Touch International (TI), a global leader in industrial touch screen and display solutions, has announced an expansion of the prototype and manufacturing capabilities in its Corporate Headquarters and Design Center in Austin, Texas, US. The new vertically integrated milling, cutting, printing and finishing options will enable customers to streamline the product development cycle and increase time to market with American design support and quality control.
The company is nearing the completion of the $1.2 million investment to build out and equip the project officially called the ‘TI Model Shop’. The new equipment list includes 5-Axis CNC milling, large format laser cutting, sheet metal fabrication, large format 3D printing, as well as custom paint and powder coat finishing options.
Touch International CEO Michael Woolstrum said: “What began nearly two decades ago with touch panels and optical filters continues to evolve today. In 2020, we are making complete touch PCs, kiosks, medical touch monitors and so much more. Since the beginning, we have placed great emphasis on vertical integration in response to customer needs. The TI Model Shop represents our continued commitment to those customers as an extension of their respective teams through collaborative engineering. This was the logical next step.”
The expansion started in Q2 2020 and plans to be fully operational by Q4 2020. The Austin team has already produced prototypes and low volume production units. The list includes custom heat sinks and housings for industrial applications, adapter plates and brackets for mounting and integrating touch displays, and various 3D-printed solutions for the Internet of things (IoT) sensor and device integration.
Touch International director of marketing Shaun Detmer said: “We are able to engage new opportunities with a greater level of detail, control and speed while also allowing customer design teams the flexibility to make revisions and improvements without losing momentum. This is especially critical for medical applications where design cycles can run long and require constant validation. The spirit of American design and manufacturing is alive and well here in Austin.”
TI is a touchscreen and display enhancement original equipment manufacturer (OEM) founded in 2002. TI has become a world leader in professional-grade touch-enabled products for high-reliability markets, including military, medical, aerospace, heavy-duty transport, retail and public use, and other industrial markets. The company operates its corporate headquarters and design centre in Austin, Texas, and has three high-capacity manufacturing centres in Shenzhen and Zhongshan, China, and Bangalore, India.
