The History of TouchPad Electronics
TouchPad’s early projects consisted of designing electronics in the home office of Matt Sween, the founder of what was then TouchPad Design which was located 30 minutes N of Woodstock Illinois, and 30 minutes SE of Milwaukee in East Troy, Wisconsin. Once the boards were completed and sent out for fabrication, he would order all the required components, and have the items delivered to his home.
Matt would invite some engineering team co-workers to his home on those evenings to make some extra cash by assembling circuit boards on his dining room table followed by Matt making personal deliveries of final product to the few customers that utilized his services to care for customers with aggressive timelines that their primary CMs couldn’t support.
In 2007, the company rebranded to TouchPad Electronics Inc. to reflect its expansion into broader markets and the introduction of quick-turn PCB assembly services. Alongside this, TouchPad heavily invested in a custom, real-time dashboard software for comprehensive job costing, performance tracking, and automated workflow management—covering quoting, purchasing, assembly set-up, receiving, and scheduling. This system ensures maximum accountability and efficiency, resulting in superior quality and customer satisfaction.
In 2010, TouchPad celebrated its 10th anniversary by leasing a new 6,000-square-foot incubator unit featuring stunning, modern design and an open, collaborative workspace. This expansion marked over five years of compounding 100%+ annual growth. During this milestone year, TouchPad also achieved ISO 9001:2008 registration across its hardware engineering, software engineering, mechanical engineering, circuit board design, and manufacturing offerings.
We continued our growth in 2014 by adding 3,000 square feet to our electronics assembly facility. To boost production capabilities, we invested in new flex placement machines, two selective soldering machines, another optical inspection station, and X-Ray capabilities. Matching this physical expansion, TouchPad increased its workforce by nearly 100% since 2010.
TouchPad launched what would become their game changing application for business function. This platform originally featured the fastest and most accurate live component management tool (CMT), enabling our project management team to establish 95% component availability & pricing in minutes rather than hours or days. Furthermore, the application provided up-to-the-minute, live visibility into project status inside of operations. Our staff now logs every task inside of our Time Tracking Tool (T3) and enables transparency into daily operations, and project performance. The application would grow as the needs inside of the business grew deeper with new partnership engagements.
In 2017, TouchPad prioritized employee growth through formalized EMS training, business-wide process controls, and Lean/5S initiatives. To better serve our customers, we expanded our prototyping and project management teams, hiring 11 engineers and additional technicians. TouchPad makes a major shift in focus toward strategic sales growth, which includes expanding our facility square footage, once again enabling increased capacity through new equipment, refined processes, and additional technical staff
In 2018, TouchPad expanded its footprint by 3,000 sq. ft., added a third flex placement line, and welcomed nine new technical staff members. With machine capacity and technical personnel increasing by over 30%, we achieved another year of phenomenal sales growth that outpaced our expanded capabilities. It was at this point that the team began to realize that they were making significant strides through offering complex services, typically found only in much larger EMS providers. With these enhanced tools and talent, TouchPad is establishing itself as a “go-to” partner – one willing to rise to the occasion, make capital investments & implement the highest levels of quality and customer care required to service their needs.
In 2020, TouchPad experienced another year of unprecedented growth, marked by our move into a custom-designed facility two years in the making. With over triple our previous space, this new location was built to support years of expansion. Featuring permanent ESD epoxy flooring, advanced humidification, and superior air filtration, this facility stands among the top-tier EMS providers in our market. Furthermore, with six automated SMT lines and two ERSA selective soldering lines, this move immensely increased our manufacturing capabilities. This tremendous growth empowered us to dream bigger and set new goals to deliver previously impossible solutions to our clients. As TouchPad fills this space, we continue to upskill our team and raise the bar to new standards.
By 2023, our team grew to over 50, then to 60 in 2024, and nearly 70 members in 2025, all aligned toward mastering the most complex board assemblies in the industry. Since 2023, we signed several three-way NDAs with customers and their chip manufacturing partners, collaborating to develop datasheets for processing standards and best practices. In addition, we have done the same with GCMs to enable the flow of information across each of the program stakeholders. To support the growing demands, in 2024 and 2025 we made back-to-back multi-million-dollar investments in upgraded, cutting-edge 3D optical inspection equipment, advanced flex placement equipment, and state-of-the-art printing and reflow systems, much of which is considered best-in-industry. Renowned for our ability to solve complex engineering challenges, we’ve worked tirelessly to streamline R&D-to-production transfers, both internally and for GCMs worldwide.
TouchPad Electronics has grown to be a robust operation. We deliver superior solutions to many of the world’s leading organizations. Our team of 80 employees remain committed to exceeding our customers’ expectations & engineering solutions to complex problems. We have passion to innovate, grow and deliver the highest quality of service. We actively build up our teammates; we find strength in relationships. Our mission inspires the next leaders, who will face similar challenges, but will carry on what inspired all of us here – Integrity, accountability, and respect.
