Switzer Blog

Filters and screens might seem like simple, straightforward parts, but they play a crucial role in industrial machines.

Technological advancements in the modern world require innovative changes to industrial machinery, but OEMs face tight margins...

The integrity of every design is impacted by material selection. Choose the wrong material, and your application is subject to an unpredictable, potentially short life. Choose the right material, and your application has a much higher probability of...

From simple parts to complex components used in modern manufacturing, a wide variety of metal parts are created through photochemical etching. A subtractive process by which small pieces are removed from sheet metal, metal etching has proven to be...

Many devices around us have the ability to collect intelligent data about our day-to-day lives. Personal computers store records of the websites you’ve visited; smartphones can keep tabs on your location; and GPS trackers monitor the routes you...

As the world’s population continues to climb, so does the need to conserve water. Environmental responsibility demands water-efficient industrial processes, and commercial water users must make better use of costly resources to serve the growing...

It’s hard to remember a time where streets were void of electric and hybrid vehicles. In fact, it’s quite common these days to see plug-in stations in parking lots and hear of well-known automotive brands embracing the electric culture.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are growing in commercial popularity by leaps and bounds, and Goldman Sachs recently predicted businesses and civil governments will spend $13 billion on drones by 2020. From farming to filmmaking, there seems to be...

From the food we eat to the water we drink to the oil that powers our cars, most substances we use require some form of filtration. As raw materials are converted to usable goods, solids must be separated from liquids; wastes set aside; and reusable...

The way products are manufactured has a crucial impact on their success in the market. This is true not only of the processes behind their development but also the design and engineering of tools used for fabrication—or what’s known as tooling.

When radios first made their debut, noise interruptions—from pops and bangs to more subtle disruptions—were all chalked up to being part of the listening experience. But as electronic systems began to appear in military applications, the impact of...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have come a long way in recent years. Lightweight parts and sophisticated sensors are now the norm, and cutting-edge technologies once reserved for industrial and military applications are available to consumers at...

From simple consumer devices to cutting-edge aerospace equipment, all electronic devices share the electromagnetic spectrum. In close proximity, these devices readily interfere with each other’s performance. Radiated interference (RFI) travels via...

Electronic gadgets are quickly becoming a second skin for humans. Just like a temporary tattoo, wearable medical devices and sensors can be applied directly to the skin to monitor people’s health while they perform their daily activities.

Industrial centrifuges have a home in a variety of fields. The chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and food processing industries all rely on these tools to separate heterogeneous mixtures.

The business of unmanned aerial vehicles is booming. By 2025, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) predicts that the U.S. drone industry will establish over 100,000 jobs and contribute $82 million to the economy.

Radio frequency interference, or RFI, takes on many forms. It could be a humming microwave that causes a Wi-Fi connection to waver, or perhaps the sounds of a cell phone transmitter traveling through the airwaves of your car stereo.

A partnership between a metal fabricator and a customer is not built on just one positive experience. It’s an ongoing commitment of working together to fulfill current product needs and identifying opportunities for improvement.

There’s comfort in sticking with the metal manufacturing processes you’ve always used. But what you might not realize is how shifting over to new manufacturing methods can potentially address many of the challenges you face.

Any time you need to make a custom metal part, there’s a wide range of manufacturing methods available. The challenge can be selecting the right one that best fits your needs—including quality, cost, turnaround time and manufacturability. In many...

With a concept in mind for a metal part, you’re ready to take the next step and choose a metal design partner. As you research your options, it’s important to know which qualities to look for in a partnership—ones that will ultimately fuel long-term...

While drones may not be a new technology, it’s only recently that their mass adoption and use has grown. Amidst this growth, the majority of opportunities have come from the commercial and civil side. In fact, according to 2016 research from Goldman...

In any type of design or manufacturing process, there are a variety of requirements to consider. Whether it relates to the performance of the finished product or the associated costs, every piece of the puzzle is crucial to long-term success.

In the aerospace industry, instrumentation is an important point of concern. Researchers are constantly searching for ways to design precise, reliable instruments that deliver accurate measurements.

Designing metal parts can often feel like a balancing act. On one hand, there is the pressure to produce high-quality designs that deliver optimal performance. On the other hand, competition within the market and customer demands fuel the need for a...

Chemical etching can play an important role in metal part fabrication. Lead times allow for more flexibility; tighter tolerances can be achieved; scalable volumes are made possible.

It wasn’t too long ago that businesses relied on stock sheet metal parts and components for their manufacturing processes. Now, it’s custom metal parts/components that are coming to the surface.

Sheet metal fabrication is a process that involves various techniques. While each comes with its own advantages, it’s important to consider how these benefits apply to your specific design.

It’s an exciting time: You’ve completed the CAD design for your metal part and are ready to move things over to the fabrication stage.

Quality — It’s a term we all hear about in the manufacturing world. Customers expect it and manufacturers have to meet this demand to ensure satisfaction and loyalty.

Switzer, a precision metal parts provider, announces a major project to replace the wastewater treatment system at its production facility in Blasdell. The upgrade is part of a company-wide initiative to improve energy efficiency and safety of its...

Forbes declared business cards dead, claiming they’re static, being used wrong, and they don’t reflect our life in a high-speed gig economy. Well, they’re partly right.

You’ve probably seen metal business cards in person before, from dinner parties to networking events. Hey, even Steve Wozniak has one that he famously passes around. But beyond their initial shine, there are a few things that you should know about...

Short Version: Photo tools are an essential step in the etching process. They are the means by which we transfer your design from your CAD file onto the metal.

When designing or sourcing a manufacturer for a flat precision metal component, trying to determine whether laser cutting or photochemical etching* is the best alternative method to produce it can be difficult. And as with nearly every component,...