As medical technology and defense demand surges, Tech Etch invests heavily in people and machines
For six decades, Tech Etch has built its reputation around a willingness to take on technically demanding work, winning over customers with the jobs that many competitors would avoid. Founded in 1964, the Massachusetts-based company has grown into a trusted precision manufacturing partner to the world’s leading medtech and defense organizations. However, as President & CEO Rich Cammarano is quick to point out, the parts Tech Etch makes is only half the story.
“Our ‘why’ is not just to fabricate flexible circuits,” he declares. “Our ‘why’ is to fabricate flexible circuits for devices that enhance people’s lives.” That sense of purpose runs through everything Tech Etch does, from the operating room to the factory floor.
The company operates across three core disciplines: precision metal fabrication, flexible circuit fabrication and assembly, and EMI/RFI shielding products. Rich explains that company founder, George Keeler, directed the organization for 54 years before retiring without a formal succession plan – a gap he credits for counterintuitively shaping the company’s next chapter. “That succession led to a search, and I subsequently joined the organization about eight years ago.”
Rich’s arrival in 2018 kicked off a period of widespread transformation. The company transitioned from 30 percent to 100 percent employee ownership, replaced a 35-year-old DOS-based system with a modern ERP platform, reshaped its board, and rebranded – all within two years. “We went through a pretty radical period of change between 2018 and 2020,” Rich continues. “Then Covid happened. I would say we actually got through that difficult period as an organization, and ultimately, we entered a brand-new chapter.”
Today, Tech Etch produces custom-engineered components spanning battery grids for pacemakers and defibrillators, mechanical components for life-saving medical systems, and communication solutions for defense applications. Medical technology (medtech) accounts for well over half of the company’s revenue, closely followed by defense.
With 2026 proving to be a standout year for Tech Etch, Rich identifies distinct forces driving each core market. In medtech, new applications developed in collaboration with customers’ R&D teams are now reaching the market, while a broader inventory correction is also playing out. “Through Covid, some of these businesses were somewhat over-inventoried and became a little compressed,” Rich recalls. “They were even still being affected by this into 2024-2025, but those inventories have all now settled out.”
Defense demand tells a different story – one molded as much by innovation as by geopolitics. As drones and other emerging technologies “replace traditional warfare devices,” according to Rich, a traditionally slow-moving market is being reshaped by the same appetite for advanced engineering driving growth elsewhere in the business.
When it comes down to the company’s competitive advantage, Rich believes there is one main element setting Tech Etch apart from rivals; and the answer doesn’t revolve around scale or price. Rather, it’s the firm’s continual readiness to take on the most challenging work. Specializing in exceptionally fine tolerances, geometries in its flexible circuit business are measured against the width of a human hair. “It’s easy to fabricate a simple part that does not demand stringent design,” Rich notes. “At Tech Etch, we thrive in an environment where we’re faced with difficult circuits and components every day. This is what we’re known for and what our customers can rely on us for.”
That appetite for complexity is backed by real investment in manufacturing technology. Robotics have been introduced in low-volume applications previously considered too niche for automation, including paint-room work and metal-forming processes that were once manual and repetitive. Automated optical inspection (AOI) is replacing manual inspection under magnification across both the flex circuit and precision metal fab lines – delivering speed gains without compromising quality.
Perhaps most significant is its recent investment in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Analytics) systems; a network of sensors across the manufacturing floor, tracking machine performance, water flow, temperature and humidity in real time. “We now have more intelligence to equip the mechanic, before they even reach the machine,” reveals Rich, elaborating on the shift from reactive repairs to genuine predictive maintenance.
Even in the more commercialized shielding business, engineering remains central to how Tech Etch competes. Rich cites the recent example of replacing a traditional aluminum frame on a cooling fan’s honeycomb shield with an alternative solution. “That particular solution cut costs while preserving performance,” he highlights. “It’s taking the common and making it much more effective with great engineering.” Thermal management is emerging as a growing area of focus, particularly as data center systems generate escalating heat loads requiring management at both silicon and system level.
Recognized on the 2025 Best Places to Work list for Cape Cod and Plymouth, Tech Etch’s culture is arguably as fundamental to its success as its engineering capability. Rich depicts a workplace built on mutual care, where new hires are personally welcomed and long-serving employees actively boost one another up – including through an educational reimbursement program, unrestricted to job-relevant subjects. “If that makes them a better person – if it lifts their spirit and builds them up – then as a company, we will continue to help and encourage our employees this way.”
Growth remains a priority for Tech Etch moving forward. Its newly announced 60-inch flex circuit capability opens the door to new markets, starting with medical robotics, alongside potential acquisitions to bring in additional capabilities. Yet, for Rich, commercial success takes second place to something more essential. “Of course, we want to grow revenues and profit,” he concludes. “But that’s really second place to our commitment towards strengthening our culture and building one another up.” Not only has this careful balance carried Tech Etch through six decades of change already – it looks set to continue defining its next chapter.
