Today, health care workers are faced with a scarcity of protective face masks and shields, and the supply chains to produce them are taxed to their limits.

That’s why an ExxonMobil team of experts in chemicals, materials science and manufacturing is offering their experience to help a collaborative effort organized by the Global Center for Medical Innovation. By quickly connecting its customers to solution providers, ExxonMobil helped create a new supply chain to respond to the medical needs in hospitals across the country.

This collaboration, which represents industry, academia and government, is rethinking how protective medical equipment, specifically face shields and face masks, is made.

All this happened in just a matter of days. So far, 50,000 face shields have been produced, and production facilities are ramping up to manufacture upwards of 170,000 more per hour in the coming days. The collaboration has also produced models for a new, reusable face mask design that will address the shortage of N95 protective masks.

Here’s a look at that newly designed medical face mask and what makes it an essential tool in fighting the spread of the coronavirus.