As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to be felt around the world, leaders at the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) realised it would need to play a role in addressing a major impediment in the UK’s response to the virus: the shortage of hospital-grade ventilators. In response, it launched the 'Ventilator Challenge UK'. The consortium that was subsequently created comprised 33 world-leading manufacturers, including Ford, Airbus, McLaren, Siemens Healthineers, Rolls Royce and GKN Aerospace, along with key Microsoft partners including Accenture, Avanade, PTC, Content & Cloud (formally IT Labs) and ZenZero. Production would need to scale up from 50 a week to 1,500 a week or more – placing a huge stretch on existing supply chains. The consortium chose to extensively use Microsoft HoloLens 2 with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist to deliver immediate expert guidance and training from the manufacturers.
