An Opportunity to Help

In 2020, GPJ partnered with a major American pharmacy retailer to increase access to COVID-19 testing, specifically through a solution to offer safe, rapid, mass testing centers throughout North America.  

Our team helped craft the creative solution that the company had been looking for. While our fabrication team usually specializes in complex custom builds, we were able to turn our pedigree of precision fabrication into the quickturn production partner needed to get the job done.

“This project was so meaningful to us…we knew that these testing sites would make a difference in fighting the pandemic, and we took great pride in being a part of it,” said Marcie Deriemacker, VP, Group Account Director at GPJ. 

The Plan

Design, build and deploy hundreds of rapid testing kiosks at locations throughout the United States. Their retail pharmacies were  already offering testing through their drive-through pharmacy windows, but many of their facilities do not have that capability. Their objective was to bolster availability to ensure broader access to rapid testing. “Access to rapid-result tests enables us to help minimize community spread of COVID-19 by being able to more quickly identify active COVID-19 infection,” said their chief medical officer in a press release.

GPJ first designed and built a prototype testing kiosk, going from design to delivery in less than 3 weeks. Based on the success of that effort, GPJ fabricated 650 kiosks for the company over a 10 week period.

“Our work force returned with eagerness. They worked hard everyday knowing that their actions would have a positive impact on GPJ and thousands of Americans. We’re grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the future.” – Mike Davis, Fabrication Manager

GPJ quickly reconfigured two fabrication facilities in Nashville and Los Angeles to enable large scale production of the testing structure. GPJ engineers worked to streamline the process to reduce costs and speed production. The team leveraged GPJ’s global purchasing power to secure building materials – no small challenge due to multiple supply chain interruptions. We also made plans to shift production to our Detroit-based fabrication facility should there be any pandemic-driven work stoppages in either Nashville or Los Angeles.

Ready to Roll 

Once units were ready, GPJ managed the transportation and logistics of delivering each of these testing kiosks to locations around the U.S. Critical coordination with our clients and installation teams minimized the time between delivery at each location and when they would be ready to begin accepting patients for testing.

“The sense of accomplishment and growth coming out of this project has been overwhelming.  The teamwork, collaboration and innovation of every team member involved is what made this project a success.  Roughly one year ago, we moved into a new fabrication facility in Tennessee.  The staff in this building have been eager to show our gratitude for that investment, and I can think of no better way to do that than prove we can do the seemingly impossible.” – Dave Tabbert, Production Manager

It’s a great day when we’re able to help our communities, our industry, and gain a new partner all in one fell swoop. Leveraging our fabrication and mobile retail experiential marketing expertise, coupled with white glove service that our clients have come to expect, we hope to continue the partnership (in better circumstances of course) for years to come. 

COVID-19 Testing Kiosk Statistics:

  • Over 1.2M Fasteners – Bolts, Nails, Screws, etc.
  • 2 football fields of vinyl graphic materials
  • Almost 6.5 acres of OSB Plywood
  • Over 56 miles of dimensional lumber (2×4’s and 2×10’s)
  • More than 5 city blocks of Transcore panels
  • 260,000 lbs of steel 
  • Almost 20 miles of wire used for over 10,000 circuits
  • 13,000 gallons of adhesive