Products like facemasks, respirators, and other medical equipment or their critical components are often produced outside Europe for cost reasons. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, the lack of European production led to a severe shortage of these products not only among citizens but also – and even more seriously – in health care. It is likely that the production of such equipment will again move outside Europe when the situation normalizes – so a new kind of concept is needed to avoid a shortage of critical products in future crisis situations.    

To solve the problem, the European consortium RESERVIST aims to establish ‘reservist cells’ that, in times of crises, can be activated to switch to manufacturing medical products and services to meet sudden demand spikes. Such a ‘reservist cell’ will consist of a backbone network of core companies for manufacturing and testing, an extended network for further capacities (such as packaging or distribution), a digital coordination platform, and a pool of experts from the companies in the network. These cells will become operational in the event of an emergency or pandemic.