About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc. (Badger Meter) is a leading innovator, manufacturer and marketer of products incorporating flow measurement, quality, control and other system solutions serving markets worldwide. Products and Solutions With more than a century of water technology innovation, Badger Meter is a global provider of industry leading water management solutions, with nearly 95% of net sales derived from water-related applications. These tailorable solutions encompass smart measurement hardware, reliable communications, data and analytics software, as well as ongoing support and expertise essential to optimize customers' operations and contribute to the sustainable use and protection of the world’s most precious resource. The company’s smart measurement hardware is primarily comprised of the following product families: meters that measure the flow of water and other fluids and are known for accuracy, long-lasting durability and for providing valuable and timely flow measurement data. water quality monitoring solutions, including optical sensing and electrochemical instruments that provide real-time, on-demand data parameters. high frequency pressure and acoustic leak detection hardware that provides real-time monitoring data. The company’s broad range of communication solutions include the ORION branded family of radio endpoints, providing customers with a choice of industry-leading options for communicating data from hardware into usable applications. The company’s hardware-enabled software provides the insights and analytics critical to the holistic management of its customers’ water systems. These digital solutions increase visibility, empowering customers to monitor system performance and make decisions aiding efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability. The company also provides training, project management, technical support and other collaborative services for customers. The company’s solutions fall into two product lines: sales of meters, water quality sensors and other hardware, communication, and software and related technologies, to water utilities (utility water) and sales of meters, other sensing instruments, valves, software and other solutions to commercial and industrial customers, including water related applications (flow instrumentation). Utility Water Product Line (approximately 85% of Net Sales in 2023) Utility water smart metering solutions are comprised of water meters along with the related radio and software technologies and services used by water utilities as the basis for generating their water and wastewater revenues, enabling operating efficiencies and engaging with their end consumers. This product line further comprises other instruments and sensors used in the water distribution system to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of clean water. These sensors are used to detect leaks and to monitor various water quality parameters throughout the distribution system. The largest geographic market in which the company operates is North America, primarily the United States. The majority of water meters sold are mechanical in nature, with increasing adoption over time of ultrasonic (static) metering technology due to a variety of attributes, including their ability to maintain measurement accuracy over their useful life. Utility water meters (both residential and commercial sizes) are generally classified as either manually read meters or remotely read meters via radio technology. A manually read meter consists of a water meter and a register that provides a visual totalized meter reading. Meters equipped with radio technology (endpoints) receive flow measurement data from battery-powered encoder registers attached to the water meter, which is encrypted and transmitted via radio frequency to a receiver that collects and formats the data appropriately for water utility usage and billing systems. These remotely read systems are classified as either automatic meter reading (AMR) systems, where a vehicle equipped for meter reading purposes collects the data from the utilities’ meters, or advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems, where data is gathered utilizing a network (either fixed or cellular) of data collectors or gateway receivers that are able to receive radio data transmission from the utilities’ meters. Among other benefits, AMI systems eliminate the need for utility personnel to drive through service territories to collect data from the meters and provide utilities with more frequent and diverse data from their meters at specified intervals. The ORION family of endpoints offers water utilities a choice of industry-leading options for communicating meter reading and event data. ORION Cellular endpoints power the company’s Network as a Service (NaaS) approach to AMI, eliminating the need for the utility to install or maintain infrastructure, enabling rapid or gradual deployment, and enhancing network reliability. ORION mobile read endpoints support customers looking to deploy an AMR solution. Information and analytics are critical to the smart water ecosystem. The company’s BEACON Software as a Service (SaaS), amongst others, improves utility visibility to their water and water usage. BEACON is a secure, cloud-hosted software suite that includes a customizable dashboard and has the ability to establish alerts for specific conditions. It also allows for consumer engagement tools that permit end water users (such as homeowners) to view and manage their water usage activity. Water meter replacement and the adoption and deployment of new technologies comprise the majority of smart water product sales, including radio products. To a much lesser extent, housing starts also contribute to sales annually. The industry continues to undergo a conversion from manually read water meters to meters with radio technology, and for AMR systems to be upgraded to digital AMI solutions. The company estimates that approximately one-third of water meters installed in the United States have been converted to AMI systems. In addition, the company provides various other hardware, instruments and sensors, and related software, to enhance the scope and breadth of connected data valuable to a water utility's operation. This includes water quality monitoring solutions utilizing optical sensors and electrochemical instruments that measure a variety of parameters, including turbidity, pH, chlorine, nitrates and approximately 40 others. Utilizing these solutions, water quality can be monitored continually or periodically throughout the network from its original source to the point in which it is recycled and returned. Real-time water quality parameters enhance the scope of actionable data for water utilities to improve operational security, awareness and efficiency. It also includes high frequency pressure and leak detection sensors that provide real-time alarms and event location triangulation to aid operators in responding to burst pipe and other leak events quickly, reducing water loss and system downtime. The data and insights collected from these additional operational sensors are often conveyed by cellular networks and can be leveraged alongside of the metering data within BEACON to unlock powerful insights about the operations of a customer's distribution network. The company’s net sales and corresponding net earnings depend on unit volume and product mix, with it generally earning higher average selling prices and margins on meters coupled with radio technology, software, water quality monitoring and on ultrasonic compared to mechanical meters. Flow Instrumentation Product Line (approximately 15% of Net Sales in 2023) The flow instrumentation product line primarily serves water applications throughout the broader industrial market, with both standard and customized solutions. This product line includes meters, valves and other sensing instruments sold worldwide to measure and control the quantity of fluids, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases. These products, oftentimes leveraging the same technologies used in utility water, are used in a variety of industries and applications, with the company’s primary market focus being water/wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) and corporate sustainability. Flow instrumentation products are generally sold through manufacturers’ representatives and original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system. Specialized communication protocols that control the entire flow measurement process and mandatory certifications drive these markets. The industries served by the company’s flow instrumentation products face accelerating demands to contain costs, reduce product variability, and meet ever-changing safety, regulatory and sustainability requirements. To address these challenges, customers must reap more value from every component in their systems. This system-wide scrutiny has heightened the focus on flow instrumentation and water quality monitoring in wastewater treatment, industrial process, building automation and precision engineering applications where flow measurement, quality and control are critical. The company offers one of the broadest flow measurement, control and communication portfolios in the market. Foreign Operations and Export Sales The company sells its products and software through employees, resellers and representatives throughout the world. Additionally, the company has sales, distribution and manufacturing facilities in Neuffen, Germany and Vienna, Austria; sales and customer service offices in Mexico, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, United Arab Emirates and other similar locations throughout the world; manufacturing facilities in Nogales, Mexico, Brno, Czech Republic and Bern, Switzerland; and a development facility in Luleå, Sweden. The company exports products from the United States that are manufactured in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Racine, Wisconsin, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Customers and Competition The Company's products are sold throughout the world through employees, resellers and representatives, with utility water sales largely via a direct salesforce and regional distributors, and flow instrumentation sales largely via representatives and distributors. No single customer accounts for more than 10% of the company's sales. The company faces competition for both its utility water and flow instrumentation product lines. Major competitors for utility water meters include Roper Technologies, Inc. (Neptune) and Xylem, Inc. (Sensus). The company’s primary competitors for utility water radio products in North America are Hubbel, Inc. (Aclara Technologies), Itron, Inc., Neptune and Sensus. Research and Development The company’s expenditures for research and development activities related to development of new products, the improvement of existing products and manufacturing process improvements were $19.0 million in 2023. History Badger Meter, Inc. was incorporated in 1905.