COGNEX CORP 10-K

ITEM 1: BUSINESS Our Company Cognex Corporation (“the Company” or “Cognex”) invents and commercializes technologies that address some of the most critical manufacturing and distribution challenges. We are a leading global provider of machine vision products and solutions that improve efficiency and quality in a wide range of businesses across attractive industrial end markets. Our solutions blend physical products and software to capture and analyze visual information, allowing for the automation of manufacturing and distribution tasks for customers worldwide. Machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing or distribution and tracking of discrete items, such as mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages, by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them. Machine vision is particularly valuable for applications in which human vision is inadequate to meet requirements for size, accuracy, or speed, or in instances where substantial cost savings are obtained through the reduction of labor or improved product quality. Cognex operates in one segment. We offer a variety of machine vision products that have similar economic characteristics, production processes, sales distribution channels, and types of customers. Cognex sells to customers in nearly all industries in which discrete items are manufactured on an assembly line or moved through a distribution center. Our largest sales are in the automotive, logistics, and consumer electronics industries, which combined represented approximately 69% of our total revenue in 2022. Our two largest customers, one in the logistics industry and one in the consumer electronics industry, each represented approximately 11% of our total revenue in 2022. Cognex was incorporated in Massachusetts in 1981. Our Industry Machine vision is used in a variety of industries where technology is widely recognized as an important component of automated production, distribution, and quality assurance. Virtually every manufacturer or distributor can achieve better quality and efficiency by using machine vision. This results in a broad base of customers across a variety of industries, including automotive, logistics, consumer electronics, medical-related, semiconductor, consumer products, food and beverage, and others. Cognex is one of the leading machine vision companies in the world. Our competitors include other vendors of machine vision systems, controllers, and components; manufacturers of image processing systems, sensors, and components; and system integrators. We also compete with internal engineering departments of current or prospective customers, as well as open-source tools available for free from various companies. Cognex’s ability to compete depends on our ability to design new products and functionality that meet evolving customer requirements, and then to manufacture and sell those high-quality products in a timely manner. The primary competitive factors affecting the choice of a machine vision system include product functionality and performance, ease of use, vendor reputation, price, and post-sales support. The importance of each of these factors varies depending on the specific needs of the customer. Our Business Strategies Expansion of market position Our goal is to expand our position as a leading worldwide machine vision provider by growing in our core markets, as well as expanding into new markets and customers with both current and new products and services. 1 Table of Content We continue to invest in our core markets, such as automotive, logistics, and consumer electronics where we are a leading provider of vision and ID products for factory automation. Within these markets, we are making significant investments to focus on what we believe to be the fastest-growing applications and use cases. In the logistics market, we are moving beyond barcode reading into more complex applications in e-commerce and omni-channel retail distribution centers, as well as parcel and post warehouses. In automotive, we are developing new solutions for fast growing electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. We reach a broad base of customers through our worldwide direct sales force that sells primarily to large, strategic customers, as well as through our network of distributors and integrators that sell primarily to smaller customers who may be more geographically remote or may require supplemental technical support or integration assistance. Our “Emerging Customer” sales initiative is expanding our sales force to reach customers who may be newer to factory automation and have yet to fully benefit from all that machine vision can offer. These customers are increasingly looking for automation solutions that are easy to implement, easy to use, and provide the best technology. We expect our Emerging Customer strategy to broaden our reach, increase penetration, and further diversify our customer base. Growth through innovation We invest heavily in research and development to maintain our position as a technology leader in machine vision. We invest in technology that addresses the most challenging vision applications, such as our deep learning vision software that solves complex applications with unpredictable defects and deviations. We also invest in technology that makes vision easier to use and more affordable, and therefore, available to a broader base of customers, such as our vision sensor products that enable customers with a lower budget to use machine vision while minimizing installation and applications support. Inorganic growth We plan to drive inorganic growth through expansion in adjacent market segments. We are focusing specifically on segments in which our products and solutions, application expertise, and customer and industry relationships should enable us to provide significant value to end-users. We seek out selective opportunities in new applications and markets through the acquisition of businesses and technologies that are synergistic with our core markets. We are selective in choosing businesses and technologies that we believe will enhance long-term growth and profitability, as well as fit within our corporate culture. We plan to continue to seek acquisition opportunities to expand our product lines, customer base, distribution network, and technical talent. Sustainable profitability We are careful in choosing growth opportunities that we believe will maintain our gross margin percentages, which have averaged in the mid-70 percent range in the past several years and reflect the value our customers place on our innovative products. Our relatively high gross margins have the potential to provide us with strong incremental profit margins, leading to high operating leverage in our financial model. Culture Our strong and unique corporate culture reinforces our values of customer first and innovation, and enables us to attract and retain smart, enthusiastic, and creative talent who are motivated to solve the most challenging vision tasks both quickly and painlessly for customers. End Markets Automotive The automotive market has been one of our largest markets for the past 20 years. Machine vision is used in almost every step of vehicle manufacturing, from measuring inbound parts, to guiding robot assembly, to inspecting the stitching on leather seats. We currently expect the proliferation of electronics in automobiles to be a significant growth driver in both electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. For example, innovations in safety, driver assist, and entertainment features increase the number of items to be placed, tracked, measured, and inspected by machine vision. We also anticipate a multi-year wave of investment in Electric Vehicle (“EV”) manufacturing equipment, including related to battery manufacturing and inspection. Cognex works closely with the major EV battery manufacturers in Asia that we believe produce more than 90% of the world’s automotive batteries. We believe that these manufacturers are positioned to grow within Asia, and to expand both independently and through partnerships in the Americas and Europe, and we anticipate that our existing relationships and proven offerings will position us to 2 Table of Content capture a significant share of this growth. These anticipated trends may offset expected reductions in traditional powertrain investments on internal combustion engine vehicles, leading to growth in the automotive market. Consumer Electronics We anticipate major investments in new generations of consumer electronics. We expect leading companies in this space to continue to grow based on new technologies that we expect to succeed and build on the smartphone. We believe new devices will be difficult to manufacture on a large scale, and therefore will require more innovative vision products in that process. Cognex has close relationships with the largest and most sophisticated companies in the consumer electronics market, and we expect to be a partner of choice as they bring new technologies to market. Logistics Logistics has been one of our largest growth drivers over the past five years and has become one of our largest end markets. We believe that our e-commerce logistics business is differentiated by the high performance of our bar-code reading and that growth will be driven by retailers investing in online fulfillment. From an automation perspective, the logistics industry is still in its early stages with a large reliance on human labor and a low rate of robotic automation. Beyond barcode reading, we expect vision applications in logistics to grow quickly and become a more substantial business for us. Vision applications include tasks like inspecting packages for damage, object and symbol recognition, and dimensioning. Geographically, our current logistics business is primarily within the U.S., but, over the long term, we expect to realize the highest rates of growth in Europe and Asia, where we believe customers are beginning to catch up with the U.S. in logistics automation technology and are moving away from local incumbent suppliers. In 2022, we saw a slowdown in this end market as the leading e-commerce players took a post-pandemic “time out” to absorb excess capacity, but we currently continue to expect logistics to be our highest growth end market over the mid to long term. Medical-Related Cognex has a growing customer base of life science equipment suppliers. Our products are specified in over 100 different machine designs, many of which are in the process of obtaining regulatory approval. As they launch, we believe they will deliver many years of recurring revenue. Applications in this market include lab automation and medical device inspection applications. In recent years, we also have seen demand for machine vision grow from manufacturers of diagnostic tests, vaccines, and protective equipment. Other The number of end markets with a need for machine vision applications is expanding. Other end market uses of Cognex machine vision include manufacturers of semiconductors, regulated products reducing counterfeiting, food producers improving food safety, manufacturers using 3D measurement for robotic guidance, and many others. Products and Technology Cognex offers a full range of machine vision systems and sensors, vision software, and industrial image-based barcode readers designed to meet customer needs at different performance and price points. Our products range from deep learning solutions that solve complex applications with unpredictable defects and deviations, to lower-cost vision sensors that conduct simple presence/absence inspections. Our products have a variety of physical forms, depending on the user's needs. For example, customers can purchase vision software to use with their own camera and processor, or they can purchase a standalone unit that combines camera, processor, and software into a single package. Vision Systems and Sensors Vision systems combine smart cameras and software to perform a wide range of tasks including part location, identification, measurement, assembly verification, and robotic guidance. Vision sensors can deliver an easy-to-use, low-cost, reliable solution for simple pass/fail inspections, such as checking the presence and size of parts. In-Sight vision systems and sensors, which include 2D, 3D, deep learning, and edge learning models, meet various price and performance requirements for factory automation customers. Our deep learning-based systems automate and solve complex inline inspections that typically require human judgment for defect detection, optical character recognition (OCR), assembly verification, or classification. Similar to our deep learning-based systems, our edge learning-based systems use pre-trained models, but on simpler applications that prioritize ease of use and have a broader appeal with easier and faster implementation and training. 3 Table of Content Vision Software Vision software offers customers the flexibility of the Cognex vision tools library to use with the cameras, frame grabbers, and peripheral equipment of their choice. Cognex VisionPro® software offers an extensive suite of patented vision tools, including both traditional rule-based tools and deep learning-enabled tools, for advanced programming. Its QuickBuild prototyping environment allows customers to build complete vision applications with the simplicity of a graphical, flowchart-based programming interface. Industrial Image-Based Barcode Readers Cognex industrial image-based barcode readers quickly and reliably read 1D, 2D, label-based, and direct part mark (DPM) codes found in nearly every industry including automotive, consumer products, medical-related, and logistics. The DataMan® product line, which includes fixed-mount and handheld models, as well as barcode verifiers, help organizations optimize performance, increase throughput, and control traceability. Research, Development, and Engineering Cognex engages in research, development, and engineering (RD&E) to enhance our existing products and to develop new products and functionality to address market opportunities. We believe that a continued commitment to RD&E activities is essential to maintain or achieve product leadership with our existing products and to provide innovative new product offerings, as well as to provide engineering support for large customers. In addition, we consider our ability to accelerate time to market for new products to be critical to our revenue growth . We incurred RD&E costs of approximately $141 million, $135 million, and $131 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We expect to continue our commitment to RD&E, even during periods of lower revenue levels, to introduce new products, platforms, and solutions throughout economic cycles. Intellectual Property We rely on the technical expertise, creativity, and knowledge of our personnel, and therefore, we utilize patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret protection to maintain our competitive position and protect our proprietary rights in our products and technology. While our intellectual property rights are important to our success, we believe that our business as a whole is not materially dependent on any particular patent, trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property right. Operations Cognex’s hardware products are manufactured utilizing third-party contractors, whereby the majority of component procurement, system assembly, and initial testing are performed by electronics manufacturing services suppliers. Cognex’s primary contract manufacturer is located in Indonesia. Our contract manufacturers use specified components sourced from vendor lists approved by Cognex and assembly/test processes created and controlled by Cognex. After the completion of initial testing, assembled products from our contract manufacturers are routed to our distribution centers in Cork, Ireland or Southborough, Massachusetts, USA, where trained Cognex personnel load Cognex software onto the products, provide additional assembly and image alignment as needed, and perform quality control procedures. Fully configured finished products for customers in the Americas, with the exception of certain products stocked locally in Mexico, are then shipped from our Southborough, Massachusetts distribution center, while finished products for customers outside of the Americas are shipped from our Cork, Ireland distribution center. Sales Channels and Support Services Cognex sells its products through a worldwide direct sales force that primarily focuses on the development of strategic accounts which generate or are expected to generate significant sales volume, as well as through a global network of distribution and integration partners. Our distribution partners provide sales and local support to help Cognex reach the many prospects for our products in factories around the world, and our integration partners are experts in vision and complementary technologies that can provide turnkey solutions for complex automation projects using vision. Through each of these channels, sales engineers call directly on targeted accounts, with the assistance of application engineers, and manage the activities of our distribution and integration partners within their territories in order to provide an advantageous sales model for our products. Towards the end of 2022, we also began to build out our Emerging Customer sales force that primarily focuses on establishing relationships and selling into new accounts which are newer to factory automation and Cognex. Sales to customers based outside of the United States represented approximately 66% of our total revenue in 2022, with approximately 23% from customers based in Europe, 23% from customers based in Greater China, and 20% from customers based in other regions outside the United States. Sales to customers based in Europe are denominated in Euros and U.S. Dollars, sales to customers based in Greater China are denominated in Renminbi 4 Table of Content for sales within Mainland China and U.S. Dollars in other territories, and sales to customers based in other regions are denominated in U.S. Dollars, Japanese Yen, Korean Won, and Mexican Pesos. Cognex’s service offerings represent less than 10% of our total revenue and include maintenance and support, consulting, and training services. Maintenance and support programs can include hardware support programs that entitle customers to have products repaired, as well as software support programs that provide customers with application support and software updates to the latest software releases. Application support is provided by technical support personnel located at Cognex regional offices, as well as by field service engineers that provide support at the customer’s production site. We provide consulting services that range from a specific area of functionality to a completely integrated installed application. Training services include a variety of product courses that are available at our offices worldwide, at customer facilities, and online. Human Capital Our employees are our most valuable asset and critical to our success. We create and maintain an environment where “Cognoids,” a unique name for our employees, can engage with each other, perform their best work, develop their careers, and be creative. As of December 31, 2022, Cognex employed 2,441 Cognoids globally, including 1,403 in sales, marketing, and service activities; 621 in research, development, and engineering; 191 in manufacturing and quality assurance; and 226 in information technology, finance, and administration. Of our 2,441 Cognoids, 1,495 are based outside of the United States. Culture and Values We pride ourselves on having a unique culture that exemplifies our motto of Work Hard, Play Hard, Move Fast . Our culture guides the actions and behaviors of our Cognoids and is defined by our ten values - Customer First, Excellence, Perseverance, Enthusiasm, Creativity, Pride, Integrity, Recognition, Sharing, and Fun . We are committed to finding the very best talent to be part of our growing technology company. We believe our culture enables us to attract and retain smart, energetic, and creative talent, and is central to our ability to execute our operating plans and strategic initiatives. To preserve and enhance our corporate culture, while recognizing differences across and within regions, we have a global team of Cognoids who serve as Ministers of Culture, led by our Chief Culture Officer. We believe in investing in tools and resources that support employees’ learning and development and setting a compensation structure that reflects the Company’s commitment to pay-for-performance philosophy. We believe these efforts align with our stockholders’ long-term interests and better position Cognex to operate as a leader in the machine vision industry. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging While we are incredibly proud of our culture, we continue to listen, learn, and grow. We are excited about the opportunities to continue to build an organization that reflects the best of the world around us. As a multi-national company where over half our Cognoids live outside the U.S., diversity means different things to different groups. We are building strategies and plans to continue to enhance our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives. One specific place where this evolution is visible is through the launch of our DEIB Council. The Council is led by Cognex’s Vice President of Solutions and is comprised of over 50 volunteer Cognoids representing a broad cross-section of functions, geographies, and backgrounds. Regulatory Compliance Cognex’s capital expenditures, earnings, and competitive position are not materially affected by compliance with federal, state, and local environmental provisions which have been enacted or adopted to regulate the distribution of materials into the environment. Available Information Cognex maintains a website at www.cognex.com. We make available, free of charge, on our website in the “Company” section under the caption “Investor Information” followed by “Financial Reports” and then “SEC FiIings,” our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, including exhibits, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Cognex’s reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC are also available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Cognex has used, and intends to continue to use, its investor relations website as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Information contained on our website is not a part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other document or report that Cognex files with the SEC, and any references to Cognex's website are intended to be inactive textual references only. 5 Table of Content