M. Holland Company uses its headquarters to manufacture medical masks using 3D printing technology.

Plastic material distribution company M. Holland Co. renovated a common area at the company's headquarters into a medical mask production room during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Northbrook, Illinois-based business is using three 3D printers to produce transparent face mask products with modified glycol filaments (PETGs), 3D Printing Technical Markets director Haleyanne Freedman said on Feb. /4 in an interview with Plastics News magazine.

“We took out the tables and other shelves and enclosed the area with plastic sheeting,” she says. "This area is cleaned every day."

Once the skin-safe mask products are printed, they are assembled by a shift of eight volunteer employees once a week. Volunteers are given full protective clothing when doing assembly work.

"The response has been amazing," said Freedman, who this year was named Plastics News's Rising Star of the Year. "We actually have more volunteers than we can use at the moment."

Volunteers attach filters and seals to the masks. The company M. Holland has started producing masks since mid-March and is now capable of making 200 pieces per week. Once completed the masks are donated to local hospitals. The first deliveries were sent to Decatur Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Illinois.