Processing Technologies for Crisis Response on the Example of COVID-19 Pandemic—Injection Molding and FFF Case Study

The paper presents a comparison of two methods of manufacturing utility objects made of plastics, applied to the emerging immediate need in the field of quick provision of personal protective equipment for medical services. The traditional processing method, which is injection molding (IM), and a modern rapid prototyping method, which is fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing, were compared in terms of unit costs and production possibilities at various timeframes. The paper presents the effects of launching two production processes of protective helmets (face shields) using the example of real cases implemented ad hoc during the epidemic development. The implementation of the protective helmet production project based on polyamide-6 processing showed the real possibilities of quickly launching the rapid production of protective equipment with the aid of mold injection technology.