As soon as news of a mysterious respiratory disease in the city of Wuhan in the People’s Republic of China started to surface in media across the world in late 2019, meetings were quickly convened at SCG Headquarters in Bang Sue in preparation despite the fact that no case was detected yet in Thailand.

When the disease was found outside China, SCG issued a warning against all work travels to China and high-risk destinations, and later when outbreaks in Thailand began to intensify, SCG introduced internal preventive measures for employees in all areas to ensure business continuity despite lockdowns and border restrictions. As a result, SCG was able to navigate through every wave of the pandemic in 2020 all the way to the second year of the pandemic in 2021.

However, even in the face of obstacles and limitations, the product development teams of all SCG’s core businesses did not choose to sit idly by but came together promptly to develop various innovations to support medical professionals who were in the race against the increasingly severe outbreaks. Thanks to its innovation expertise and readiness accumulated through the years, SCG was able to quickly produce and deliver assistance to healthcare professionals who were risking their lives battling the coronavirus tirelessly at the frontline in moments of crisis.

Innovations at the Screening Points Modular Screening & Swap Unit Monitoring the outbreaks closely, SCG recognized the difficulty of screening patients and the hazards that the medical professionals were exposed to. To address this urgent problem, the product development department of Cement- Building Materials Business began approaching doctors in various hospitals to identify their needs. Leveraging their expertise in engineering and existing experience in construction, especially from when they had previously worked with doctors to develop a ventilation system for a dust-free house and an ionizer that could kill airborne bacteria and viruses, the team was able to quickly invent a modular screening unit and a modular swab unit.

These units allowed a RT-PCR swab test to be administered through the wall, with the medical SCG’s Innovations in the Time of Crisis Against COVID-19 professional inside the positive pressure chamber, which prevented an inflow of air from outside could may carry pathogens, thus ensuring safety and minimizing direct contact with the patient, which in turn reduced the need for PPE suits that were becoming scarce at the time.

Thanks to SCG’s existing innovation, it took only seven days for these inventions to be manufactured and only a few days to be installed in hospitals, thus helping them to respond to the crisis in a timely fashion.

In the initial phase, the inventions were installed in four hospitals, and subsequently, with financial support from the Chaipattana Foundation and grants from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua, SCG was able to expand the production capacity and distribute more units to hospitals upcountry.

A total of 30 modular swab units were donated to hospitals in different regions, with the Cement-Building Materials Business team coordinating with each area.

Each modular unit was produced as a “box” in a manufacturing facility in Nong Khae District in Saraburi, which was then transported to the installation site and then laid with durable easy-to-clean vinyl flooring and outfitted with an air conditioning system and a communication system that enabled the medical professionals inside and the patient to talk through the wall.

In 2020-2021, a total of 34 modular screening units and swab units were produced and distributed nationwide.

Innovations at the Frontline Mobile Isolation Unit

Chemicals Business also stepped in to help doctors conduct screening tests safely.

In the past, Chemicals Business’ solution development team had worked with doctors in various hospitals to invent new medical products.

Chemicals Business team set out by visiting doctors in hospitals and collecting data on their requirements and the problems they were facing in order to invent new tools that would help them handle this new mysterious disease safely while they were working on the frontline and racing against time. Their effort resulted in the development of mobile isolation units which used different air pressure to separate the patient and doctor zones.

The key invention was the negative/positive pressure isolation chamber, which answered the growing needs for screening points and testing sites outside hospitals.

The lightweight isolation chamber unit can be folded in half and is equipped with wheels for easy transportation. Each unit contains three testing chambers outfitted with a filtration system and can be pressurized either positively (when doctors operate inside the unit and have to administer tests to a large number of patients) or negatively (ideal when the patient is inside as the air flows into the room and prevents the germs from flowing out). The isolation chamber is also equipped with HEPA filters, which can screen out PM 2.5 and viruses.

The harder challenge was the transfer of patients under investigation (PUIs), which could also expose healthcare workers to risks.

To address this challenge, a patient isolation capsule was invented. The capsule features a bed sealed off with an aluminum alloy frame fitted with clear PVC panels. The negative pressure causes the air to flow into the capsule, which is then pumped out through filters. After the first trial run, adjustments were promptly made once it was found that additional openings and slots were needed for medical equipment, an IV stand, and a respirator. The isolation capsule can operate for five consecutive hours, and SCG Foundation was responsible for distributing these capsule units to areas where they were needed.

Also invented was the small patient isolation capsule for CT scan to service the patient who need to undergo Pulmonary Function Testing. It was designed to be made completely out of polymers, so that it could be used with a CT scanner and allowed quality CT images to be produced. The capsule is compatible with all CT scanners on the market, applicable for transport of patients on aircraft, and passed the standards of the aviation industry. The transportation of patients on the isolation capsule has been undergone through the cooperation with health insurance companies.

Once the patient was safely transferred to the hospital, the next problem was that the patient could not be placed in the same ward with others. As such, it was necessary to invent a negative mobile pressure isolation room, which was usually available in limited numbers in hospitals and was mostly used for performing operations. Taking advantage of its strength in polymers, Chemicals Business manufactured lightweight negative pressure isolation room that could be assembled on site. The key features were the lightweight design that allowed for fast installation and the negative pressure and filtration system that met medical standards.

Much like a tent, the isolation room features a metal frame that is covered with tarpaulin and clear PVC sheets and can be assembled or taken apart in 30 minutes. Each isolation room consists of a treatment area and an anteroom. The design also enables medical equipment to be stored inside and allows doctors to perform medical procedures through glove ports.

Currently, these different types of mobile isolation units can be found in 280 hospitals across the country.

Innovations at the Frontline SCGP Paper Beds and Modular ICU

In April 2021, a new and more severe wave of COVID-19 broke out. In response, the government began looking for venues where field hospitals could be set up to keep up with the exponential increase in the number of patients and the exploding demand for beds in various areas. SCGP (Packaging Business), which had been closely monitoring the situation and recognized the issue of bed shortages, thus quickly leveraged its expertise to develop and manufacture SCGP paper beds, which were then promptly distributed to field hospitals nationwide.

The SCGP paper bed is a CSR innovation invented by SCGP’s designers, who had prior experience designing paper products to accommodate diverse functional needs and provide relief in past crises, such as the SCGP paper toilet deployed during a flood crisis.

A number of considerations were involved in the designing of the SCGP paper bed, such as how to mass-produce the beds quickly, its weight bearing capacity, the space-saving design for transportation, easy assembly, and incineration at the end of their useful life as it was used by a patient and could be infectious.

The team’s creativity and years of experience resulted in the SCGP paper bed, which can be taken part and packed in a box for easy transportation. The bed also takes very little time to assemble and can be put together by folding and inserting the pieces into one another without any need for screws or glue. It can bear 100 kilograms when placed horizontally and has a lifespan of about three months.

Up to late 2021, SCGP donated more than 100,000 beds to field hospitals nationwide.

Due to the severity of the outbreaks in 2021, there was a critical shortage of intensive care units, which were at the frontline and available in limited numbers, as the number of red (critical) patients began to soar. Cement-Building Materials Business team realized that this was a much more challenging, pressing, and complex problem compared to isolation rooms as patients had to remain in ICUs for extended periods of time while the space had to be designed in such a way that allowed medical professionals to access the patients and support equipment to be stationed.

Therefore, the development team had to take a risk and re-enter hospitals to collect data and study how doctors worked in the ICU. Based on the data collected, the team took a mere seven days to develop the modular ICU, a 300 sq.m. unit that could accommodate 10 patient beds and could be pressurized negatively. To treat patients inside the modular ICU, doctors in PPE suits first enter the positive pressure zone and then walk through a walkway where the pressure slowly becomes more negative until they reach the patient zone. The entrance and the exit were designed to be separated and equipped with a disinfection area to prevent the germs from attaching to the PPE suit and getting carried out into the positive pressure zone.

Using the modular home construction technique employed for SCG HEIM, the modular ICU was designed in such a way that technicians could perform maintenance without entering the patient zone. In addition, as everyone was in a race against time in such moments of crisis, the modular ICU was designed so that it took only seven days to manufacture and only 10 days to install in hospitals.

For this innovation, Cement-Building Materials Business did not apply for patents and also gave hospitals the blueprint and a list of required equipment so that they could construct it themselves.

In April 2021, a new and more severe wave of COVID-19 broke out. In response, the government began looking for venues where field hospitals could be set up to keep up with the exponential increase in the number of patients and the exploding demand for beds in various areas. SCGP (Packaging Business), which had been closely monitoring the situation and recognized the issue of bed shortages, thus quickly leveraged its expertise to develop and manufacture SCGP paper beds, which were then promptly distributed to field hospitals nationwide.

The SCGP paper bed is a CSR innovation invented by SCGP’s designers, who had prior experience designing paper products to accommodate diverse functional needs and provide relief in past crises, such as the SCGP paper toilet deployed during a flood crisis.

A number of considerations were involved in the designing of the SCGP paper bed, such as how to mass-produce the beds quickly, its weight bearing capacity, the space-saving design for transportation, easy assembly, and incineration at the end of their useful life as it was used by a patient and could be infectious.

The team’s creativity and years of experience resulted in the SCGP paper bed, which can be taken part and packed in a box for easy transportation. The bed also takes very little time to assemble and can be put together by folding and inserting the pieces into one another without any need for screws or glue. It can bear 100 kilograms when placed horizontally and has a lifespan of about three months.

Up to late 2021, SCGP donated more than 100,000 beds to field hospitals nationwide.

Due to the severity of the outbreaks in 2021, there was a critical shortage of intensive care units, which were at the frontline and available in limited numbers, as the number of red (critical) patients began to soar. Cement-Building Materials Business team realized that this was a much more challenging, pressing, and complex problem compared to isolation rooms as patients had to remain in ICUs for extended periods of time while the space had to be designed in such a way that allowed medical professionals to access the patients and support equipment to be stationed.

Therefore, the development team had to take a risk and re-enter hospitals to collect data and study how doctors worked in the ICU. Based on the data collected, the team took a mere seven days to develop the modular ICU, a 300 sq.m. unit that could accommodate 10 patient beds and could be pressurized negatively. To treat patients inside the modular ICU, doctors in PPE suits first enter the positive pressure zone and then walk through a walkway where the pressure slowly becomes more negative until they reach the patient zone. The entrance and the exit were designed to be separated and equipped with a disinfection area to prevent the germs from attaching to the PPE suit and getting carried out into the positive pressure zone.

Using the modular home construction technique employed for SCG HEIM, the modular ICU was designed in such a way that technicians could perform maintenance without entering the patient zone. In addition, as everyone was in a race against time in such moments of crisis, the modular ICU was designed so that it took only seven days to manufacture and only 10 days to install in hospitals.

For this innovation, Cement-Building Materials Business did not apply for patents and also gave hospitals the blueprint and a list of required equipment so that they could construct it themselves.

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As a result of its efforts against COVID-19, SCG has not only earned trust among doctors and hospitals but also earned itself, as a Thai company, an opportunity to showcase its skills and make use of the innovation, experience, and expertise that it has accumulated over the years to promptly develop and deliver innovations, rivaling widely-accepted imported medical technologies.

Thanks to the collaboration it had continuously fostered with suppliers, customers, and various agencies, SCG was able to unite all parties in tackling and successfully overcoming the outbreaks. Moreover, SCG Foundation provided supports and donated COVID-19 innovations across Thailand over 90 million baht’s worth in 2021.

This is not to mention the new know-how SCG has gained through innovation development, which may even lead to commercial products in the future.

However, the most important thing is that SCG was able to aid the general public and society at large through one of the worst and most widespread crises in the history of Thailand and the world.

And all of these are SCG’s innovations in the year of a pandemic.