the clock was ticking. And BRC was onboard.

Parts being created by BRC are being used to help build ventilators originally designed and constructed by Ventec of Bothell, Wash. When it became apparent that there was a need for many more ventilators than Ventec could build on its own, that company partnered with General Motors to seriously ramp up production in Indiana.

"Nothing is impossible for the combined power of American innovation and American workers. Together, Ventec and GM worked as one team, with one mission to deliver critical care ventilators in one month," Ventec CEO Chris Kiple said in a statement when Vice President Mike Pence recently visited the Kokomo facility.

But that also meant that GM had to develop its own parts supply chain to produce up to 200,000 ventilators in Indiana in an effort to complement Ventec's existing operations.

"A miracle of everyone pulling together, working tirelessly," Wellman said. "We wanted to be part of that. We asked our extended supply base to be part of it. Everyone stood tall and did what they had to do."

"We're used to doing rapid turnaround. Be it two weeks or a matter of days, that was a new challenge. But we knew we could do it," he said. "There's a sense of pride. … This saves lives."