Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
LSI Industries is a leading producer of high-performance, American-made lighting and graphics solutions. The Company’s strength in outdoor lighting applications creates opportunities for it to introduce additional solutions to its customers. LSI’s indoor and outdoor products and services, including its digital and print graphics capabilities, are valued by architects, engineers, distributors and contractors for their quality, reliability, and innovation.
Our business is organized as follows: the Lighting Segment, which represented 67% of our fiscal 2020 net sales and the Graphics Segment, which represented 33% of our fiscal 2020 net sales. See Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements beginning on page 42 of this Form 10-K for additional information on business segments. Net sales by segment are as follows (in thousands):
2020
2019
Lighting Segment
$
206,199
$
235,114
Graphics Segment
99,359
93,738
Total Net Sales
$
305,558
$
328,852
Lighting Segment
Our Lighting Segment manufactures, markets, and sells outdoor and indoor lighting solutions to the following markets including but not limited to: petroleum/convenience markets, parking lot and garage markets, quick-service restaurant market, grocery and pharmacy store markets, the automotive market, and national retail accounts. The Company reaches these customers through multiple channels including: project job business sold through electrical distributors and shipped direct to the customer; standard products sold to and stocked by distributors; and direct to end-use customers. Our products are designed and manufactured to provide maximum value and meet the high-quality, competitively priced product requirements of the markets we serve. Focusing on key market applications allows us to deliver unique product solutions which in turn provides value to our customers.
Our lighting fixtures, poles and brackets are produced in a variety of designs, styles and finishes. Important functional variations include types of mounting, such as pole, bracket and surface, and the nature of the light requirement, such as interior and exterior down-lighting, wall-wash lighting, canopy lighting, flood-lighting, emergency exit lighting, area lighting and security lighting. Our engineering staff performs photometric analyses and wind load safety studies for our light fixtures. In addition, our light fixtures are certified to UL, DLC, ROHS, and (for outdoor lighting) IDA standards. Our lighting products utilize LED light sources. The major products and services offered within our lighting segment include exterior area lighting, interior lighting, canopy lighting, landscape lighting, lighting controls, light poles, lighting system design, and photometric layouts. All of our products are designed for performance, reliability, ease of installation and service, as well as attractive appearance. The Company also has a focus on designing lighting system solutions and implementing strategies related to energy savings in all markets served.
We offer our customers expertise in developing and utilizing high-performance solid-state LED solutions, which when combined with the Company’s lighting fixture expertise and control technology, has the potential to result in a broad spectrum of white light LED fixtures that offer equivalent or improved lighting performance with significant energy and maintenance savings as compared to conventional light sources.
Graphics Segment
Our Graphics Segment manufactures, sells and installs exterior and interior visual image elements such as traditional print graphics, interior branding, electrical and architectural signage, active digital signage along with the management of media content related to digital signage, and menu board systems that are either digital or print by design. The major products and services offered within our Graphics Segment include the following: signage and canopy graphics, pump dispenser graphics, building fascia graphics, decals, interior signage and marketing graphics, aisle markers, wall mural graphics, fleet graphics, menu boards, digital signage and media content management. We also manage and execute the implementation of large rollout programs. These programs provide graphics displays and visual image upgrades in several markets, including the petroleum/convenience store market, quick-service restaurant market, the grocery store and pharmacy markets, as well as customers with multi-site retail operations. Our extensive lighting and graphics expertise, product offering, and visual image solution implementation capabilities represent significant competitive advantages. We work with our customers and design firms to establish and implement cost effective corporate visual image programs to advance our customer’s brand. Increasingly, we have become the primary supplier of exterior and interior graphics for our customers. We also offer installation management services for those customers who require the installation of interior or exterior products (utilizing pre-qualified independent subcontractors throughout the United States).
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Sales, Customers and Marketing
Sales: Our lighting products including lighting controls, are sold primarily throughout the United States, but also in Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Latin America (approximately 5% of consolidated net sales are outside the United States) using a combination of regional sales managers and independent sales representatives for the various markets we serve. Our lighting product sales originate from two primary revenue streams. The first revenue stream is from project-based business, quoting and receiving orders as a preferred vendor for product sales to multiple end-users, including customer-owned as well as franchised and licensed dealer operations. The second revenue stream is from selling standard product to stocking distributors, who subsequently provide product to electrical contractors and end users for a variety of lighting applications. Our graphics products, which in many instances are program-driven, are sold primarily through our own sales force.
Customers: Sales are developed through a wide variety of contacts such as, but not limited to, national retail marketers, branded product companies, franchises, and dealer operations. In addition, sales are also achieved through recommendations from local architects, engineers, petroleum and electrical distributors and contractors. The Company utilizes the latest technology to track sales leads and customer quotes with the goal to turn them into orders from our customers. Our sales are partially seasonal as installation of outdoor lighting and graphic systems in the northern states decreases during the winter months. The Company did not have any customers whose annual consolidated sales exceeded 10 percent of total net sales in fiscal 2020 or 2019.
Marketing: The Company markets its products and service capabilities to end users in multiple channels through a broad spectrum of marketing and promotional methods, including direct customer contact, trade shows, on-site training, print advertising in industry publications, product brochures and other literature, as well as the internet and social media. We have made investments in our marketing support team to continue to build awareness of LSI’s product and service capabilities. Our marketing approach and means of distribution vary by product line and by market.
Manufacturing and Distribution
We currently operate out of seven manufacturing facilities in four U.S. states. In the first quarter of fiscal 2020, the Company sold its New Windsor, New York facility, and moved production from this location to our Cincinnati, Ohio and Independence, Kentucky locations. In the third quarter, the Company sold its North Canton, Ohio facility. In conjunction with the sale of the North Canton facility, we moved to a smaller manufacturing facility in Akron, Ohio. These changes allowed us to leverage our existing footprint in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas while strengthening our commitment to U.S. based manufacturing along with a diverse and redundant supply chain.
We design, engineer and manufacture most of our lighting and graphics products through the utilization of lean manufacturing principles. Our investment in our production facilities is focused primarily on improving capabilities, product quality, and manufacturing efficiency as well as environmental, health, and safety compliance. The majority of products we sell are engineered, designed and assembled by the Company, while a small portion of the products we sell are purchased from select qualified vendors .Our lighting and graphics products are delivered directly from our manufacturing facilities to our customers utilizing third-party common carriers.
The principal raw materials and purchased components used in the manufacturing of our products are steel, aluminum, aluminum castings, fabrications, LEDs, power supplies, powder paint, steel tubing, wire harnesses, acrylic, silicon and glass lenses, inks, various graphics substrates such as Aluminum Composite Material (ACM), Expanded PVC sheet (EPVC), vinyl film, styrene, foamboards, and digital screens. We source these materials and components from a variety of suppliers. Although an interruption of these supplies and components could disrupt our operations, we believe generally that alternative sources of supply exist and could be readily arranged. We are not dependent on any one supplier for critical component parts. We strive to reduce price volatility in our purchases of raw materials and components through annual contracts with strategic suppliers. Our Lighting operations generally carry a certain level of sub-assemblies and finished goods inventory to meet quick delivery requirements. The Company’s operations dealing with LED products generally carry LED and LED component inventory due to longer lead times. Most lighting products are made to order and shipped shortly after they are manufactured. Our Graphics operations manufacture custom graphics products for customers who require us to stock certain amounts of finished goods in exchange for their commitment to that inventory. Our digital signage business requires us to carry an inventory of digital screens to meet the demands of a large roll-out program. In some Graphics programs, customers also give us a cash advance for the inventory that we stock for them.
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Research and Development :
We invest in the development of new products and solutions as well as the enhancement of existing product offerings to meet the needs of our customers. Research and development costs are directly attributable to new product development, including the development of new technology for both existing and new products, and consist of salaries, payroll taxes, employee benefits, materials, outside legal costs and filing fees related to obtaining patents, supplies, depreciation and other administrative costs. Research and development costs related to both product and software development totaled $3.6 million and $5.3 million for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Competition
We experience competition in both segments and in all markets we serve based on numerous factors, including price, brand name recognition, product quality, product design, prompt delivery, energy efficiency, customer relationships, reputation, and service capabilities. Although we have many competitors, some of which have greater financial and other resources, we do not compete with the same companies across both segments and all markets. In addition, there have been a growing number of new competitors in the lighting segment, most notably those companies selling lower cost Asian imports.
Working Capital
For a discussion of our working capital, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
Backlog Orders
We had a backlog of orders, which we believe to be firm, of $26.2 million and $30.7 million at June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. All orders are expected to be shippable or installed within twelve months.
Environmental Regulations
We are subject to a variety of federal, state, and local provisions regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. These include statutory and regulatory provisions under which we are responsible for the management of hazardous materials we use and the disposition of hazardous wastes resulting from our manufacturing processes. Failure to comply with such provisions could result in fines and other liabilities to the government or third parties.
Employees
We have 1,072 full-time employees and 29 agency employees as of June 30, 2020. We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits program to our employees, including competitive wages, medical and dental insurance and a 401(k) retirement savings plan. The Company offers a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, an equity-based incentive plan and an incentive plan that is based upon the achievement of the Company’s business plan goals, for certain employees.
Information Concerning LSI Industries Inc.
We file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. The SEC maintains an internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding us. The address of that site is http://www.sec.gov . Our internet address is http://www.lsi corp .com . We make available free of charge through our internet website our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file them with the SEC.
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