The Swiss Army knife
is one of the world's best-known tools,
and 10 million of them are manufactured every year.
But how does one factory produce 45,000 each day,
and in such a precise manner?
The Swiss Army knife has been around for nearly 130 years.
It was first delivered to the Swiss Army by Karl Elsner in 1891.
The knives are now produced by Victorinox,
Europe's largest knife manufacturer.
The main factory in Ibach, Switzerland,
produces a variety of knives
designed to offer versatility and compactness.
Here, it takes around five minutes
to produce a pocket knife, depending on the model.
There are 400 different models.
2,400 metric tons of steel
are imported to the factory each year.
From these rolls, knife blades
are stamped to 2 millimeters thick.
This requires 50 metric tons of pressure.
Each roll can make 16,000 blades.
Various tools require various alloys for hardness.
The basis of the knife is 85% iron,
along with 13% chromium and a small trace of other metals.
Narrator: Blades are made from hard steel,
whereas screwdrivers are formed from softer steel.
The blades are rounded off using
triangular-shaped plastic wheels and water.
The knife blades are then extracted via a magnet
and grinded down again to achieve an exact width.
Each blade must measure 2-millimeter thickness.
They are imprinted with a company stamp,
then placed in an oven at 1,050 degrees Celsius.
The blades are then sharpened
and checked again for thickness.
The signature red outer casing
is formed via injection molding.
Other tools for the knives are produced on nearby machines
via a process of milling and grinding.
A small metal cross emblem,
the Victorinox Cross & Shield,
is inspected via a microscope
to ensure standard thickness.
This was added the first time in 1909
and later to all Victorinox knives since 2006.
The classic officer's knife
is assembled by machine at the factory.
Other editions are assembled by hand.
Each component part of the knife is checked
and polished by hand before it can go on sale.
The knives are exported from the Ibach factory
to over 120 countries.
And, of course, the pocketknife
designs have changed over the years.
Victorinox keeps adding new features,
such as USB storage and laser pointers.