1/6 Against looming shortages of ventilators, masks and medical tests, US manufacturers have been asked to retool and ramp up production. It’s an echo of WW2, when manufacturers helped with the war effort. Here, Douglas Aircraft turned out warplanes. 
2/6 In a radio broadcast on Dec. 29, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spelled it out. (Listen here: bit.ly/2QO22o0)
3/6 The auto industry in particular was transformed. Companies like Ford and GM built planes, tanks, weapons, and munitions. This Ford plant in Willow Run, Mich., produced a B-24 bomber per hour.
4/6 Today, President Trump is demanding that manufacturers step up production of medical supplies immediately.
5/6 Companies like @GM and @Ford had closed factories for #coronavirus cleaning and industry experts say retooling factories could take some time. “It’s not like you go from Rangers [small pickups] one day to ventilators the next,” a Ford spokesman said.
6/6 GM and Ventec Life Systems said they would begin shipping ventilators as soon as next month. GM said it would also manufacture up to 50,000 surgical masks a day within two weeks. An announcement said GM was “donating its resources at cost.”
7/7 In a news release, GM said: “This employee-led initiative was created, planned and approved in about 48 hours.”
