Keyence

Keyence Corporation
株式会社キーエンス

Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 6861
Founded	May 27, 1974
Headquarters	Osaka, Japan
Key people	Takemitsu Takizaki (Chairman) Michio Sasaki (President)
Products	FA sensors, measurement systems, machine vision, laser markers, digital microscopes
Revenue	2 billion USD.  (2012)
Employees	3,151 (2012)
Website	KEYENCE Global Home

Keyence product

Keyence Corporation (株式会社キーエンス, Kabushiki-gaisha Kīensu) is a company which produces sensors, barcode readers, vision systems, measuring equipment and digital microscopes.

Keyence is fabless (fabrication-less) - although it is a manufacturer; it specializes solely in product planning and development and does not manufacture the final products. Keyence products are manufactured at qualified contract manufacturing companies.

History

Takemitsu Takizaki founded Keyence Corporation in 1974 under the original name of "Lead Electric."

On April 3, 2009, JustSystems Corporation, a major Japanese software development house, announced that it would increase the capital by allocating new shares to Keyence. Effective on April 20, 2009, Keyence became the largest shareholder (43.96%) of JustSystems.

Operations

Keyence Corporation is a global company with a network of 16 international organizations that specializes in factory automation. Keyence Corporation earns over 2 billion dollars in yearly sales and employs nearly 3000 employees worldwide.

Keyence is a direct sales company; salespeople visit customers on site with demonstration cases to show products.

Keyence's sensors, vision systems, and high definition microscopes are part of the manufacturing and research processes in a variety of industries, including the electronics, semiconductor, automotive, food and packaging, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. Keyence's customers include companies ranging from the largest Fortune 500 manufacturers to niche suppliers.

Products

Keyence manufactures a broad range of products, from photoelectric and proximity sensors to measuring instruments for inspection lines to high precision microscopy devices used in research institutes. These products are used by more than 80,000 customers globally.

Products are shipped from Keyence's stocking network centers in Japan, U.S. (Chicago), the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea or from 148 agents in 31 countries on the same day of receipt of an order.

Automation & Sensing

Keyence's customers in a variety of industries and manufacturing environments use their sensor products to detect the presence or absence of an entire part or just a particular feature of that part. Measurement products are used to determine the size or magnitude of a particular part or feature with great accuracy. New product releases consistently account for 30% of Keyence's annual sales.

• Fiber Optic Sensors (FS Series)
• Photoelectric Sensors (PX Series)
• Laser Displacement Sensor (LK Series)
• Safety Light Curtain (GL-R & SL-V Series)

Vision, Vision Sensors & Marking

Vision system products are camera systems used on production lines to differentiate and measure multiple product features. Keyence's customers use their camera systems to perform quality control inspections that are too complicated for ordinary sensors. The IV "Vision Sensor" is a less expensive alternative to a full Vision system if all the capabilities of a Vision System are not needed. Their laser marking instruments use a high intensity laser to permanently and accurately mark shapes or characters onto surfaces such as metals or plastics at high speeds.

• Machine Vision Sensor (IV Series)
• Machine Vision (XG Series)
• Machine Vision (CV Series)
• Laser Marker (ML Series)
• Laser Marker (MD Series)

Advanced Microscopes

Microscopes are the only products offered by Keyence America for use away from a production line. While many of the customers for their microscopes are manufacturers, these microscopes are more typically used for research and development or failure analysis applications. Keyence Digital Microscopes are capable of displaying a 3D image of the target. The image can also be manipulated or used to make a measurement of the target feature being viewed. Their color laser scanning microscope offers high accuracy with the use of a violet laser. This laser microscope approaches the accuracy and resolution of an SEM at a lower cost and without destroying the target.

• Digital Microscope (VHX Series)
• Laser Scanning Microscope (VK Series)
• High-speed Microscope (VW Series)
• Fluorescence Microscope (BZ Series)

Trivia

• Keyence was named one of BusinessWeek's “1000 Best Valued Companies.”
• Keyence Japan is consistently listed in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun's yearly ranking of the "Top Ten Most Excellent Companies in Japan." Keyence is known as one of the best "pay" companies in Japan. The average annual wage for all full-time employees (average age: 31.9 years old) in FY2006 was JPY13,860,000 (US$117,348 as of March 2007).
• A 350-million-year-old ammonite fossil is displayed at the entrance of the Japanese headquarters; other fossils of long-dead creatures align the corridors and meeting rooms. Relics are supposed to convey a tacit message to employees: keep aiming high or you'll become a fossil.
• Takizaki is listed as the 428th richest person in the world in 2008 by Forbes with a net worth of US$2.7 billion.
• Stephen Way, Senior Vice-President and Global Portfolio Manager at AGF Funds Inc.: "Keyence has a proven ability to deliver innovative products that customers want and this is driving strong pricing and profitability."
• The Financial Times: “Keyence means little to most people; to engineers, however, they mean a great deal.”

External links

• Keyence Global Home (English)
• Keyence Corporation (Japanese)
• Keyence UK
• Keyence of America
• Keyence - Digital Microscope Products (English)