Foil resistors and sensors are based on a specialty technology which we invented. We manufacture and sell high precision foil resistors, foil resistance strain gages, and strain gage instruments containing foil resistors. Through our vertical integration strategy, we have added products such as load cells/transducers—a combination of strain gages and the metallic structures to which they are bonded; load cell modules that include electronic instrumentation (which include foil resistors) and software for measuring the load cell output; and complete systems for process control and on-board weighing applications.

Many of our products and manufacturing techniques and technologies have been invented, designed, and developed by our engineers and scientists. Special proprietary resistive metallic foil is the most important material in both our foil resistors and our foil resistance strain gages, and our research and development activities related to foil materials is an important linkage between these two products. The resistive foil technology which we master is the most important part of our leadership in sensors and foil resistors. We maintain strategically placed design centers where proximity to customers enables us to more easily gauge and satisfy the needs of local markets. We also maintain research and development staffs and promote programs at a number of our production facilities to develop new products and new applications of existing products, and to improve manufacturing techniques.

Since 2002, we have implemented a strategy of vertical product integration, growing through acquisition from a manufacturer of strain gages to a producer of load cells that incorporate these strain gages, to a designer of sophisticated weighing and process control modules combining load cells with software and electronics, to a provider of complete systems that integrate load cells and load cell modules with comprehensive, real time measurement, tracking and reporting capabilities.

Historically, we have operated as part of Vishay Intertechnology, sharing services and capital with Vishay Intertechnology’s discrete semiconductor and passive components businesses. Following our spin-off from Vishay Intertechnology, we will become a more tightly focused precision measurement company. As an independent publicly traded company, we believe we will be better positioned to compete in the precision measurement industry and to invest in and grow our business. Specifically, we intend to focus on the following strategic initiatives:

Our product portfolio includes:

• Bulk Metal® foil resistors and sensors – Foil resistors are the most precise and stable type of resistors available. Resistors are basic components used in all forms of electronic circuitry to adjust and regulate levels of voltage and current. A resistor can also be used to detect current changes, by measuring the voltage drop across its path. Our foil resistors and current sensors are used in applications requiring a high degree of precision and stability, such as in medical testing equipment, high performance audio equipment, precision measuring instruments and aerospace and military applications.
• Strain gages and instruments – Strain gages are sensors used to detect weight and other forms of mechanical stress. They are widely used in structural stress analysis, for example in aircraft and automobiles, and in weighing, process control, and other forms of force measurement. Related instruments are used to measure, display, and record stress detected by strain gages.
• Load cells – Strain gage load cells, also referred to as transducers, are components consisting of one or more strain gages bonded to a metallic support. This load cell is mounted on a structure subject to weight, such as the platform of an industrial scale. The change in resistance of the strain gages in response to deformation of the load cell by the applied load is detected by electronic instrumentation. The load cells are manufactured with different designs and configurations depending on their application and the type of load to be measured, for example weight or tension in paper mills, for example.
• Modules – Modules combine load cells with sophisticated electronic instruments or foil resistor current sensors and embedded software for specialized stress measurement and control applications such as process weighing, vehicular on-board weighing and web tension.
• Systems – We also design, manufacture, install and service complete systems for commercial or industrial processes based upon the detection and measurement of weight and other types of mechanical stress. These include systems to control process weighing in food, chemical, and pharmaceutical plants; force measurement systems used to control web tension in paper mills, roller force in steel mills, and cable tension in winch controls; on-board weighing systems installed in logging and waste-handling trucks; and special scale systems used for aircraft weighing and portable truck weighing.
• PhotoStress® products – PhotoStress coatings and instruments use a unique optical process to reveal and measure the distribution of stresses in structures under live load conditions. They are used to improve structural design in aerospace, automotive, military, civil engineering, industrial, and mechanical applications. They are also used in the design of load cells.

With the exception of our PhotoStress coatings and instruments, our products are based on resistive foil technology. This technology evolved and continues to evolve for different applications used in many markets.

Many of our products and manufacturing techniques, technologies, and packaging methods have been invented, designed, and developed by our engineers and scientists. We maintain strategically placed design centers where proximity to customers enables us to more easily gauge and satisfy the needs of local markets. These design centers are located in the United States, Germany, Israel, the People’s Republic of China, India, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Sweden, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

We also maintain research and development staff and promote programs at a number of our production facilities to develop new products and new applications of existing products, and to improve manufacturing techniques. This decentralized system encourages individualized product development at specific manufacturing facilities that occasionally has applications at other facilities.

Our research and development staff and our sales force are linked. Our sales force is comprised of individuals with an engineering background who can help meet the needs of our customers for technical and applications support. This in-depth knowledge of customer needs is a key factor in future research and development initiatives.