ALPS Achieves Production of 100 Billion TACT Switch Units

2nd October 2009

ES Admin

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ALPS ELECTRIC achieved a total production of 100 billion TACT switch units in mid-September 2009. If all 100 billion TACT switch units were arranged side by side, they would cover a distance roughly equal to circling the Earth 15 times. ALPS ELECTRIC’s TACT switch claims the world’s top production volume with an approximate 40% share of the global market.

ALPS ELECTRIC commenced the production of TACT switches at the former Yokohama Plant in 1976 for use in desktop calculator keyboards. In the following year, the production line was moved to the Onahama Plant (in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture) and then to the Kakuda Plant (Kakuda City, Miyagi Prefecture) in 1993, with the aim of enhancing and reinforcing the production structure. Today, product development and design are conducted by the MMP Business Unit at the Furukawa Plant (Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture), while the production function, which remains entrusted to the Kakuda Plant, has spread overseas to facilities in China, Malaysia and Germany.

ALPS ELECTRIC steadily increased total TACT switch production volume, reaching the one billion unit milestone in 1983, 10 billion in 1990, 20 billion in 1994 and 50 billion in 2004. Currently 70 TACT switch™ series are manufactured across the world.

The basic function of the TACT switch is to conduct electricity only when pressed, the product being mainly used as an input operation switch for digital devices. The TACT switch is characterized by a wide variety of clicking sensations, ranging from soft to hard, each time it is pressed. In recent years, the TACT switch has been adopted for a variety of devices, including mobile phones, digital cameras, in-car navigation and audio systems as well as control panel, elevator and vending machine buttons.

The unique features of the TACT switch include the superior clicking sensation generated by the unit itself. Having accumulated its established technologies, ALPS ELECTRIC has gone to great lengths to realize the good sense of feel required for each type of set product, more specifically to provide users with a better feel when using the product. In addition, ALPS ELECTRIC launched a 0.37mm² product 0.35mm in height in response to the needs for smaller, lighter and thinner products and introduced a type of TACT switch that achieved 500,000 repeat operations to meet the demand for highly durable products.

Based on its proprietary technologies, ALPS ELECTRIC will continue to offer a variety of compact and slim TACT switch™ units that connect humans and digital devices with quality and reliability.