Trade.Information

Company Name: National Instruments Corporation

Company Type: Manufacturer

Company Profile

In 1976, three talented entrepreneurs seeded the Measurement Revolution by launching a little-known startup named National Instruments. Throughout its history, NI has defined that revolution -- the dynamic development of computer-based and networked measurement and automation products -- for its industry. 

How did an organization that began in Dr. James Truchard's garage, Jeff Kodosky's kitchen, and Bill Nowlin's den become a multimillion-dollar, multinational story of corporate success employing thousands? By ceaselessly emphasizing the guiding principles of total customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and extensive innovation. By vigorously stressing the strategic importance of growth and profitability, market definition and leadership, and excellence in hiring and employee retention. These values that initially motivated the ambitions of a trio of enthusiastic engineers now motivate a dedicated, global, professional community to excel.

2000s
2004 
NI announces LabVIEW 7.1, a significant upgrade that offers more capabilities than any previous .1 LabVIEW release and marks the most significant upgrade of the LabVIEW Real-Time Module
NI announces CompactRIO, an ultrahigh-performance embedded control and acquisition platform powered by reconfigurable I/O (RIO) technology
NI expands its data acquisition (DAQ) product line with a new generation of multifunction DAQ products known as the M Series
NI expands its PXI modular instrument product line with a new 200 MS/s digitizer and a 200 MS/s arbitrary waveform generator that use the NI Synchronization and Memory Core architecture to double the previously available speed and memory depth
NI announces SignalExpress, an interactive software environment for acquiring, comparing, automating, and storing measurement signals
NI makes significant progress toward its goal of reaching $1 billion in 2008 with $514 million in annual revenue
2003 
A culmination of four years of engineering effort, NI releases LabVIEW 7 Express to dramatically simplify the creation of measurement and automation applications and extend LabVIEW to a wider range of targets, from embedded FPGAs to Palm OS and Microsoft Pocket PC PDAs 
NI introduces a suite of 100 MS/s PXI instruments that increases flexibility and system performance for rapid prototyping and test of mixed-signal devices and systems 
NI announces the Compact Vision System, an industrial vision system that makes cameras smarter by extending the power of LabVIEW 
NI announces major software upgrades at NIWeek 2003 with NI TestStand 3.0, Measurement Studio 7.0, and LabWindows/CVI 7.0 
NI acquires the MATRIXx product line, delivering enhancements on the control design and simulation software 
NI acquires Hyperception, a leading designer of graphical development tools for digital signal processing (DSP)
NI Hungary is among the country's top 10 employers for second consecutive year 
2002 
NI launches Compact FieldPoint to deliver a small, rugged, intelligent platform that extends the reach of LabVIEW software to harsh industrial environments 
NI opens Hungary manufacturing facility 
NI announces LabVIEW 6.1, the latest graphical development environment release for test, monitoring, and control applications 
NI announces NI Switch Executive, the market's first open switch management software 
NI announces the NI PXI-5660, a powerful combination of spectral measurement software and a broadband 2.7 GHz RF digitizer 
NI announces the NI PXI-4070 FlexDMM, a full-featured 6½-digit digital multimeter (DMM) in a single-slot 3U PXI module 
NI announces DIAdem 8.1, the latest version of postacquisition data analysis and report generation software 
2001 
NI commemorates its 25th anniversary and 24th consecutive year of double-digit growth 
NI announces NI TestStand 2.0 with parallel testing for increased throughput 
NI announces an 18-slot PXI chassis for high-slot count measurement and automation applications 
NI announces its first PXI product for precision audio and vibration measurements 
NI Russia opens 
2000 
NI introduces Measurement Studio, integrating measurement tools for Microsoft Visual C++, Visual Basic, and LabWindows/CVI users 
Annual NI sales total more than $400 million 
Dell Computers partners with NI to address the growing market for computer-based measurement and automation with Instrumentation Ready PC Workstations 
NI Czech Republic, NI Slovenia, and NI South Africa open 
NI begins construction of the 370,000-square-foot Building C at its North Mopac campus in Austin, Texas 

1990s
1999 
NI announces MXI-3 for PC Control of PXI/CompactPCI systems 
The LabVIEW Real-Time Module delivers constant, reliable operations for mission critical and embedded applications 
The NI online store lists prices in multiple currencies 
Annual sales total more than $300 million 
The company Web site name changes to ni.com 
NI New Zealand, NI Greece, NI India, NI Portugal, and NI Poland open 
1998 
NI completes construction of the 232,000-square-foot Building B at its North Mopac campus in Austin, Texas 
NI Malaysia opens 
NI announces LabVIEW Version 5.0 with multithreading, an ActiveX container, and distributed computing tools 
The IVI Foundation is formed to make interchangeable instruments possible 
NI TestStand, a ready-to-run test executive, leverages the popularity of LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI for high-volume manufacturing 
NI opens its online store for business 
NI announces DataSocket and remote device access (RDA) technologies for sharing data across networks 
NI announces Flex ADC technology to revolutionize high-precision measurements 
1997 
NI acquires motion control products 
FieldPoint products lower cost for distributed data collection in rugged factory environments 
PXI launches, creating an open industry standard for modular computer-based systems 
NI China and NI Brazil open 
1996 
Lookout software expands market opportunities to include PC-based factory floor automation 
BridgeVIEW software brings the power of LabVIEW to industrial automation 
NI announces computer-based instruments 
NI announces machine vision products 
Annual sales total more than $200 million 
NI Israel opens 
1995 
NI completes construction of the 140,000-square-foot Building A on its new North Mopac campus in Austin, Texas 
ComponentWorks enhances scientific programming environment for Microsoft Visual Basic 
Initial public offering (IPO) of NI stock begins on March 15, 1995 
NI holds its first customer and partner event, NIWeek, in Austin, Texas 
NI Europe and NI Mexico open 
1994 
NI adopts credit card-sized hardware that brings portability to field scientists
PCI plug-in boards boost performance of PC-based data acquisition solutions 
NI launches a Web site, Instrumentation Web, at www.natinst.com as a natural extension of its direct sales model and an information source for engineers and scientists 
NI breaks ground on the 72-acre campus of the company's headquarters at 11500 North Mopac Expressway in Austin, Texas 
NI Singapore, NI Korea, and NI Hong Kong open 
1993 
NI launches LabWindows/CVI 
Annual sales total more than $100 million 
NI Austria and NI Taiwan open 
1992 
NI announces LabVIEW for Windows-based PCs and UNIX Workstations 
NI launches SCXI 
NI Canada, NI Finland, and NI Norway open 
1991 
NI launches the National Instruments Alliance Partner program, leveraging the success of third-party developers and systems integrators 
Netherlands, NI Denmark, NI Spain, NI Australia, NI Sweden, and NI Belgium open 
1990 
NI ships LabVIEW and LabWindows Version 2.0 
NI receives its first patent 
NI Switzerland and NI Germany open 
Company headquarters move into the 136,095-square-foot Bridgepoint facility 

1980s
1989 
NI Italy opens 
1988 
NI announces its first products for VXI 
NI announces MXI 
NI announces its first plug-in DAQ boards for IBM PC users 
NI France and NI U.K. open 
Both the United States and European branches adopt direct sales models 
1987 
NI announces LabWindows Version 1.0 for DOS 
NI releases the first plug-in data acquisition (DAQ) hardware device for Macintosh users 
The first international branch office opens in Tokyo, Japan 
1986 
NI announces LabVIEW, the award-winning graphical development software package that revolutionizes the way engineers and scientists work 
NI celebrates its first million-dollar month 
100th employee joins NI 
1985 
NI receives the IBM Quality Award for the PC-based GPIB interface 
1983 
NI announces its first product to connect instruments to IBM PCs 
Jeff Kodosky begins research for flagship LabVIEW software
1982 
Company headquarters move to a 10,000-square-foot facility at 12109 Technology Boulevard in Austin, Texas (eventually grows to fill 56,000 square feet) 
1981 
NI reaches $1 million in annual sales 
1980 
Jeff Kodosky and Bill Nowlin join NI as full-time employees
NI ships $300,000 in products and earns $60,000 in profits 
The Marketing Group in Dallas, Texas designs the first version of the company logo with the NI eagle 
Company headquarters move to a 5,000-square-foot space 

1970s
1979 
Dr. Truchard joins NI as a full-time employee 
1978 
Company headquarters move to a 600-square-foot facility 
NI places its first ad in EDN magazine for the GPIB11-1 
1977 
NI announces its first GPIB product to connect scientific instruments to microcomputers 
Kelly Air Force Base of San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first NI customer with its GPIB purchase
Company headquarters move from a garage to a 300-square-foot office 
NI launches its first logo 
1976 
Work on the first product begins in the garage of NI President, CEO, and Cofounder, Dr. James Truchard in Austin, Texas

About Company

To create innovative computer-based products that improve everyday life by improving technology. 
NI customers are engineers, scientists, and technology professionals in diverse industries who use NI software and hardware tools to research, design, manufacture, test, and improve a wide array of products and services. By creating innovative tools, we give our customers a better solution for measuring and automating the world around them. Our strategy is to innovate, constantly improve, and deliver a steady stream of new products that deliver greater productivity and higher value to our customers while increasing our business opportunities.

To revolutionize the measurement and automation industry through virtual instrumentation, which NI pioneered and continues to lead. 
Virtual instrumentation is the combination of commercially available technologies, with innovative NI software and modular hardware, resulting in powerful computer-based measurement and automation solutions. Virtual instrumentation empowers customers to easily build solutions that are open, flexible, and user-defined as opposed to the closed, fixed-function, vendor-defined nature of traditional instrumentation solutions. With virtual instrumentation, our customers save time and money while developing higher performance solutions.