Each switch and sensor that we manufacture has its own particular characteristics, and how you handle one may not be the same as the other. Knowing how to correctly manipulate a switch is very critical to the proper operation of that device for its intended purpose. Many times we have customers contact us with questions as to why they are experiencing problems when they are not getting the results that they are expecting, or when damage to the switch occurs.
A reed switch may just look like a piece of glass with leads protruding from it, but really it is a very intensely engineered special device that works in an amazing way, and the methods used to customize it for your particular application are very critical. The stresses induced at the time of modification can damage or severely change the performance from its original design function. A simple bend of a lead without the correct gripping method can be all it takes for that device to not work as it is intended, and this can lead to great frustration for our customers.
With 45 years of leading the way in custom design and applications for this industry, we here at HSI have engineered solutions to these production, modification and testing processes. And let me tell you, we face new modification challenges every day! To put it in the words of my great grandmother, “It’s like being a goose and waking up in a new world every day.” This has been my experience with all the customer applications I’ve seen through the years. It’s crazy (amazing?) to think about how many places and ways that our customers can dream up of where and how to use our products; our customers put us to the test in a new way every day!
When it comes to the tooling required to make necessary modifications to a product‐‐whether they are requested by a customer for a specific application, or whether it is a requirement for the switch to work precisely in one of our custom proximity sensors‐‐you can’t just go out and purchase it. We have a fully equipped precision machine shop in‐house, along with machinist that have a combined experience of over 60 years, and we design and manufacture all of our own equipment to be able to meet these special needs. From the machines that produce the switches, to the benders, the cutters, the fixtures to perform the welding functions, the potting of the proximity sensors and the testing, we do it all.
Please let us utilize our knowledge and ability to meet the unique needs that your project demands. Our experience and expertise can save a lot of unnecessary frustration, damaged product, and the most important project commodity of all that can never be regained, TIME!
