MTS Systems Corporation

MTS Systems Corporation is a testing and sensing solutions company located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a southwest suburb of Minneapolis.

MTS is a provider of mechanical test systems, material testing, fatigue testing and tensile testing services as well as motion simulation system and calibration services. Examples of MTS products include hydraulic actuators, rolling road simulators, shaker tables, and medical testing equipment.

MTS Systems Corporation (MTS), incorporated in 1967, is a global supplier of test systems and industrial position sensors. The Company operates in two segments: the Test segment and the Sensors segment. During the fiscal year ended October 1, 2011(fiscal 2011), the Company’s Test and Sensors segments represented approximately 80% and 20% of the Company's revenue, respectively. The Company’s Test segment provides testing solutions, including hardware, software and aftermarket support. The Company’s Sensors segment products are used by industrial machinery and mobile equipment manufacturers to automate the operation of their products.

Test Segment

Products are used by customers in their development of products and in certain applications to characterize the product’s mechanical properties. The Company’s products simulate forces and motions that these customers expect their products to encounter in use. A test system includes a load frame to hold the prototype specimen, a hydraulic pump or electro-mechanical power source, piston actuators to create the force or motion, and a computer controller with specialized software to coordinate the actuator movement and record and manipulate results. Test segment sells a variety of accessories and spare parts, as well as services, including installation, calibration, maintenance, training and consulting. Its Test segment has a range of customers in the United States of America, Europe and Asia represents approximately 30%, 30% and 40% of orders, respectively.

The Company's products and customers are grouped by the Company into three global markets, which include Ground Vehicles, Materials and Structures. Its Ground Vehicles market consists of automobile, truck, motorcycle, motorsports vehicles, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, rail, and off-road vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. Test segment system and service products are utilized in customer testing of vehicles, subsystems and components. Materials market covers diverse industries, such as power generation, aerospace, vehicles, and bio-medical. Test segment products are sold worldwide through a direct field sales and service organization, independent representatives.

The Company’s products and services support customers in the research and development of products through the physical characterization of materials, such as ceramics, composites and steel. Bio-medical applications include systems to test durability and performance of implants, prostheses, and other medical and dental materials and devices. Structures market serves the structural testing needs in the fields of aerospace, wind energy, structural engineering, and petroleum, among others. The aerospace structural testing market consists of manufacturers of commercial, military, and private aircraft and their suppliers. The wind energy market consists of wind turbine manufacturers and their component suppliers. Structural engineering customers include government agencies, universities and the manufacturers of building materials.

Sensors Segment

The industries that use the Company’s Sensor segment’s products include manufacturers of plastic injection molding machines, steel mills, fluid power, oil and gas, medical, wood product processing equipment, mobile equipment, and alternative energy. Sensors segment products are also used to measure fluid displacement, such as liquid levels for customers in the process industries. The Sensors segment manufactures products utilizing magnetostriction technology. MTS has developed an implementation of the technology, known as Temposonics. Its Sensors segment has a range of customers in the United States of America, Europe and Asia represents approximately 25%, 50% and 25% of orders, respectively. Sensors segment products are sold worldwide through a direct sales organization, as well as through independent distributors.

MTS Systems Corp. was fined $400,000 after pleading guilty on March 12, 2008 for submitting false US export license applications on proposed shipments to India. The company admitted to two misdemeanor counts of "false certification or writing" by omitting information linked to nuclear power plant test equipment. In March 2011, MTS disclosed that it was again under investigation and barred from bidding on new government contracts. On September 2011 the ban imposed by the Air Force was lifted, allowing MTS Systems to bid on new government contracts and to continue existing government contracts. MTS Systems settled all investigations with the U.S. Government and took great measures to ensure government contracting standards were met. "We are happy to put the government investigation behind us. We have made great progress to ensure we meet the U.S. government's contractor standards and we are committed to meeting these requirements every day," MTS Systems CEO Jeffrey Graves said in a statement.