Keithley Instruments
Encyclopedia
Keithley Instruments is a measurement and instrument company headquartered in Solon
, Ohio
, that develops, manufactures, markets, and sells data acquisition products, as well as complete system solutions for high-volume production and assembly testing. In September, 2010, the company agreed to sell itself to the Danaher Corporation, Washington-based holding company, for $21.60 per share.
The Company has approximately 500 products used to source, measure, connect, control or communicate direct current (DC), radio frequency (RF), or optical signals. Product offerings include integrated systems solutions, instruments, and personal computer (PC) plug-in boards that can be used as system components or as stand-alone solutions.
The Company's markets are engineers, technicians, and scientists in manufacturing, product development, and research functions. Keithley operates throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. It develops new solutions for the broader electronics industry, as well as Electronic Manufacturing Production Test, Semiconductor, Telecommunications/Wireless and Research/Education.
s, voltmeter
s, signal generator
s, data acquisition
, and production and benchtop parameteric testers and analyzers.
Solon, Ohio
Solon is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and is an affluent suburb of Cleveland in the Northeast Ohio Region, the 14th largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,348...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, that develops, manufactures, markets, and sells data acquisition products, as well as complete system solutions for high-volume production and assembly testing. In September, 2010, the company agreed to sell itself to the Danaher Corporation, Washington-based holding company, for $21.60 per share.
General
The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets electronic instruments and systems geared to the specialized needs of electronics manufacturers for high-performance production testing, process monitoring, product development, and research.The Company has approximately 500 products used to source, measure, connect, control or communicate direct current (DC), radio frequency (RF), or optical signals. Product offerings include integrated systems solutions, instruments, and personal computer (PC) plug-in boards that can be used as system components or as stand-alone solutions.
The Company's markets are engineers, technicians, and scientists in manufacturing, product development, and research functions. Keithley operates throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. It develops new solutions for the broader electronics industry, as well as Electronic Manufacturing Production Test, Semiconductor, Telecommunications/Wireless and Research/Education.
Products
Keithley Instruments's major product lines include Test & Measurement products such as electrometerElectrometer
An electrometer is an electrical instrument for measuring electric charge or electrical potential difference. There are many different types, ranging from historical hand-made mechanical instruments to high-precision electronic devices...
s, voltmeter
Voltmeter
A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electrical potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in proportion to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters give a numerical display of voltage by use of an analog to...
s, signal generator
Signal generator
Signal generators, also known variously as function generators, RF and microwave signal generators, pitch generators, arbitrary waveform generators, digital pattern generators or frequency generators are electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals...
s, data acquisition
Data acquisition
Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems typically convert analog waveforms into digital values for processing...
, and production and benchtop parameteric testers and analyzers.
Historical highlights
- 1946 Founded in Cleveland, OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, U.S.A., by Joseph F. Keithley - 1950 First employee hired
- 1964 Moved headquarters to Solon, OH
- 1966 GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
office opened - 1967 U.K. office opened
- 1991 Joseph P. Keithley becomes chairman
- 1995 Listed on New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeThe New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
- 1998 TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
office opened - 2003 Santa Rosa, California RF Design center opened (Sold to Agilent Technologies 2009)
- 2005 SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
office opened - 2009 S600 Series parametric test product line discontinued
- 2010 Agreed to sell itself to the Danaher Corporation, many operations merged with Tektronix
- 2011 Announcement that most manufacturing will shift from Ohio to China
External links
- Keithley Instruments
- Detailed Company History
- "Understanding Current Switching’s Special Needs". Cigoy, Dale. Electronic ProductsElectronic productsElectronic Products is an electronic component and technology trade magazine published by Hearst Business Media serving the electronic design community...
. 2009. - "Standards Help Ensure Order for Nanotechnology". Tucker, Jonathan. Evaluation Engineering. June 2009.
- "Low Level Measurements Handbook: Precision DC Current, Voltage, and Resistance Measurements". Keithley Instruments, Inc. 6th edition, 2004.
- "Switching Handbook: A Guide to Signal Switching in Automated Test Systems". Keithley Instruments, Inc. 6th edition, 2008.