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Over the past few years, we have seen a broadening of precision sensing applications in both our traditional industrial markets and new markets, due to the development of higher functionality in our customers' end products.
−Removed: Our precision measurement solutions are used across a wide variety of end markets upon which we focus, including industrial, test and measurement, transportation, steel, medical, agriculture, avionics, military and space, and consumer product applications.
+Added: Our precision measurement solutions are used across a wide variety of end markets upon which we focus, including test and measurement, industrial, transportation, steel, avionics, military and space, as well as other markets such as agriculture, consumer, and medical.
The Company has a long heritage of innovation in sensor technologies that provide accuracy, reliability and repeatability that make our customers' products safer, smarter, and more productive.
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VPG delivers in-depth, deep engineering expertise to the design and manufacture of non-commodity sensors, weighing solutions and precision measurement systems that optimize and enhance our customers’ solutions performance across a broad array of end markets.
−Removed: Our strategy is to leverage our core technologies and competitive positions in our home markets, establishing an accelerated organic growth, as well as by acquiring complementary precision measurement sensing products.
−Removed: Specifically, we are focused on the following strategic initiatives:
+Added: Our strategy is to leverage our core technologies and competitive position in both existing and new markets to accelerate our organic growth, as well as to augment that growth by acquiring complementary precision measurement and sensing businesses.
+Added: Specifically, we are focused on the following strategies:
Operationally Diversified
−Removed: In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, we formally adopted an operationally diversified structure and strategy, through which each of VPG's business segments maintains and deploys distinct go-to-market strategies, technical expertise, capital requirements, and acquisition opportunities.
+Added: Each of VPG's business segments maintains and deploys distinct go-to-market strategies, technical expertise, capital requirements, and acquisition opportunities.
We use an operationally diversified strategy and structure to be close to our customers and to leverage our high-level engineering expertise to optimize and enhance the performance of our customers' solutions.
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Optimize Core Competence
−Removed: The Company’s core competencies include our innovative deep technical and applications-specific expertise to add value to our customers' products, our strong brands and customer relationships, our focus on operational excellence, our ability to select and develop our management teams, and our proven M&A strategy.
+Added: The Company’s core competencies include our innovative deep technical and applications-specific expertise, our strong brands and customer relationships, our focus on operational excellence, our ability to select and develop our management teams, and our proven M&A strategy.
We continue to optimize all aspects of our development, manufacturing and sales processes, including by increasing our technical sales efforts;
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We also seek to achieve significant production cost savings through the transfer, expansion, and construction of manufacturing operations in countries such as India, Japan, and Israel, where we can benefit from improved efficiencies or available tax and other government-sponsored incentives.
−Removed: In the past several years, we incurred restructuring expense related to closing and downsizing of facilities as part of the manufacturing transitions of our load cell products to facilities in India and China, which marked key milestones in our ongoing strategic initiatives to align and consolidate our manufacturing footprint.
+Added: In the past several years, we incurred restructuring expense related to closing and downsizing of facilities as part of the manufacturing transitions of our load cell products to facilities in India, which marked key milestones in our ongoing strategic initiatives to align and consolidate our manufacturing footprint.
Organic Growth
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Growth from Acquisitions
−Removed: We expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions where opportunities present themselves to grow and expand our segments.
−Removed: Historically, our growth and acquisition strategy had been largely focused on vertical product integration, using our foil strain gages in our load cell products, and incorporating those products into our weighing solutions.
−Removed: In recent years, we widened our acquisition strategy to include a broader set of precision measurement systems and product companies.
+Added: Since becoming a public company, we have acquired five businesses utilizing stringent financial, market, operational, and valuation criteria:
• In 2013, we completed our first acquisition as an independent public company when we acquired substantially all of the assets of the George Kelk Corporation ("KELK").
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We believe DTS will continue to benefit from the global need for specialized safety testing that is expanding from the automotive and avionics sectors to sports applications.
−Removed: As a result of our acquisition, we acquired a leased manufacturing, engineering, sales and administrative facility in Seal Beach, California.
−Removed: We expect to expand our expertise, and our acquisition focus, outside our traditional vertical approach to other precision measurement solutions, including in the fields of measurement of force, weight, pressure, torque, tilt, motion, and acceleration.
+Added: As a result of our acquisition, we acquired a leased manufacturing, engineering, sales and administrative facilities in Seal Beach, California and Novi, Michigan.
+Added: We expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions where opportunities present themselves to grow and expand our segments.
+Added: Our acquisition strategy is focused on identifying and acquiring high-value, growing technology-driven businesses that augment, expand and/or leverage our current offering in precision measurement and sensor markets.
+Added: We expect to expand our expertise and our acquisition focus to other precision measurement solutions, including in the fields of measurement of force, weight, pressure, torque, tilt, motion, and acceleration.
We believe acquired businesses will benefit from improvements we implement to reduce redundant functions and from our current global manufacturing and distribution footprint.
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The main market segments for our precision resistors are as follows:
−Removed: Avionics & Military, Space Communications, Fiber Optics, Industrial Automation, EV Battery Management Infrastructure, and Precision Weighing, Test & Measurements / Semiconductors and others.
+Added: avionics & military, space communications, fiber optics, industrial automation, EV battery management infrastructure, precision weighing, and test & measurement including semiconductor test and production, among others.
Foil resistors are marketed under four different brands:
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VPG Transducers offers a broad line of load cells and force measurement transducers, which also known as force sensors, that are offered as precision sensors for industrial and commercial use.
−Removed: Typical applications for force sensors are in construction machinery (for stability control, overload protection), agricultural equipment (for precision force measurement), and medical devices (such as hospital beds and medication dosing).
+Added: Typical applications for force sensors are in construction machinery for stability control or overload protection, agricultural equipment for precision force measurement, and medical devices such as hospital beds and medication dosing.
The heavy equipment market has begun to adopt load cell technology as process control and equipment control features for their products.
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The term “load cell” is primarily used to describe transducers used in weighing applications.
−Removed: Strain-gage based transducers consist of one or more strain gages bonded to a metallic support.
−Removed: The change in resistance of the strain gages in response to deformation of the transducer by the applied load is detected by electronic instrumentation.
+Added: Strain-gage based transducers consist of one or more strain gages bonded to a metallic structure.
+Added: The change in resistance of the strain gages in response to strain of the transducer by the applied load is detected by electronic instrumentation calculating the force detected or weight.
Transducers are manufactured with different designs and configurations depending on their application and the type of stress or strain to be measured;
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Approximately half of VPG Transducer load cell products are sold to third parties as “standard catalog items,” but a growing sector of this segment’s products are sold as non-standard and/or custom products to third parties including OEM manufacturers.
−Removed: Our sales teams act as direct sales channels (field application engineers (“FAEs”)) utilizing the primary customer interface relating to initial design specifications, development of prototypes, and pricing/delivery of this segment’s products.
+Added: Our sales teams act as direct sales channels (field application engineers or “FAEs”) utilizing the primary customer interface relating to initial design specifications, development of prototypes, and pricing/delivery of this segment’s products.
Distributors are also used for those customers that desire standard products.
−Removed: Our VPG Onboard Weighing business specializes in high-quality, high-accuracy vehicle weighing and load monitoring systems for all commercial vehicle types, including trucks, vans and specialty vehicles.
+Added: Our VPG Onboard Weighing, Stress-Tek, and Vulcan businesses specialize in high-quality, high-accuracy vehicle weighing and over-load monitoring systems for all commercial vehicle types, including trucks, vans, specialty vehicles, and special scale systems used for aircraft weighing and portable truck weighing.
+Added: Onboard weighing systems are installed in logging and waste handling trucks.
Many of these products use solid-state sensors.
−Removed: VPG Onboard Weighing products, sold under the brand names TruckWeigh and VanWeigh, are used by drivers and fleet operators to monitor vehicle loads within legally permitted limits and regulations.
−Removed: Our Stress-Tek, Vulcan, and BLH Nobel businesses mainly provide load cells and instrumentation for weighing and force control/measurement for a variety of uses.
+Added: VPG Onboard Weighing products, sold under the brand names TruckWeigh, VanWeigh, and Load Pro in the United States, are used by drivers and fleet operators to monitor vehicle loads within legally permitted limits and regulations.
+Added: The BLH Nobel business mainly provides load cells and instrumentation for weighing and force control/measurement for a variety of uses.
These include systems to control process weighing in food, chemical, and pharmaceutical plants;
force measurement systems used to control web tension in paper mills, cable tension in winch controls.
−Removed: onboard weighing systems installed in logging and waste-handling trucks;
−Removed: and special scale systems used for aircraft weighing and portable truck weighing.
Major components that comprise our Weighing Solutions products include:
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Manufacturing Operations
−Removed: Our principal manufacturing facilities are located in Israel, the United States, Canada, India, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, and Japan.
+Added: Our principal manufacturing facilities are located in Israel, the United States, Canada, India, Germany, and Japan.
We also have manufacturing facilities in Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and France.
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Examples of competition in our Sensors segment includes KOA, Bourns, Vishay Intertechnology, TT Electronics, Susumu, Isabellenhute, Caddock and Flat Dashi for foil resistors, and HBK, an operating company of Spectris, Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo Co., Ltd (TML), Kyowa and Zemic for foil strain gages.
−Removed: Competitors in our Weighing Solutions segment include HBK, Zemic, Utilcell, Flintec, Hardy Instruments and Mettler-Toledo for load cell products, and Air-Weigh, Vehicle Weighing Systems, MOBA, and AMCS for onboard weighing products.
−Removed: In the Measurement Systems segment, we compete with ABB, Siemens, Haehne, Dalian, IMS and Fuji in the steel market and Kistler for data acquisition systems.
+Added: Competitors in our Weighing Solutions segment include HBK, Zemic, and Utilcell for load cell products, and Air-Weigh and Vehicle Weighing Systems for onboard weighing products.
+Added: In the Measurement Systems segment, we compete with ABB, IMS and Fuji in the steel market and Kistler for data acquisition systems.
Research and Development
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As part of our launch of a corporate Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") program in 2022, we completed a materiality assessment, developed a multi-year ESG plan, and established an internal scorecard with short and long-term objectives.
−Removed: The implementation of our multi-year ESG plan is on track as evidenced by our actions over the past year, which include revising our Board Committee charters and other applicable governance documents to include ESG-related topics and oversight, launching a sustainability website, sharing key ESG performance indicators with our stockholders, key stakeholders and the general public and adding ESG policies on Human Rights and Solid and Hazardous Waste.
−Removed: Our multi-year ESG plan continues to be built on four pillars:
−Removed: Our People, Our Environment, Our Governance and Our Products, and serves as a guiding framework that will be added to as new trends, requests from stakeholders and internal business strategies require.
+Added: The implementation of our multi-year ESG plan continues to be on track as evidenced by our actions over the past year, which include updating applicable governance documents to include ESG-related topics on Information Security, sharing further key ESG performance indicators for environment, health and safety with our stockholders, key stakeholders and the general public, adopting ESG policies on Climate Related Risk-Greenhouse Gas and a Supplier Code of Conduct and updating our Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption policies.
+Added: Internally, we are also capturing baseline data to identify opportunities for reducing energy consumption that contribute to Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions using the latest Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
+Added: Our multi-year ESG plan is reviewed yearly and remains built on four pillars:
+Added: Our People, Our Environment, Our Governance and Our Products, and continues to serve as a guiding framework that will be added to as new trends, requests from stakeholders and internal business strategies require.
We have issued an Environmental, Health and Safety Policy that sets forth our commitment to achieving health and safety for employees and protecting of the environment, to maintaining compliance with applicable environmental, health and safety laws, to promoting proper management of hazardous materials, and to minimizing the hazardous materials generated in the course of our operations.
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We support worldwide employment and promotion of diversity to innovate and drive long-term value, by continuous monitoring of compensation and benefits to assure competitiveness, while implementing a worldwide talent strategy that includes workforce planning and succession planning.
−Removed: The impact of COVID-19 on our operations has been mitigated through the issuance of Guidelines for Manufacturing Safety, Travel Safety and Personal Protective Equipment sourcing to ensure employee and visitor, contractor safety and continuity of operations.
We have had no employee strikes or work stoppages due to labor disputes and we consider our relationship with employees to be generally good, however, no assurance can be given that labor unrest or strikes will not occur.
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Information about our Executive Officers
−Removed: The following table sets forth certain information regarding our executive officers as of March 1, 2023:
+Added: The following table sets forth certain information regarding our executive officers as of February 29, 2024:
Name Age Positions
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• Policy Regarding Qualifications of Directors
+Added: • Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
+Added: • Supplier Code of Conduct
+Added: • Information Security Report
+Added: • By-Laws of Vishay Precision Group
To view these documents, access http://ir.vpgsensors.com and click on “Sustainability-Governance” and then on “Governance” and then on "Governance Documents."
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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.