We've been writing a lot about molders getting into new industries to help fill the need for medical supplies since the coronavirus outbreak began.
Auto suppliers are making ventilator parts, packaging companies are making masks, film makers are turning out gowns and chemical companies have started producing hand sanitizer.
University of Massachusetts Amherst worked with Southbridge, Mass.-based K+K Thermoforming on a project to produce 80,000 face shields.
But this story is about someone from outside the industry thinking outside the, well, outside the pizza box.
Dimo's Pizza in Chicago's Wicker Park is using its pizza ovens to heat and shape acrylic face shields.
Owner Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau told Block Club Chicago he wanted to respond "in the best way" he can. So he worked with a local metal specialist, Avenue Metal Co., to make molds that could shape the acrylic.
Once it cools, the pizza shop adds headbands.
"We are used to making things very quickly, in large quantities, very cleanly," he said. "It's like a win-win. Buy local. … I would love to up hours to produce face shields."
Dimo's isn't ignoring pizza, however. In addition to making pizzas for takeout, it's also been donating them to local hospitals.