Daktronics Inc. is the world’s leading supplier of electronic scoreboards,
large electronic display systems, digital messaging solutions, software and
services for sporting, commercial and transportation applications. We serve
our customers by providing the highest quality standard display products as
well as custom-designed and integrated systems. We offer a complete line of
products, from small scoreboards and electronic displays to large multi-million
dollar video display systems as well as related control, timing, and sound systems.
We are recognized as a technical leader with the capabilities to design, market,
manufacture, install and service complete integrated systems displaying real-time
data, graphics, animation and video.
We were founded in 1968 by Drs. Aelred Kurtenbach and Duane Sander, professors
of electrical engineering at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South
Dakota. The Company began with the design and manufacture of electronic voting
systems for state legislatures. In 1971, Daktronics developed the patented Matside®
wrestling scoreboard, the first product in the Companys growing and evolving
line. In 1994, Daktronics became a publicly traded company, offering shares
under the symbol DAKT on the NASDAQ National Market system. Today, Daktronics
has grown from a small company operating out of a garage to the world leader,
offering the most complete product lineup in the display industry.
We are engaged in a full range of activities: marketing and sales, engineering
and product development, manufacturing, technical contracting, professional
services and customer service and support. Each of those activities is described
below:
Marketing and Sales. Our sales force is comprised of direct sales staff and
resellers located throughout the world supporting all customer types in both
sales and service. We primarily use a direct sales force for large integrated
display systems sales in professional sports, colleges and universities, and
commercial spectacular projects. We use our direct sales force to sell third-party
advertising and transportation applications. We utilize resellers outside North
America for large integrated system sales where we do not have a direct sales
presence. The majority of the products sold by resellers in North America are
standard catalog products. We support our resellers through direct mail advertising,
trade journal advertising, product and installation training, trade show exhibitions
and accessibility to our regional sales or service teams.
Engineering and Product Development. The large format electronic display industry
is characterized by ongoing product innovations and developments in technology
and complementary services. To remain competitive, we have a tradition of applying
engineering resources throughout our business to anticipate and respond rapidly
to the system needs in the marketplace. We employ engineers and technicians
in the areas of mechanical and electrical design; applications engineering;
software design; and customer and product support. We assign product managers
to each product family to assist our sales staff in training and implementing
product improvements which ensures each product is designed for maximum reliability
and serviceability.
Manufacturing. A majority of our products are manufactured in South Dakota
and Minnesota in the United States.
Our manufacturing is aligned with our business segments and is co-located with
product development to accelerate technology improvements and improve our cost
structure. We perform component manufacturing and system manufacturing (metal
fabrication, electronic assembly, sub-assembly and final assembly) and testing
in-house for most of our products to control quality, improve response time
and maximize cost-effectiveness. We make our products in focused factories and
product cells. We generally align sales, marketing, engineering and manufacturing
into a cohesive business unit with a focus on customers. Given the cyclical
nature of some parts of our business, we also need to balance and maintain our
ability to manufacture the same products across our plants so we can smooth
out the customer demand of the various business units. A key strategy of ours
is to increase standardization and commonality of parts and manufacturing processes
across product lines through product platform strategies.
Our manufacturing facilities have embraced lean manufacturing techniques throughout
all areas. We have also placed significant emphasis on lean techniques in the
non-manufacturing areas. Our goal is to eliminate waste and timely deliver products
to a customer while maintaining minimal inventory and eliminating non-value
added tasks.
Technical Contracting. We serve as a technical contractor for larger display
system installations requiring custom designs and innovative product solutions.
The purchase of display systems typically involves competitive proposals. As
part of our response to a proposal request, we may suggest additional products
or features to assist the prospective customer in analyzing the optimal type
of display system. We usually include in our proposal site preparation and installation
services related to the display system. In these cases, we serve as a contractor
and may retain subcontractors for electrical, steel and installation labor.
We have developed relationships with many subcontractors throughout the United
States and the world, which is an advantage for us in bidding and delivering
on these projects. We are licensed in a number of jurisdictions as a general
contractor.
Professional Services. Our professional services are essential to continued
market penetration and growth. Professional services we provide include event
support, content creation, product maintenance, marketing assistance, training
on hardware and software, control room design, and continuing technical support
for operators.
Customer Service and Support. We offer limited warranties on our products,
ranging from one to 10 years, against failure due to defective parts or workmanship.
In addition, we offer service agreements of various scopes. To serve our customers
we provide help-desk access, parts repair and replacement, display monitoring
and on-site support. Our technical help desk has experienced technicians who
are on-call 24 hours a day to support events and sites. Our field service personnel
and third-party service partners are trained to provide on-site support. We
use third-party service partners to allow us to respond to changes in volume
of service during our seasonal peaks.
20.95 %