Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS, (continued)
Architectural products include cast bronze and aluminum plaques, etchings and letters that are used to recognize, commemorate and identify people, places, events and accomplishments. The Company's plaques are frequently used to identify the name of a building or the names of companies or individuals located within a building. Such products are also used to commemorate events or accomplishments, such as military service or financial donations. The principal markets for the segment's architectural products are corporations, fraternal organizations, contractors, churches, hospitals, schools and government agencies. These products are sold to and distributed through a network of independent dealers including sign suppliers, awards and recognition companies, and trophy dealers.
Raw materials used by the Memorialization segment to manufacture memorials consist principally of bronze and aluminum ingot, granite, sheet metal, coating materials, photopolymers and construction materials and are generally available in adequate supply. Ingot is obtained from various North American, European and Australian smelters. The primary materials required for casket manufacturing are cold-rolled steel and lumber. The segment also purchases copper, bronze, stainless steel, particleboard, corrugated materials, paper veneer, cloth, ornamental hardware and coating materials. Purchase orders or supply agreements are typically negotiated with large, integrated steel producers that have demonstrated timely delivery, high quality material and competitive prices. Lumber is purchased from a number of sawmills and lumber distributors. Raw materials used to manufacture cremation and incineration products consist principally of structural steel, sheet metal, electrical components, combustion devices and refractory materials. These are generally available in adequate supply from numerous suppliers.
Competition from other manufacturers of memorial products is on the basis of reputation, product quality, delivery, price, and design availability. The Company believes that its superior quality, broad product lines, innovative designs, delivery capability, customer responsiveness, experienced personnel and consumer-oriented merchandising systems are competitive advantages in its markets. Competition in the mausoleum construction industry includes various construction companies throughout North America and is on the basis of design, quality and price. Competitors in the architectural market are numerous and include companies that manufacture cast and painted signs, plastic materials, sand-blasted wood and other fabricated products.
The Memorialization segment markets its casket products in the United States through a combination of Company-owned and independent casket distribution facilities. The Company operates approximately 100 distribution centers in the United States. Approximately 85% of the segment's casket products are currently sold through Company-owned distribution centers. The casket business is highly competitive and the Company competes with other manufacturers on the basis of product quality, price, service, design availability and breadth of product line. The Memorialization segment provides a line of casket products that it believes is as comprehensive as any of its major competitors. There are a large number of casket industry participants operating in North America and also a few foreign casket manufacturers, primarily from China, participating in the North American market.
The Company competes with several manufacturers in the cremation and accessory equipment market principally on the basis of product design, quality and price. The Memorialization segment and its three largest global competitors account for a substantial portion of the United States and European cremation equipment market.
The Memorialization segment works to provide a total solution to customers that own and operate businesses in both the cemetery and funeral home markets. The Company's memorial and casket products serve the relatively stable casketed and in-ground burial death market, while its memorial products and cremation and incineration equipment also serve the growing cremation market.
Industrial Technologies:
The Industrial Technologies segment designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of marking and coding equipment and consumables, industrial automation solutions, and warehouse automation systems. Manufacturers, suppliers and distributors worldwide rely on Matthews' integrated systems to identify, track and pick their products.
Marking systems range from stand-alone marking products to complex ink-jet printing systems that integrate into a customer's production process. The Company manufactures and markets products and systems that employ different marking technologies, including laser and ink-jet printing. These technologies apply product information required for identification and traceability, as well as to facilitate inventory and quality control, regulatory compliance and brand name communication.
Warehouse automation systems complement the tracking and distribution of a customer's products with automated order fulfillment technologies, and controls for material handling systems. Material handling customers include some of the largest retail, eCommerce, and automated assembly companies in the United States. The Company also engineers innovative, custom solutions to address specific customer requirements in a variety of industries, including oil field services and security scanning.
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ITEM 1. BUSINESS, (continued)
A significant portion of the revenue of the Industrial Technologies segment is attributable to the sale of consumables and replacement parts required by the marking, coding and tracking products sold by Matthews. The Company develops inks exclusively for the use with its marking equipment which is critical to ensure ongoing equipment reliability and mark quality.
The principal customers for the Company's marking and fulfillment systems products are manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of durable goods, building products, consumer goods manufacturers (including food and beverage processors) and producers of pharmaceuticals. The Company also serves a wide variety of industrial markets, including metal fabricators, manufacturers of woven and non-woven fabrics, plastic, rubber and automotive products.
A portion of this segment's sales are outside the United States, with distribution sourced through the Company's subsidiaries in Sweden, Germany and China in addition to other international distributors. The Company owns a minority interest in distributors in Asia, Australia and Europe.
Major raw materials for this segment's products include precision components, electronics, printing components and chemicals, all of which are presently available in adequate supply from various sources.
Competitors in the marking and fulfillment systems industries are diverse, with some companies offering limited product lines for well-defined specialty markets, while others operate similarly to the Company, offering a broad product line and competing in multiple product markets and countries. Competitive differentiation for marking and fulfillment systems products is based on product performance, ease of integration into the manufacturing and/or distribution process, service and price. The Company typically competes with specialty companies in specific brand marking solutions and traceability applications. The Company believes that, in general, its Industrial Technologies segment offers one of the broadest lines of products to address a wide variety of marking, coding and industrial automation applications.
PATENTS, TRADEMARKS AND LICENSES:
The Company holds a number of trademarks and in excess of 100 domestic and foreign patents for its products and related technologies. However, the Company believes the loss of any individual or a significant number of patents or trademarks would not have a material impact on consolidated operations or revenues.
HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES:
At October 31, 2020, the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries employed approximately 11,000 people globally. The Company's diverse team of talented employees possess a vast array of skills including creative design, photography, engineering, manufacturing, research and development, plant operations, production, logistics and administrative support, such as information technology, human resources and finance. Certain of the Company's employees have highly specialized skills and subject-matter expertise in their respective fields, which helps enable the Company to deliver industry leading products and services to its customers throughout the world.
The Company attracts and maintains talent by offering market rate competitive salaries for the locations in which it operates, and by engaging employees with rewarding opportunities to contribute to the success of the Company. The Company is committed to supporting and developing its employees through global learning and development programs. These programs are designed to build and strengthen employees’ skills, including leadership and professional competencies. Leadership development programs include intensive learning programs for emerging leaders, as well as mid-level and senior leaders. The Company also strategically partners with educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to help provide current and future workers with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. Such efforts also include routine and consistent compliance training, covering a wide-range of relevant subjects. The Company has consistently re-invested in necessary resources to effectively staff and efficiently support its three business segments.
Employee health and safety in the workplace is one of the Company’s core values. Safety efforts are led by the Global Health and Safety team and supported by individuals at the local site level. Hazards in the workplace are timely identified and management actively tracks incidents so remedial actions may be implemented to improve workplace safety. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has taken actions aligned with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect its workforce so they can more safely and effectively perform their work. In so doing, the Company has prioritized the initiation of comprehensive health and safety protocols, further ensuring strict adherence to responsive measures for mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
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ITEM 1. BUSINESS, (continued)
The Company is committed to efforts to increase diversity and foster an inclusive work environment that supports the Company’s large global workforce. The Company has taken actions to enhance diversity, including the formation of a Diversity and Inclusion (“D&I”) council, comprised of a diverse group of talented individuals across the Company’s various businesses and geographic locations. The D&I council is responsible for helping to shape the Company’s D&I objectives, prioritize the Company’s actions and programs in this important area, and support the Company’s efforts in building a more inclusive workplace. The efforts of the D&I council are further guided by the Company’s Executive leadership team.
BACKLOG:
Because the nature of the Company's SGK Brand Solutions, Memorialization and Industrial Technologies businesses are primarily custom products made to order and services with short lead times, backlogs are not generally material except for purpose built machinery projects in the SGK Brand Solutions segment, mausoleums and cremation and incineration equipment in the Memorialization segment and industrial automation and order fulfillment systems in the Industrial Technologies segment. Backlogs vary in a range of approximately six to twelve months of sales for purpose built machinery projects and mausoleums. Cremation and incineration equipment sales backlogs vary in a range of ten to twelve months of sales. Backlogs for Industrial Technologies segment sales generally vary in a range of up to four weeks for standard products and twenty-four weeks for custom systems. The Company's current backlog is expected to be substantially filled in fiscal 2021, absent any disruptions related to COVID-19.
REGULATORY MATTERS:
The Company’s operations are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations requiring strict compliance, including, but not limited to, the protection of the environment. The Company has established numerous internal compliance programs to further ensure lawful satisfaction of the applicable regulations. In addition, the Company is party to specific environmental matters which include obligations to investigate and mitigate the effects on the environment of certain materials at operating and non-operating sites. The Company is currently performing environmental assessments and remediation at certain sites, as applicable.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION:
The Company's principal executive offices are located at Two NorthShore Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212, its telephone number is (412) 442-8200 and its website is www.matw.com. The Company files or furnishes all required reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in accordance with the Exchange Act. The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and amendments to those reports are available free of charge on the Company's website as soon as reasonably practicable after being filed or furnished to the SEC. The Company's reports filed or furnished with the SEC, including exhibits attached to such reports, are also available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
There are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's businesses that could adversely affect its operating performance and financial condition. Set forth below are descriptions of those risks and uncertainties that the Company currently believes to be material. Additional risks not currently known or deemed immaterial may also result in adverse effects on the Company.
Company-Specific Risk Factors:
Foreign Operations. The Company conducts business in more than 25 countries around the world, and in fiscal 2020 approximately 33% of the Company's sales to external customers were to customers outside the United States. In addition, the Company's manufacturing operations, suppliers and employees are located in many places around the world. As such, the Company's future success depends in part on its ability to grow sales in non-U.S. markets. Sales and operations outside of the United States are subject to certain inherent risks, including fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, global economic uncertainties, tariffs, quotas, taxes and other market barriers, political and economic instability, restrictions on the export or import of technology, potentially limited intellectual property protection, difficulties in staffing and managing international operations, potentially adverse tax consequences, and required compliance with non-U.S. laws and regulations.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, (continued)
Changes in Foreign Currency Exchange Rates . Manufacturing and sales of a significant portion of the Company's products are outside the United States, and accordingly, the Company holds assets, incurs liabilities, earns revenue and pays expenses in a variety of currencies. The Company's consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, and therefore, the Company must translate the reported values of its foreign assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses into U.S. dollars. Increases or decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to foreign currencies may negatively affect the value of these items in the Company's consolidated financial statements, even though their value has not changed in local currency.
Increased Prices for Raw Materials. The Company's profitability is affected by the prices of the raw materials used in the manufacture of its products. These prices may fluctuate based on a number of factors, including changes in supply and demand, domestic and global economic conditions, volatility in commodity markets, currency exchange rates, labor costs, tariffs and fuel-related costs. If suppliers increase the price of critical raw materials, alternative sources of supply, or alternative materials, may not exist or be readily available.
The Company has standard selling price structures (i.e., list prices) in certain of its segments, which are reviewed for adjustment generally on an annual basis. In addition, the Company has established pricing terms with several of its customers through contracts or similar arrangements. Based on competitive market conditions and to the extent that the Company has established pricing terms with customers, the Company's ability to immediately increase the price of its products to offset the increased costs may be limited. Significant raw material price increases that cannot be mitigated by selling price increases or productivity improvements will negatively affect the Company's results of operations.
Changes in Mortality and Cremation Rates. Generally, life expectancy in the United States and other countries in which the Company's Memorialization segment operates has increased steadily for several decades and is expected to continue to do so in the future. The increase in life expectancy is also expected to impact the number of deaths in the future. Additionally, cremations have steadily grown as a percentage of total deaths in the United States since the 1960's, and are expected to continue to increase in the future. The Company expects that these trends will continue in the future and sales of the Company's Memorialization segment may benefit from the continued growth in the number of cremations; however, such trends may adversely affect the volume of bronze and granite memorialization products and burial caskets sold in the United States.
Changes in Product Demand or Pricing. The Company's businesses have and will continue to operate in competitive markets. Changes in product demand or pricing are affected by domestic and foreign competition and an increase in consolidated purchasing by large customers operating in both domestic and global markets. The Memorialization businesses generally operate in markets with ample supply capacity and demand which is correlated to death rates. The SGK Brand Solutions businesses serve global customers that are requiring their suppliers to be global in scope and price-competitive. Additionally, in recent years the Company has witnessed an increase in products manufactured offshore, primarily in China, and imported into the Company's U.S. markets. It is expected that these trends will continue and may affect the Company's future results of operations.
Changes in the Distribution of the Company's Products or the Loss of a Large Customer. Although the Company does not have any customer that is individually significant to consolidated sales, it does have contracts with several large customers in both the Memorialization and SGK Brand Solutions segments. While these contracts provide important access to large purchasers of the Company's products, they can obligate the Company to sell products at contracted prices for extended periods of time. Additionally, any significant divestiture of business properties or operations by current customers could result in a loss of business if the Company is not able to maintain the business with the subsequent owners of the businesses.
Pandemics or similar outbreaks may cause unfavorable economic or market conditions which could impact demand patterns and/or disrupt global supply chains and production operations. Collectively, these outcomes could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. Pandemics or similar outbreaks, such as COVID-19, could adversely affect the economies of developed and emerging markets, potentially resulting in an economic downturn that could affect customers’ demand for the Company’s products and services, as well as the Company's ability to access capital at acceptable interest rates. The spread of pandemics or similar outbreaks may also disrupt the Company’s manufacturing and production operations, as well as its distribution systems, which include import and export for delivery of the Company’s products to its customers. These factors could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.
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