The BMZ Group, an international company headquartered in Germany, produces Li-ion batteries for everything from power tools to stationary storage to industrial vehicles such as forklifts.

Now the company is seeing a surge in demand for its batteries from makers of a wide variety of medical equipment, especially ventilators. In some cases, the volume of inquiries has risen by 50%. The company plans to ramp up production of batteries in response.

“We are all going through an unplanned stress test at the moment,” said founder and CEO Sven Bauer. “We didn’t hesitate for a moment when we received a distressed call from manufacturers of urgently needed ventilators. We are in the fortunate situation of having access to an extensive inventory, allowing us to increase the number of batteries we produce for use in medical technology. BMZ immediately assembled a team to ramp up production.”

Meanwhile, automakers, including GM, Ford and Tesla, are looking into the possibility of sending workers back to recently idled plants to make ventilators. “We are looking at ways we could help during this crisis, including potentially supporting production of medical equipment such as ventilators,” a GM spokeswoman told The Guardian.

Source: BMZ Group