Sharp to produce face masks in LCD factory cleanrooms

Sharp will use cleanrooms at a Japanese LCD factory to produce face masks. Production will start after a call from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for companies to make more face masks.

Sharp uses cleanrooms at its LCD factory in Mie Prefecture, where it will initially start up three production lines for face masks. Production will start in mid-March and then 150,000 face masks must roll off the assembly line every day, Nikkei writes. Ultimately, the initiation should expand to ten production lines, for 500,000 masks produced daily.

Sharp is part of Foxconn, aka Hon Hai Precision Industry. That Chinese company set up its own face mask production lines earlier this month to supply its employees with sufficient stock. Due to the high demand for face masks due to the new coronavirus, shortages are emerging. China was responsible for 70 percent of Japan’s supply of face masks, but that supply has been halted due to increased demand in China itself.