Whirlwind Wheelchair International Launches Industrialization Project

In cooperation with three dynamic organizations, Whirlwind Wheelchair International has embarked on an ambitious, groundbreaking project to seed small wheelchair shops around the world. Called Whirlwind Industrialization Project (WIP), the goal is to "industrialize" local shops by teaching wheelchair-building using advanced jigs and fixtures to make precise, interchangeable parts as is common in developed countries where, on a grander scale, it is called mass production. The local shops will be more efficient and will build large numbers of high-quality wheelchairs faster, thus being competitive with domestic and imported wheelchairs in their local marketplaces.

Norway connection
WIP was named in Norway last spring during a two-week visit to the HandiNor factory by WWI Technical Director Ralf Hotchkiss. WWI's three primary partners are:

• Arthur B. Schultz Foundation (ABS) in the U.S.;
• HandiNor, a wheelchair factory near Oslo in which ABS has an ownership interest; and
• Atlas Alliance of Norway.

ABS Foundation
Located in northwestern Wyoming, ABS is "...dedicated to improving life on earth through the support of...disabled recreation and mobility..." ABS believes in the importance of changing erroneous perceptions of what disabled persons are able to accomplish, and recognizes that independent mobility is fundamental to their access to social and economic opportunities. Arthur B. Schultz, President of ABS, came to America fifty years ago from his native Norway. His son, Erik B. Schultz, an accomplished wheelchair-riding athlete, is the Foundation's Executive Director. ABS provided early support for Ralf Hotchkiss's work on the Afghan Chair.

HandiNor
HandiNor is a factory near Oslo that makes and sells wheelchairs and sports and leisure equipment for people with disabilities - hockey, cross-country, and ice sledges, alpine mono skis, marathon chairs, and 3-wheel bikes. The factory repairs and refurbishes mobility and other devices, and designs and modifies custom products for individual disabled riders. HandiNor is a supplier to the Norwegian National Paralympic team in winter sports, and the Managing Director, Thor E. Kleppe, is an International Paralympic Judge.

At HandiNor (l to r): HandiNor R&D Manager Alf Torp, WWI Technical Director Ralf Hotchkiss, HandiNor Project Manager Per Rune.

Atlas Alliance
Atlas Alliance is a large Norwegian foundation that includes numerous organizations of disabled persons and their families as well as of parents of disabled children. Alliance members work with disabled people in some 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Atlas cooperates with WHO and other UN groups on disability treatment and rehabilitation.

Start-Up Sites in Vietnam & Uganda
The WIP steering group has identified initial start-up locations and potential partners in Vietnam and, currently, Uganda. Final site and local partner decisions will be based on feasibility assessments after in-country visits.

Distribution of Responsibilities

• Whirlwind is providing the basic wheelchair designs and will lead the startup in Vietnam.
• HandiNor engineers and mechanics are creating design modifications to make the chairs cheaper to produce. HandiNor also will produce jigs, fixtures, and sample Whirlwinds to distribute to the WIP/Whirlwind shops at project sites.
• ABS is providing funding, along with Atlas Alliance.
• Atlas will lead the startup in Africa, possibly in Uganda, and joins ABS in providing funding.

Although active in philanthropy, WIP is the first project in which ABS has gone beyond a funding role to take an active part in project design and implementation, through the involvement of the Schultz family's interest in HandiNor. Both Arthur B. Schultz and Erik B. Schultz have contributed time and energy helping to coordinate WIP partners. ABS Executive Director Erik Schultz visited WWI in May 2002, leading to Ralf Hotchkiss's visit to HandiNor in March 2003; Hotchkiss and WWI Operations Director Marc Krizack made a 10 day trip to HandiNor in September.

Her Royal Highness, Queen Sonja of Norway, chatting with Ralf Hotchkiss.

Current WIP project plans call for an initial HandiNor production run of 70 Whirlwind chairs. These will be thoroughly tested and then delivered unassembled to the selected locations in Vietnam and Africa, where teams of disabled people will be trained by Whirlwind and Atlas to assemble and repair the chairs. The local builders also will be trained to teach new wheelchair owners how to use and maintain their chairs. The June 2003 WHIRLWIND NEWS NOTES outlined HandiNor's creative plan for the cross-world wheelchair construction process.

The Right Wheelchair for Each Rider

• Each wheelchair rider must have a chair appropriate to the rider's size, age, and nature of disability, among other considerations. Both in Vietnam and in non-urban Africa, those needing wheelchairs are of all ages, have a wide range of disabilities, and are almost all poor. Considerations for correct use of wheelchairs:
• For riders with missing lower limbs, the rider's correct balance in the chair is vital to achieve good and safe mobility.
• For riders with spinal cord injuries, incorrect wheelchair seat material or a poor seat angle can result in the development of pressure sores, breaks in the skin caused by a person's weight pressing against an unyielding surface. A skin break can begin almost immediately upon contact and will progress rapidly to an open, deep sore if unnoticed even for a short time; untreated pressure sores often lead to death. Wheelchair riders with spinal cord injuries are at constant risk of pressure sores since they have limited sensation.
• For children and small adults, a wheelchair too wide for their arm length makes it difficult for them to move and maneuver efficiently, and to transfer out of the chair safely. "One size fits all" is anathema to Whirlwind.

Local builders in Vietnam and Africa will learn to build Whirlwinds using advanced jigs and fixtures designed by WWI and HandiNor and manufactured by HandiNor. At first, the local teams will build parts for the chairs while HandiNor will continue to supply the frames. When the local builders have gained skill and mechanical competence and are building entire chairs in their own shops to Whirlwind standards, WIP's partners will have accomplished what they started out to do. In 2004, once the production of the chairs and management of their distribution have been successfully transferred to Vietnam and to the initial African country, WIP partners will refine the project model for replication throughout the developing world. Initial discussions for a similar project were held in September in Cali, Colombia.

A Powerful Consortium
WIP partners represent a powerful consortium with decades of experience and impressive depth in a variety of complementary areas. WWI's 20+ years of low-tech Third World wheelchair design combined with HandiNor's 20+ years of modern production ability should yield immediate tangible results. Joint support from American (ABS) and Norwegian (Atlas Alliance) funders is the vital link that will ensure the sustainability of WIP programs; that collaboration was conceived and coordinated by Arthur B. Schultz.

HandiNor Managing Director Thor Kleppe and Ralf Hotchkiss. After intensive work at the factory, Hotchkiss had a great time skiing and said he wasn't ready to come back to San Francisco (great slopes, no snow).

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