9. DENSO Associates: Always Ready to Jump In and Help
In Times of Potential Danger, Community Officials Praise DMTN’s Response
Two dangerous and totally different events showcased DENSO Manufacturing Tennesseee’s (DMTN) safety commitment to its associates and community…and illuminated the admiration held by local officials for the plant’s strong associate base, confident leadership and rapid action.
Call it… something in the air.
July 1, 2015: Hot Summer Night: Possible Toxic Fumes During Train Derailment
The first situation occurred around 11:50 p.m. July 1, 2015, when a fiery train derailment behind DMTN Building 203 highlighted DENSO’s strong relationship with local authorities and on-site associate and leadership actions in protecting everyone from potential toxic fumes.
March 2020: Shielding Medical Workers from COVID Airborne Risks
The second occurrence was at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, when DMTN’s thoughtful design and swift manufacture of 80,000 face shields helped protect local hospital, essential medical workers and others from airborne dangers posed by the COVID 19 virus.
2020: A Leap of Faith
Five years later, a very different scenario of airborne dangers rallied scores of DMTN associates to shield their communities from the COVID-19 virus.
Around March 20, 2020, the spreading threat of COVID-19 idled the auto industry. Britt Autry, DENSO vice president of quality for the South Sub-Region, was one of hundreds of DENSO associates from various global locations who joined to help medical providers battle the virus.
“Locally, we contacted Blount Memorial Hospital in Maryville to see how we could help. We held an emergency meeting Sunday, March 22, with 15 engineers to brainstorm COVID-19 support ideas, and we sketched a face shield on the whiteboard,” he said.
The next day, the group developed its first face shield prototype and began working back and forth with hospital staff on their suggested changes. Four days later, after a half dozen modifications from the hospital, the DENSO group sent 30 prototypes back to the medical facility for “road tests.”
DMTN’s Custom Design Receives Thumbs Up
Autry said medical workers gave feedback that DMTN’s shield “was better than anything on the market,” partly because their custom design wrapped the shield around the wearer’s ears, (which is what the hospital had said it needed). With that “thumbs up,” the DMTN group raced to do what they do best: manufacture quality products.
They mobilized all campus 3D printers for 24/7 running, then quickly built an injection-molding and stamping die to ramp up production to more than 3,000 shields daily by April 8. Autry said they worked with volunteers through that entire Easter weekend.
Eventually, they supplied approximately 80,000 face shields to essential workers in hospitals, physicians’ offices, nursing homes, police and fire departments, and DENSO’s own manufacturing associates within 13 states and some locations in Japan, Canada, and Mexico.
“The workforce was idled at the time, and it was a good use of our folks. But more than that, this activity spoke to the heart of ‘DENSO Spirit,’ which is the culture we try to build here,” Autry said. “It centers on using foresight, credibility, and collaboration.”
Autry said he knows firsthand that those face shields still are being used in some Maryville medical offices. “Recently, I was at a regular checkup and saw one of our face shields with the DENSO logo on the visor.”
“It makes me proud to work for a company so committed to activities like this. But we're not stopping there. We’re continuously studying this project to understand the strong collaborative motivation and challenging spirit, with thoughts to bring it into our daily jobs,” he said.