Light Switch Plates - Learn About The Leading Manufacturers In Wall Switch Plates

Arnev Products, Inc. is a Keshena, Wisconsin based manufacturing company, founded in 1989 by Arnie Evans of South Elgin, Illinois. We produce decorative electrical switchplates. Our products are sold under the name "The Heritage Collection" and "The Big Switchover" in fine lighting stores, hardware stores, and gift shops in almost every state across the USA, even Alaska. Our products are also found in mail order catalogs, and now they are available here on the Internet, at http://www.arnev.com/.

While there are other country and southwest styles available by different manufacturers, our products feature several significant advantages over the products of our competition. For example, our products have a scratch resistant, low maintenance finish. We use heavy gauge metal, so our products are very sturdy, not flimsy as some “gift shop” plates can be. We believe our products offer the largest array of electrical configurations. We can produce a high quantity of consistent quality, and thus offer volume discounts for wholesale customers with retail stores and businesses.

All our products are made of the highest-grade steel. Some of these have a unique "Punched" design. However, for safety, the design punches do not go all the way through the parts.

The Pewter finish is electro-static powder painted and baked at 500 degrees for durability. They are designed to complement the colonial and country style decor and they complement the country punched tin style chandeliers and lighting fixtures, which are quite popular. However, they are very attractive with many other types of decor.

We have expanded our product line to include switch plates with different finishes with the same punched designs. We now offer a beautiful bright polished brass finish, and we have introduced a new line with a white enamel finish. We also manufacture them with no punched designs in almost all of our finishes. In 2004 we introduced a soft black product in our plain and border designs. Earlier this year we introduced “Renaissance Bronze” (see link at bottom of page). All products have matching screws, in either lacquered brass, or the same painted powder painted finish.

Two American Indian Southwest designs are now available in three different colors and finishes. Our first design is an American Indian Thunderbird engraved into the metal in each corner. The second is also an American Indian design we found at an Indian reservation in Arizona some years ago. There are three custom finishes. The first we call Arizona Sand. This texture feels just like sand and has the exact appearance and color of the sand found in Arizona. It has a sprinkle of the Sedona Arizona red clay mixed in, which gives it the true Arizona Sand color. The second is another custom Terra-Cotta finish, with very much the look and feel of a clay pot. The third is our Adobe Gray color, which is similar to our pewter finish. Don't be afraid to touch our products, as none of the finishes will come off. Also, they are very easy to clean, just a little soap and water, or Fantastic®. They are made of highest quality steel.

We recently introduced three new switchplates. First, our brushed steel, which is very similar in appearance to stainless steel. They have a brushed finish with a lacquered coating. Second, we’ve introduced Solid Brass in .040 gauges, polished and lacquered finish. And last but not least, we now offer mirrored glass, in all the hard to find configurations.

Arnev Products, Inc. is proud to have been featured in Woman's Day Specials: walls, windows & floors.

In 2000, an editor for “Women’s Day Magazine” contacted us. They were planning a special decorating issue called “Walls, Windows and Floors.” The editor had seen our switchplates in a mail order catalog, and thought we would be a good product to feature in this article, so they did a search on line, and found us at www.arnev.com. They asked us to send them some samples, as they were going to take some photo images and use them in this issue. We were flattered beyond words that a national publication like “Women’s Day Special Interest Publications” took such an interest in our products. We sent samples of a few different styles, and they loved the quality and thought the value was excellent. They photographed and used our Pewter Finish Country Star design for the article. Our products were able to be viewed by over one million of their customers that month. It was quite an honor, not to mention that we received many orders directly related to this article. Thank you Women’s Day!

Several years ago we contacted a printing company to make skincard for our products. Skincard is a very large poster board type card, with a coating of light glue. We’re sure you’ve seen this packaging hanging in your neighborhood hardware stores display racks. The products are placed on a cardboard backing, and then a heavy piece of molded plastic film is placed over the item and hung on a hanger for retail display. Our products are packaged in this fashion, and are beautifully displayed in our retail stores.

We are proud to mention the company who does our skincard packaging fulfillment of our switch plates. They are Careers Industries, Inc. in Wisconsin. They have two locations. One is at 3502 Douglas Ave. in Racine, Wisconsin 53402, and the other is at 161 Industrial Drive in Burlington, Wisconsin 53105. We must mention them, as they are an extraordinary company, as they have been employing people who are physically and mentally challenged for over 30 years, and we just can’t say enough good things about them.

Our former packaging company, Unified Solutions, Inc, also in Wisconsin, had been packaging our products for several years, introduced us to Careers Industries, Inc. several years ago. And to tell you the truth, our former packaging company just became too big for our needs. When we needed a few thousand of our products packaged a month, they would have to stop their lines that were doing millions of other items, just to sneak us into their schedule. They did a beautiful job for us, but it became an inconvenience for them at that time, so they suggested Careers Industries, Inc., and we’re so happy they did. Our products have never been packaged with such precision and care. The placement of our products on the skincard is always “perfect”. Our screws are always the correct ones, and the quantities are just right.

I have to marvel when I walk into the production room and see hundreds of workers with smiles on their faces, and when you say hi to them, they all say hi and wave at you with a sincere greeting. This is very unusual in the American factory today, as no one usually says hello, or even cares that you’re there. I’ll walk to the skincard area where our products are being packaged, and I’m amazed at the teamwork that goes into this process. Let me tell you how these folks package our products.

First there’s a worker who sorts by size. Then another worker sorts by color. The 12-up skincard is now loaded for the run, and one worker places 12 parts on the skincard in the spots marked for positioning, and another worker follows with the appropriate number of screws. A third worker slides the skincard into the sealing machine. This is a vacuum type machine that lowers plastic film over the products on the skincard, and the plastic film covers the entire skincard. The skincard itself has very tiny holes punched into the card, although it’s not visible to the naked eye, and air is pulled from the bottom of the card to compress the heated plastic film, and suck the air completely out of the plastic which bonds the heated plastic to the card. The plastic is now bonded to the skincard by the glue.

The next worker takes the 18 x 24 inch skincard, which has 12 parts mounted to it with the plastic covering, and places the large card in the skincard die-cutting machine. The skincard die-cutter has two large flat pieces of wood, which have very sharp steel blades, which are positioned to cut 12 sections where the products are located out of the large skincard. When the top board with the blades comes down on the skincard, which is positioned between the two boards, the die-cutting machine pushes down on the top board and cuts the skincard into 12 individual pieces. This is very similar to a large cookie cutter. The switch plates are now mounted to each of the 12 smaller pieces. Not only does this die-cutter cut the corners of the card off, but it also cuts the hanger hole, so it can be totally ready for display. Now you have 12 parts ready for the retail store. The last worker sorts the parts into boxes of 24 to a box.

This process is truly wonderful to see how the employees work with such precision to package our products. It’s wonderful to see how it’s all accomplished. I’d like to also say thanks to Jim and Mike, who keep all this work flowing so smoothly. I’m truly amazed at their operation, not to mention the cleanliness of their plant. They have all the top-of-the-line packaging equipment available for skincard, blister pack, or shrink-wrap. They also provide hand packaging of large and small jobs.

If you’re in need of a fulfillment company, we strongly recommend Careers Industries, Inc. They can be reached by e-mail at info@careersindustries.com. They’re the greatest!