Proper Group recently announced that it is forming its PGM medical business unit to address medical supply challenges that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Warren, Mich.-based company plans to develop and manufacture products and components for life-saving medical equipment. The company is currently a manufacturer of complex tooling and high-performance polymer products for the automotive, lighting and industrial industries.

Proper Group is responsible for building tools and production of key components as part of a program led by General Motors and Ventec Life Systems, which recently announced a manufacturing collaboration to increase the production of ventilators.

Production is expected to start as soon as April 24 at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Warren, Mich. and Pulaski, Tenn.

“I am tremendously proud of our team’s commitment to helping fulfill the immense need for critical medical equipment. Within one week, the team was able to take a concept to production. It is very rewarding to be able to contribute to the fight against COVID-19,” manufacturing president Michael Mualem said in a news release.

Proper Group also said it would begin production of face shields for the Henry Ford Health System. The company said it would produce over 40,000 shields in the next three weeks. The masks will go to Henry Ford Hospitals in the Michigan cities of Detroit, Macomb, Wyandotte, Jackson and West Bloomfield.

Proper Group has really stepped up to assist Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) with providing quality PPE for our front-line staff, instantly making an impact against this current global pandemic. The flexibility and eagerness to work with us to rapidly evolve a quality prototype has been nothing short of amazing. They exemplify ‘The Detroit Innovative Attitude’ for rising to the occasion that the world has always known and expects during a crisis,” Henry Ford Innovation Institute education manager Vikas Relan said.