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Design and Preparation of Mass Production System for Protective Items in the European Union for the Case of Serious Pandemics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

Tareq Babaqi Open the ORCID record for Tareq Babaqi [Opens in a new window] ,
Suhad R. Al-Natoor  and
Béla Vizvári Open the ORCID record for Béla Vizvári [Opens in a new window]
Tareq Babaqi*
Affiliation:
Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
Suhad R. Al-Natoor
Affiliation:
Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, TRNC, Turkey
Béla Vizvári
Affiliation:
Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, TRNC, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Taraq Babaqi, Email: ie.tareq@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

The European Union (EU) responded to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a long time lag. The response was made on the level of the member states. There was no institution at the EU level that could assist the member states. Italy but other states as well, needed Chinese help. This highlights 2 points. First, the EU is vulnerable. Second, eastern Asia reacted faster to the new demand on the market and introduced effective technology for the mask production. A robust method is needed to overcome the shortage of protective items in the future.

Methods:

This method is based on producing the demand within the EU states as the first priority to reduce the reliance from external sources like China that can be competitive and unreliable. This research suggests preventive measures that can make the EU safer. A system for the production of simple protective items is designed.

Results:

A relatively small number of factories with high capacities are enough to serve the whole EU in a robust way. The calculation of the optimal selection of locations is fast and easy.

Conclusions:

The suggested system will make the EU more secure during pandemics. The presented calculations show that the establishment of the system is feasible.

Keywords

COVID-19pandemicsmasksprotectionproduction
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e164
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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