Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE: VPG)

Vishay Precision Group, Inc., often recognized by its stock symbol VPG, is a leading global company in the field of precision measurement and sensing technologies. The company's operations span across various industries, including test and measurement, industrial, transportation, steel, avionics, military and space, and others.

VPG's primary business activities involve the design, manufacturing, and marketing of a wide range of sensors, weighing solutions, and measurement systems. These products are used in various applications, from industrial automation to precision weighing, and from stress analysis in the aviation, military, and space industries to the measurement of force, weight, pressure, torque, tilt, motion, and acceleration.

The company operates in three main segments: Sensors, Weighing Solutions, and Measurement Systems. The Sensors segment is composed of VPG's precision resistor and strain gage businesses. The precision resistors are used in a wide range of applications, including avionics, space communications, fiber optics, industrial automation, and precision weighing. The strain gages are used in stress analysis applications for structural testing in the aviation, military, and space industries.

The Weighing Solutions segment includes VPG Transducers, VPG Onboard Weighing, BLH Nobel, Stress-Tek, and Vulcan businesses. The products in this segment are primarily used for the precision measurement of force, weight, pressure, torque, tilt, motion, and acceleration.

The Measurement Systems segment includes highly specialized systems for steel production, materials development, and safety testing. This segment is comprised of VPG's KELK, DSI, Pacific Instruments, and DTS businesses. The products in this segment include rolling force measuring load cell systems, web tension measurement load cells, optical strip width gages, laser velocimeters, and closed-loop crop optimization control systems.

VPG's position within the industry is strong, thanks to its long heritage of innovation in sensor technologies that provide accuracy, reliability, and repeatability. The company's competitive advantages include its operationally diversified structure, which allows it to be close to its customers and leverage its high-level engineering expertise to optimize and enhance the performance of its customers' solutions.

The company's customers include a wide range of companies across various industries, including test and measurement, industrial, transportation, steel, avionics, military and space, and others. These customers include OEMs, distributors, and end-users.

VPG's products in the Sensors segment compete with those of other manufacturers, including 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. In the Weighing Solutions segment, the company faces competition from HBK, Zemic, and Utilcell for load cell products, and Air-Weigh and Vehicle Weighing Systems for onboard weighing products.

VPG's future success is substantially dependent on its ability to attract and retain highly qualified technical and administrative personnel. The company has a significant presence outside the United States, with approximately 82% of its employees located outside the country.

The company's research and development activities are focused on developing new and innovative products, as well as modifying existing products to meet customer requirements. VPG has a significant investment in securing intellectual property protection for its technology and products, and relies on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and other contractual arrangements, to establish and protect its rights in its technology and related materials and information.