Kimball Electronics (KE) 10-K2023 FY Annual report

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

We offer electronics manufacturing services, including engineering and supply chain support, to customers in the automotive, medical, and industrial end market verticals. We further offer contract manufacturing services for non-electronic components, medical disposables, precision molded plastics, as well as production automation, test, and inspection equipment. Our services support the complete product life cycle of our customers’ products, and our processes and capabilities cover a range of products from high volume-low mix to high mix-low volume. We bring innovative, complete design solutions to our customers. We offer Design for Excellence input to our customers as a part of our standard package of value, and we use sophisticated software tools to integrate the supply chain in a way that provides our customers with the flexibility their business requires. Our robust new product introduction process and our extensive manufacturing capabilities give us the ability to execute to the various quality and reliability expectations of our customers in each of our end market verticals. We are committed to protecting the planet by combating climate change, including contributing to a lower carbon future, in our operations, our value chains, and in the services we offer to our customers. Our strategies include actions to optimize our manufacturing facilities and processes for sustainability, increase clean energy in our purchased power mix, collaborate with our customers and supply chain to address upstream and downstream carbon emissions, invest in clean energy solutions for climate protection, and develop low carbon products, technologies and services.

We value our customers and their unique needs and expectations. Our customer focus and dedication to unparalleled excellence in engineering and manufacturing has resulted in proven success in the contract manufacturing industry. Personal relationships are important to us, and we strive to build long-term global partnerships. Our commitment to support our customers is backed by our history and demonstrated performance for over the past 60 years.

Manufacturing services, including engineering and supply chain support, are marketed by our business development team. We use a CRM model to provide our customers with convenient access to our global footprint and all of our services throughout the entire product life cycle.

Key competitive factors in the markets we serve include quality and reliability, engineering design services, production flexibility, on-time delivery, customer lead time, test capability, competitive pricing, and global presence. Numerous contract manufacturing service providers compete globally for business from existing and potential customers. We also face competition from our customers’ own capacity and capabilities to in-source production. The proliferation of electronic components in today’s advanced products and the continuing trend of original equipment manufacturers in the electronics industry subcontracting the assembly process to companies with a core competency in this area drive growth in the EMS industry. The nature of the EMS industry is such that the start-up of new customers and new programs to replace expiring programs occurs frequently. New customers and program start-ups generally cause margin dilution early in the life of a program, which is often recovered as the program becomes established and matures. Our continuing success depends upon our ability to replace expiring customers/programs with new customers/programs.

We, and the industry in general, have special conditions affecting working capital that are significant for understanding our business, including fluctuating inventory levels, which may increase in conjunction with the start-up of new programs and component availability. Additionally, the nature of the contract manufacturing business is such that customers may be required to make advance payments for certain inventory purchases and share in the risk of excess and obsolete inventory.

Consolidated sales revenue is generally not affected by seasonality.

While the total electronic assemblies market has broad applications, our customers are concentrated in the automotive, medical, and industrial end markets. Beginning in fiscal year 2023, the Company changed its presentation of revenue for the industrial and public safety end market verticals by combining them into the industrial end market vertical. Prior year periods have been recast to conform to the current year presentation.

The nature of the contract manufacturing business is such that start-up of new programs to replace expiring programs occurs frequently. Our agreements with customers are often not for a definitive term and are amended and extended, but generally continue for the relevant product’s life cycle, which can be difficult to predict at the beginning of a program. Typically, our customer agreements do not commit the customer to purchase our services until a purchase order is provided, which are generally short term in nature. Our customers generally have the right to cancel a particular program subject to contractual provisions governing termination, the final product runs, excess or obsolete inventory, and end-of-life pricing, which reduces the additional costs that we incur when a manufacturing services agreement is terminated.

Raw materials utilized in the manufacture of contract electronic products are generally readily available from both domestic and foreign sources, although from time to time the industry experiences shortages of certain components due to supply and demand forces, combined with rapid product life cycles of certain components. In addition, unforeseen events such as natural disasters and global events, like pandemics, can and have disrupted portions of the supply chain. We believe that maintaining close communication with suppliers helps minimize potential disruption in our supply chain.

The EMS industry continues to experience component shortages, component allocations, and shipping delays, particularly with semiconductors, which were especially challenging in the prior fiscal year. Component shortages or allocations could continue to increase component costs and potentially interrupt our operations and negatively impact our ability to meet commitments to customers. We take various actions to attempt to mitigate the risk and minimize the impact to our customers as well as the adverse effect component shortages, component allocations, or shipping delays could have on our results. Through contractual pricing arrangements and negotiations with our customers, we attempt to mitigate the adverse effect that cost increases could have on our results.

Raw materials are normally acquired for specific customer orders and may or may not be interchangeable among products. Inherent risks associated with rapid technological changes within this contract industry are mitigated by procuring raw materials, for the most part, based on firm orders. In certain instances, such as when lead times dictate, we enter into contractual agreements for material in excess of the levels required to fulfill customer orders. In turn, material authorization agreements with customers cover a portion of the exposure for material which is purchased prior to having a firm order. We may also purchase additional inventory to support new product introductions, transfers of production between manufacturing facilities, and to mitigate the potential impact from component shortages.

Our primary intellectual property is our proprietary manufacturing technology and processes that allow us to provide competitive contract manufacturing and design services to our customers. As such, this intellectual property is complex and normally contained within our facilities. To protect our trade secrets, our manufacturing technology and processes, and other proprietary rights, we rely primarily on a combination of intellectual property laws pertaining to trade secrets and copyrights; non-disclosure agreements with our customers, employees, and suppliers; and our internal security procedures and systems. We feel that relying on trade secret or copyright protections is a superior strategy because there is no disclosure of the information to outside parties, and protections do not expire after a length of time. We currently have or are pursuing a modest number of patents for some of our innovations and technologies in the United States and foreign countries. We also maintain trademark rights (including registrations) for “Kimball Electronics,” “GES” and other wordmarks and trademarks that we use in our business in the United States and around the world. We have policies and procedures to identify and protect our own intellectual property and that of our customers and suppliers.

We are committed to responsible, sustainable environmental, social, and governance philosophies and practices, which have been a part of our fabric since our founding in 1961. To showcase how our employees around the world share a strong sense of responsibility to protect the environment, sustain a safety focus at our facilities, and give back in meaningful ways to the communities where we live and work, we issued our latest annual Environmental, Social & Governance Report (“ESG Report”) in March 2023. The ESG Report highlights the long-term environmental, social, and governance principles and practices designed to support the Company’s commitment to sustaining lasting relationships and achieving global success with its stakeholders wherever Kimball Electronics’ touch is felt throughout the world. The ESG Report reflects several long-standing Guiding Principles of the Company: our customer is our business; our people are the company; the environment is our home; we strive to help our communities be great places to live; profitability and financial resources give us the freedom to shape our future and achieve our vision. The ESG Report is posted on our website at https://www.kimballelectronics.com/esg. The Company’s website and the information contained therein, or incorporated therein, are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Kimball has been built upon the tradition of pride in craftsmanship, mutual trust, personal integrity, respect for dignity of the individual, a spirit of cooperation, and a sense of family and good humor. We seek to enhance this culture as we grow. We believe that no company should prosper while violating the basic human rights of others whether through unlawful slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor, or otherwise exploitative means. We believe in upholding principles of human rights, fair remuneration and economic inclusion, fair labor practices, worker safety, and observing fair labor practices within our organization and our supply chain.

Our operations are subject to various foreign, federal, state, and local laws and regulations with respect to environmental and ecological matters. We believe that we are in substantial compliance with present laws and regulations and that there are no material liabilities related to such items.

We are dedicated to excellence, leadership, and stewardship in protecting the environment and communities in which we have operations. We believe that continued compliance with foreign, federal, state, and local laws and regulations which have been enacted relating to the protection of the environment will not have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position. Management believes capital expenditures for environmental control equipment will not represent a material portion of total capital expenditures.

Our operations require significant amounts of energy, including natural gas and electricity. Federal, foreign, and state regulations may control the allocation of fuels available to us, but to date we have experienced no interruption of production due to such regulations.

Kimball Electronics participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) climate change and water security questionnaires to quantify our environmental practices, provide transparency on our progress, and assist in the reduction of our contributions to climate change. Additionally, we align our sustainability reporting with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task Force On Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) frameworks and also highlight our alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Global Compact. We discuss our ESG goals and programs in detail in our annual ESG report. We publish this ESG report and our responses to the CDP climate change and water security questionnaires annually on our website at kimballelectronics.com/esg. We publish this information because our Guiding Principles remind us that the environment is our home and that we will be leaders in not only protecting but enhancing our world. The contents of the ESG reports and CDP questionnaire responses are not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC.

We believe our people are the company. We believe in creating quality for life. We believe lasting relationships create our global success. We believe our people are the competitive edge for our service, quality, and value. Kimball Electronics has been built upon the tradition of pride in craftsmanship, mutual trust, personal integrity, respect for dignity of the individual, a spirit of cooperation, and a sense of family and good humor. We seek to enhance this culture as we grow. We believe in the inherent value of all individuals.

To raise awareness of our commitment to human rights and to foster compliance with our Global Human Rights Policy, we have incorporated it as an integral part of our Code of Conduct, train all of our employees worldwide on human rights issues, and require our suppliers, vendors, contractors, and partners to meet the same standards. To this end, through our Guiding Principles, we champion transparency and accountability for ourselves.

Because our people are the reason for our success, central to our long-term strategy is attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent globally and strengthening collaboration. We are committed to pay equity and apply the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in all regions where we operate. As of June 30, 2023, Kimball Electronics employed approximately 7,900 people worldwide, with approximately 1,300 located in the United States and approximately 6,600 located in foreign countries. Three of our seven independent members of the Board of Directors are female, along with four of our eight executive management team members and over 50% of our global workforce. We continue to execute on our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and exhibit our commitment to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity by striving toward the corporate goals we outline in both our Global Human Rights Policy and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging statement, including by:

Our U.S. operations are not subject to collective bargaining arrangements. Certain foreign operations are subject to collective bargaining arrangements, many mandated by government regulation or customs of the particular countries. We believe that our employee relations are good.

For additional information, see the Company’s Proxy Statement to be filed for its annual meeting of Share Owners to be held November 17, 2023 under the caption “Our People are the Company: Human Capital Management.”

The Company makes available free of charge through its website, https://investors.kimballelectronics.com, its annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). All reports the Company files with the SEC are also available via the SEC website, http://www.sec.gov. The Company’s website and the information contained therein, or incorporated therein, are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following important risk factors, among others, could affect future results and events, causing results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements made in this report and presented elsewhere by management from time to time. Such factors, among others, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and should be carefully considered. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not currently know about, we currently believe are immaterial, or we have not predicted may also affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Because of these and other factors, past performance should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Significant declines in the level of purchases by key customers or the loss of a significant number of customers could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, the nature of the contract manufacturing industry is such that the start-up of new customers and new programs to replace expiring programs occurs frequently, and new customers and program start-ups generally cause margin dilution early in the life of a program. New customer relationships also present risk because we do not have an extensive product or customer relationship history.

Consolidation among our customers exposes us to increased risks, including reduced revenue and dependence on a smaller number of customers. Consolidation in industries that utilize our services may occur as companies combine to achieve further economies of scale and other synergies, which could result in an increase in excess manufacturing capacity as companies seek to divest manufacturing operations or eliminate duplicative product lines. Excess manufacturing capacity may increase pricing and competitive pressures for our industry as a whole and for us in particular.

We can provide no assurance that we will be able to fully replace any lost sales from these risks, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

We depend on suppliers globally to provide timely delivery of materials, parts, and components for use in our products. From time to time, we have experienced shortages of some of the materials, parts and components that we use, particularly with semiconductors. These shortages can result from strong demand for those components or from problems experienced by suppliers, such as shortages of raw materials and shipping delays for such components with common carriers. These unanticipated component shortages have and will continue to result in curtailed production or delays in production, which prevent us from making scheduled shipments to customers.

We have also experienced, and may again experience in the future, such shortages due to the effects of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the emergence of variants for which vaccines may not be effective, and may be impacted by other events outside our control, including macroeconomic events, trade restrictions, political crises, social unrest, terrorism, and conflicts (including the Russian invasion of, and ongoing war in, Ukraine). We cannot reasonably predict the full extent to which these events may impact our supply chain, because any impacts will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and continuously evolving, including new information that may emerge concerning COVID-19, further actions by governmental entities or others in response to the types of events described above, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

Suppliers adjust their capacity as demand fluctuates, and component shortages and/or component allocations could occur in addition to longer lead times. Certain components we purchase are primarily manufactured in select regions of the world and issues in those regions could cause manufacturing delays. Maintaining strong relationships with key suppliers of components critical to the manufacturing process is essential. Component shortages may also increase our cost of goods sold because we may be required to pay higher prices for components in short supply and redesign or reconfigure products to accommodate substitute components. These and other price increases, including increased tariffs, could have an adverse impact on our profitability if we cannot offset such increases with other cost reductions or by price increases to customers. If suppliers fail to meet commitments to us in terms of price, delivery, or quality, or if the supply chain is unable to react timely to increases in demand, it could interrupt our operations and negatively impact our ability to meet commitments to customers.

We continue to expand our global operations by increasing our product and service offerings and scaling our infrastructure at certain facilities to support our business. This expansion increases the complexity of our business and places significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial control and reporting functions. We may not be able to manage these expansions effectively, which could damage our reputation, limit our growth, and negatively affect our operating results.

Start-ups of new customer programs require the coordination of the design and manufacturing processes, as well as substantial investments in resources and equipment. The design and engineering required for certain new programs can take an extended period of time, and further time may be required to achieve customer acceptance. Accordingly, the launch of any particular program may be delayed, less successful than we originally anticipated, or not successful at all. Additionally, even after acceptance, most of our customers do not commit to long-term production schedules, and we are unable to forecast the level of customer orders with certainty over a given period of time. If our customers do not purchase anticipated levels of products, we may not recover our up-front investments, may not realize profits, and may not effectively utilize expanded fixed manufacturing capacities. All of these types of manufacturing inefficiencies could have an adverse impact on our financial position, operating margins, results of operations, or cash flows.

We derive a substantial majority of our revenues from our operations outside the United States, primarily in China, India, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Thailand, and Vietnam. Our international operations are subject to a number of risks, which may include the following:

These risks could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Certain foreign jurisdictions restrict the amount of cash that can be transferred to the United States or impose taxes and penalties on such transfers of cash. To the extent we have excess cash in foreign locations that could be used in, or is needed by, our operations in the United States, we may incur significant penalties and/or taxes to repatriate these funds.

For example, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war there has impacted the global economy as the United States, the UK, the EU, and other countries have imposed broad export controls and financial and economic sanctions against Russia (a large exporter of commodities), Belarus, and specific areas of Ukraine, and may continue to impose additional sanctions or

other measures. Russia may impose its own counteractive measures. Companies worldwide have interrupted or stopped production in Ukraine, Russia, and neighboring countries. We do not procure materials directly from Ukraine or Russia or have facilities there, but impacts like these, wherever they may occur, can further exacerbate the ongoing supply chain disruptions that are occurring across the globe, particularly in the automotive industry. Our European operations are located in Poland and Romania, and both of these countries are part of NATO, which is actively taking, and could take in the future, certain measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The extent of the war’s effect on the global economy and the duration, scope, and impacts of the conflict are unknown and highly unpredictable, and the consequences from future actions such as increased sanctions and retaliatory measures taken by the United States, NATO, or other countries cannot be predicted but could have an adverse impact on our business operations, particularly our European operations.

Numerous manufacturers within the contract manufacturing industry compete globally for business from existing and potential customers. Some of our competitors have greater resources and more geographically diversified international operations than we do. We also face competition from the manufacturing operations of our customers, who are continually evaluating the merits of manufacturing products internally against the advantages of outsourcing to contract manufacturing service providers. In the past, some of our customers have decided to in-source a portion of their manufacturing from us in order to utilize their excess internal manufacturing capacity. The competition may further intensify as more companies enter the markets in which we operate, as existing competitors expand capacity, and as the industry consolidates.

In relation to customer pricing pressures, if we cannot achieve the proportionate reductions in costs, profit margins may suffer. The high level of competition in the industry impacts our ability to implement price increases or, in some cases, even maintain prices, which also could lower profit margins. In addition, as end markets dictate, we are continually assessing excess capacity and developing plans to better utilize manufacturing operations, including consolidating and shifting manufacturing capacity to lower cost venues as necessary.

We make substantial investments of capital and operating expenses to implement comprehensive, company-wide quality systems, certifications, and controls in our operations in an effort to ensure sustained compliance with various product and quality system regulations and requirements, and to meet the needs of our customers. However, in the event we fail to adhere to these requirements, we become subject to costs associated with product defects, interruptions in production, and reputational harm. Our failure to comply with applicable quality system standards could, in turn, adversely affect our customers through failures to supply product to them. Quality or noncompliance failures could have an adverse effect on our reputation in addition to an adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. While we maintain product liability and other insurance coverage that we believe to be generally in accordance with industry practices, our insurance coverage may not be adequate to protect us fully against substantial claims and costs that may arise from warranty and other liabilities related to product defects.

The operation of our business depends on effective information technology systems, including data management, analytics, and emerging machine learning and artificial intelligence platforms and applications. These systems are subject to the risk of security breach or cybersecurity threat, including misappropriation of assets or other sensitive information, such as confidential business information and personally identifiable data relating to employees, customers, and other business partners, or data corruption which could cause operational disruption. The unpredictability of AI, machine learning, and similar systems that automate certain operational tasks bring the potential for unintended consequences and unexpected disruptions in business operations, financial losses, and reputational damage. As we could be the target of cyber and other security threats, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated, we must continuously monitor and develop our information technology networks and infrastructure to prevent, detect, address, and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses, and other events that could have a security impact. Information systems require an ongoing commitment of significant resources to research new technologies and processes, maintain and enhance existing systems, and develop new systems in order to keep pace with changes in information processing technology and evolving industry standards as well as to protect against cyber risks and security breaches. While we provide employee awareness training around phishing, malware, and other cyber threats to help protect against these cyber and security risks, we cannot ensure the measures we take to protect our information technology systems will be sufficient.

Implementation delays, poor execution, or a breach of information technology systems could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, or increase costs related to the mitigation of, response to, or litigation arising from any such issue. Similar risks exist with our third-party vendors. Any problems caused by these third parties, including those resulting from disruption in communications services, cyber attacks, or security breaches, have the potential to hinder our ability to conduct business. In addition, data privacy laws and regulations, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the UK GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), and similar legislation in jurisdictions in which we operate, pose increasingly complex compliance challenges and potentially elevate costs, and any failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in significant penalties.

Our success also depends on keeping pace with technological advancements, including Industry 4.0, and adapting services to provide manufacturing capabilities which meet customers’ changing needs. Therefore, we must retain our qualified engineering and technical personnel and successfully anticipate and respond to technological changes in a cost effective and timely manner.

Shortages of workers could adversely impact our ability to operate our business effectively and timely serve our customers’ needs, which could adversely affect our relations with customers, result in reductions in orders from customers, or cause us to lose customers. Turnover in personnel could result in additional training and inefficiencies that could adversely impact our operating results. Our culture and guiding principles focus on continuous training, motivating, and development of employees, and we strive to attract, motivate, and retain qualified personnel. To aid in managing our growth and strengthening our pool of qualified personnel, we will need to internally develop, recruit, and retain diverse, qualified personnel. If we are not able to do so, our business and our ability to continue to grow could be harmed.

Certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and the Amended and Restated Bylaws may delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a Share Owner may consider favorable. For example, the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock, prevents Share Owners from acting by written consent without unanimous consent, and requires a supermajority Share Owner approval for certain business combinations with related persons. These provisions may discourage acquisition proposals or delay or prevent a change in control, which could harm our stock price. Indiana law also imposes some restrictions on potential acquirers.

We make substantial investments of capital and operating expenses to implement comprehensive, company-wide quality systems, certifications, and controls in our operations in an effort to ensure sustained compliance with various product and quality system regulations and requirements, and to meet the needs of our customers. However, in the event we fail to adhere to these requirements, we become subject to potential investigations and fines and penalties. Our failure to comply with applicable

regulations and quality system standards could, in turn, adversely affect our customers through failures to supply product to them or delays in their ability to obtain and maintain product approvals. As a medical device manufacturer, we also have additional compliance requirements. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) extensively regulates all aspects of product and manufacturing quality for medical products under its current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) regulations. Outside the U.S., our operations and our customers’ products are subject to similar regulatory requirements, notably by the European Medicines Agency and the Safe Food and Drug Administration in China. For instance, we are required to register with the FDA and are subject to periodic inspection by the FDA for compliance with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (“QSR”) requirements, which require manufacturers of medical devices to adhere to certain regulations, including testing, quality control and documentation procedures. Any determination by the FDA or other regulatory authorities of manufacturing or other deficiencies could adversely affect our business. Failure or noncompliance could have an adverse effect on our reputation in addition to an adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

There is increasing concern that a gradual increase in global average temperatures due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause significant changes in weather patterns around the globe and an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters or extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, cyclones, or floods. Physical climate risks and the operation of facilities in areas subject to increased water stress could impair our production capabilities, disrupt the operations of our supply chain and infrastructure, and impact our customers and their demand for our services.

The past and present operation and ownership by Kimball Electronics of manufacturing plants and real property are subject to extensive and changing federal, state, local, and foreign environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to discharges in air, water, and land, the handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste, the use of certain hazardous materials in the production of select products, and the remediation of contamination associated with releases of hazardous substances.

In addition, as regulators and investors increasingly focus on climate change and other sustainability issues, we are subject to new disclosure frameworks and regulations. For example, the European Parliament adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the resulting adoption of EU sustainability reporting standards to be developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, with such standards to be tailored to EU policies building on and contributing to international standardization initiatives, will apply not only to local operations in the EU, but under certain circumstances, to entire global companies like Kimball Electronics that have EU operations. The CSRD will not apply to our operations in calendar year 2023, but we are assessing our obligations under the CSRD and we expect that compliance with the CSRD could require significant effort in future years. The SEC and the State of California have also proposed new climate change disclosure requirements, and compliance with such rules, if and when they are finalized, could also require significant effort.

We cannot predict what environmental legislation or regulations will be enacted in the future, how existing or future laws or regulations will be administered or interpreted, or what environmental conditions may be found to exist. Compliance with more stringent laws or regulations, or stricter interpretation of existing laws, may require additional expenditures, some of which could be material. In addition, any investigations or remedial efforts relating to environmental matters could involve material costs or otherwise result in material liabilities.

The long-term effects of climate change on the global economy and our industry in particular are unclear. Changes in climate where we, our customers, and our supply chain operate could have a long-term adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. In addition, we have committed to cut our greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, electrical usage, and air emissions significantly by 2025 as part of our long-term sustainability strategy, and we may take additional voluntary steps to mitigate our impact on the environment. Climate transition risks related to shifts to a low-carbon economy and the associated costs of retrofitting or constructing facilities with green technology, in addition to investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency could involve material costs or otherwise impact our customers and their demand for our services.

Environmental regulations or changes in the supply, demand, or available sources of energy, water, or other resources may affect the availability or cost of goods and services, including natural resources, necessary to run our business. The cost of energy is a critical component of freight expense and the cost of operating manufacturing facilities. Increases in the cost of energy in particular could reduce our profitability. Given the political significance and uncertainty around these issues, we cannot predict how climate change, and the legal and regulatory initiatives related to climate change, will affect our operations and financial condition.

Customers, consumers, investors, and other stakeholders, particularly in the EMS industry, are increasingly focusing on environmental issues, including climate change, water use, deforestation, waste, and other sustainability concerns. Along with our stakeholders and our broader industry, we have increased our focus on sustainability and measurement of our progress against ESG criteria, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to achieve relevant criteria with our current focus. Our ability to successfully execute relevant initiatives and accurately report our progress presents numerous operational, financial, legal, reputational and other risks, many of which are outside our control, and all of which could have a material negative impact on our business.

New disclosures, along with the evolving global ESG regulatory landscape, may present increased compliance costs and regulatory or enforcement risks, as well as increased competition from market participants who may adopt more robust ESG reporting and sustainable business practices. If our ESG initiatives fail to satisfy investors, current or potential customers, consumers, and our other stakeholders, our reputation, our ability to sell products and services to customers, our ability to attract or retain employees, and our attractiveness as an investment or business partner could be negatively impacted. Similarly, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our goals, targets, and objectives, or to satisfy various reporting standards within the timelines we announce, or at all, could also have similar negative impacts and expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation.

In addition, our customers have adopted, and may continue to adopt, procurement policies that require us to comply with governance, social, and environmental responsibility provisions. Our customers have also adopted, and may continue to adopt, goals and policies that serve to increase their demand for goods or services that do not produce significant greenhouse gas emissions and are not related to carbon-based energy sources. Furthermore, an increasing number of investors have adopted, and may continue to adopt, ESG policies for their portfolio companies, and various voluntarily sustainability initiatives and organizations have promulgated different social and environmental responsibility and sustainability guidelines. These practices, policies, provisions, and initiatives are under active development, subject to change, can be unpredictable and conflicting, and may prove difficult and expensive for us to comply with and could negatively affect our reputation, business, or financial condition.

As business conditions change, we must continually evaluate and work toward the optimum asset base. It is possible that certain assets such as, but not limited to, facilities, equipment, intangible assets, or goodwill could be impaired at some point in the future depending on changing business conditions. Such impairment could have an adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations.

Our effective tax rate is highly dependent upon the geographic mix of earnings across the jurisdictions where we operate. Changes in tax laws or tax rates in those jurisdictions could have a material impact on our operating results. Judgment is required in determining the worldwide provision for income taxes, other tax liabilities, interest, and penalties. We base our tax position upon the anticipated nature and conduct of our business and upon our understanding of the tax laws of the various countries in which we have assets or conduct activities. Our tax position, however, is subject to review and possible challenge by taxing authorities and to possible changes in law (including adverse changes to the manner in which the United States and other countries tax multinational companies or interpret their tax laws). We cannot determine in advance the extent to which some jurisdictions may assess additional tax or interest and penalties on such additional taxes. In addition, our effective tax rate may be increased by changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in our cash management strategies, changes in local tax rates, or countries adopting more aggressive interpretations of tax laws.

Several countries where we operate provide tax incentives to attract and retain business. We have obtained incentives where available and practicable. Our taxes could increase if certain incentives were retracted, they were not renewed upon expiration, we no longer qualify for such programs, or tax rates applicable to us in such jurisdictions were otherwise increased. In addition, our growth may cause our effective tax rate to increase, depending on the jurisdictions in which we expand our business or acquire operations. Given the scope of our international operations and our international tax arrangements, changes in tax rates and the manner in which multinational companies are taxed in the United States and other countries could have a material impact on our financial results and competitiveness.

Certain of our subsidiaries provide financing, products, and services to, and may undertake certain significant transactions with, other subsidiaries in different jurisdictions. Moreover, several jurisdictions in which we operate have tax laws with detailed transfer pricing rules which require that all transactions with non-resident related parties be priced using arm’s length pricing principles and that contemporaneous documentation must exist to support such pricing. Due to inconsistencies among jurisdictions in the application of the arm’s length standard, our transfer pricing methods may be challenged and, if not upheld, could increase our income tax expense. In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development continues to issue guidelines and proposals related to transfer pricing and profit shifting that may result in legislative changes that could reshape international tax rules in numerous countries and negatively impact our effective tax rate.

In 2022, the relative value of the U.S. dollar reached its highest levels since 2000 and has appreciated sharply against many foreign currencies. Fluctuations in exchange rates could impact our operating results. Our risk management strategy includes the use of derivative financial instruments to hedge certain foreign currency exposures. Any hedging techniques we implement contain risks and may not be entirely effective. Exchange rate fluctuations could also make our products more expensive than competitors’ products not subject to these fluctuations, which could adversely affect our revenues and profitability in international markets.

High levels of inflation in the U.S. and other countries where we operate have and may continue to increase our costs and may impact pricing and customer demand, both of which may impact our revenues and earnings. We have exposure to interest rate risk on our borrowings under our credit facilities. The interest rates of these borrowings are based on a spread plus applicable base rate, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (“EURIBOR”), the prime rate of a reference bank, or the federal funds rate. An adverse change in the base rates upon which our interest rates are determined could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Rising interest rates have increased our costs of borrowing. Additionally, volatility in capital markets could present challenges to us if we need to raise funds in the equity market. This, in turn, may cause us to adopt strategies that may be less capital-intensive. Volatility in the credit markets, including due to the recent bank failures as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s actions and pace of interest rate increases to combat inflation in the U.S., may have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain debt financing.

We plan to expand our business to new customers, new commercial applications, and new commercial markets, including those where we may have limited operating experience, through organic growth and acquisitions. Accordingly, we may be subject to increased business, technology, and economic risks that could materially affect our business. In recent periods, we have increased our focus on organic growth and customer acquisition. In the future, we may increasingly focus on this organic growth, and we may identify inorganic growth opportunities through acquisitions and customer divestitures. Expanding in the verticals in which we are already operating will continue to require significant resources and there is no guarantee that such efforts will be successful or beneficial to us. Historically, sales to new customers have often led to additional sales to the same customers or similarly situated customers. As we expand into and within new and emerging markets for our services, we will likely face additional regulatory scrutiny, risks, and business challenges from our customers, governments, and other stakeholders in those markets. While this approach to growth within new and existing commercial markets and verticals has proven successful in the past, it is uncertain we will achieve the same penetration and organic growth or identify suitable inorganic growth opportunities in the future and our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations could be negatively impacted.

Significant loss of income resulting from a facility catastrophe would be partially offset by business interruption insurance coverage.

We and our subsidiaries are not parties to any pending legal proceedings, other than ordinary routine litigation and claims incidental to the business. The outcome of current routine pending litigation and claims, individually and in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material adverse impact on our business or financial condition.

Not applicable.

Executive officers are appointed annually by the Board of Directors. The following is a brief description of the business experience during the past five or more years of each of our executive officers.

Mr. Phillips was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director effective March 1, 2023. Mr. Phillips was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer from 2019 until 2022 for Elkay Manufacturing Company. Previously, Mr. Phillips served as the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Board member from 2017 through 2019, for Essendant, Inc. Mr. Phillips currently serves on the Board of Greenheck Group.

Mr. Baumann was appointed Chief Accounting Officer effective July 1, 2023. He joined Kimball Electronics in April 2019 as Assistant Corporate Controller and served as our Corporate Controller since March 2021. Mr. Baumann was previously employed by Vectren Corporation from 2009 to 2019.

Ms. Croom is our Chief Financial Officer effective July 1, 2021. Ms. Croom joined Kimball Electronics in January 2021 in the role of Vice President, Finance. Prior to joining Kimball Electronics, she held the position of Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis for NiSource Inc. since August 2019. Previously at NiSource Inc., she served as Director of Operations Planning since March 2017 and Director of Regulatory Affairs since April 2014. Ms. Croom currently serves on the Board of First Energy Corp.

Ms. DeLorenzo was appointed Vice President, Human Resources in June 2018. Ms. DeLorenzo joined Kimball Electronics in 2015 in the position of Director, Organizational Development.

Mr. Hass was appointed Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Secretary effective January 1, 2022. He joined Kimball Electronics in August 2020 as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. Prior to Kimball Electronics, Mr. Hass served as General Counsel and Secretary of Lifeway Foods from 2016 through 2020.

Mr. Korn was appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer effective July 1, 2023. Previously, Mr. Korn was our President, Global Electronics Manufacturing Services Operations since July 2020, and Vice President, North American Operations since 2007.

Ms. Thomson was appointed to the role of Chief Commercial Officer effective July 1, 2023. Previously, Ms. Thomson was our Vice President, Global Business Development and Design Services since August 2018. Prior to joining Kimball Electronics, she held the position of Vice President of Business Development for Creation Technologies since 2012.

Mr. Thyen was appointed our Vice President, New Platforms, in August 2018. Prior to this, he served as Vice President, Business Development since 2008.

The Company’s common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol: KE.

Since inception, we have not paid any dividends on our common stock, and we currently do not have plans to pay dividends in fiscal year 2024. Our Board of Directors (the “Board”) regularly reviews our capital allocation strategy.

On August 2, 2023, the Company’s common stock was owned by approximately 1,079 Share Owners of record. 

On October 21, 2015, our Board approved an 18-month stock repurchase plan (the “Plan”), authorizing the repurchase of up to $20 million worth of our common stock. Then, separately on each of September 29, 2016, August 23, 2017, November 8, 2018, and November 10, 2020, the Board extended and increased the Plan to allow the repurchase of up to an additional $20 million worth of common stock with no expiration date, which brought the total authorized stock repurchases under the Plan to $100 million.

During the three months ended June 30, 2023 and fiscal year 2023, the Company did not purchase any common stock. The Company’s maximum value of remaining shares that may be purchased under the Plan was $11.2 million at June 30, 2023.

The following performance graph is not deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such a filing.

The graph below compares the cumulative total return to Share Owners of the Company’s common stock for the five-year period commencing June 30, 2018 and ending June 30, 2023 to the cumulative total return of the Nasdaq Stock Market (U.S.), the Russell 2000 Electronic Components subindex, and the reference group index that we used in prior years, all for the same period of time. Beginning with our performance graph presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we determined that we would compare our performance to the Russell 2000 Electronic Components subindex instead of the reference group index we used previously. We are currently a member of the Russell 2000 Electronics Components subindex and believe that this market capitalization-weighted index reflects issuers with broadly similar market capitalizations that operate in our industry. We also believe that this subindex provides a more meaningful comparison of the cumulative return of our stock than any other lines of business or published industry index or peer groups (including our prior peer group). Our former cumulative total shareholder return (“TSR”) reference group index was comprised of:  Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Flex Ltd., Jabil Inc., Plexus Corp., and Sanmina Corporation, each of which is a publicly traded company in the EMS industry. The public companies included in this former cumulative TSR reference group each have a larger revenue base than we do.

We are a global, multifaceted manufacturing solutions provider. We provide electronics manufacturing services (“EMS”), including engineering and supply chain support, to customers in the automotive, medical, and industrial end markets. Our core competency is producing durable electronics, and we further offer contract manufacturing services for non-electronic components, medical devices, medical disposables, drug delivery devices and solutions, precision molded plastics, and production automation, test, and inspection equipment. Our manufacturing services, including engineering and supply chain support, utilize common production and support capabilities globally. We are well recognized by our customers and the industry for our excellent quality, reliability, and innovative service. CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY, a leading brand and technical publication for electronics manufacturers worldwide, has recognized us four times in the past five years for achieving the Highest Overall Customer Rating in their Service Excellence Awards, and we received awards in all categories in 2022.

The contract manufacturing services industry is very competitive. As a mid-sized player, we can expect to be challenged by the agility and flexibility of the smaller, regional players, and we can expect to be challenged by the scale and price competitiveness of the larger, global players. We enjoy a unique market position between these extremes which allows us to compete with the larger scale players for high-volume projects, but also maintain our competitive position in the generally lower volume durable electronics market space. We expect to continue to effectively operate in this market space; however, one significant challenge will be maintaining our profit margins while we continue our revenue growth. Pricing is competitive in the market as production efficiencies and material pricing advantages for most projects drive costs and prices down over the life of the projects. This characteristic of the contract electronics marketplace is expected to continue.

We continue to monitor the current economic and industry conditions for uncertainties that may pose a threat to our future growth or cause disruption in business strategy, execution, and timing in the markets in which we compete. The EMS industry continues to experience component shortages, component allocations, and shipping delays, particularly with semiconductors, which were especially challenging in the prior fiscal year. Component shortages or allocations could continue to increase component costs and potentially interrupt our operations and negatively impact our ability to meet commitments to customers. We have taken various actions to mitigate the risk and minimize the impact to our customers as well as the adverse effect component shortages, component allocations, or shipping delays could have on our results; however, the duration or severity of the components shortages is unknown.

Supply chain restraints have also resulted in an industry-wide inflation of components, labor, freight, and other operating costs. Through contractual pricing arrangements and negotiations with our customers, we have been able to mitigate a majority of these cost increases; however, our profitability has been impacted, and necessary extended lead times on inventory purchases has negatively impacted our working capital. The financial impact on our future results cannot be reasonably estimated but could be material.

We experienced record sales in the current fiscal year as sales increased 35% from the prior fiscal year, with double-digit increases and annual records in all three of our end market verticals. Beginning in fiscal year 2023, we changed our presentation of revenue for the industrial and public safety end market verticals by combining them in the industrial end market vertical. Prior year periods have been recast to conform to the current year presentation. Sales in all three of our end market verticals have increased when compared to the prior fiscal year from the improved component availability and the launch and ramp-up of new programs.

We have a strong focus on cost control balanced with managing the future growth prospects of our business. We expect to make investments that will strengthen or add new capabilities to our package of value as a multifaceted manufacturing solutions company, including through our recently announced and completed capacity expansions. Managing working capital in conjunction with fluctuating demand levels is likewise key. In addition, a long-standing component of our profit-sharing incentive bonus plan is that it is linked to our financial performance which results in varying amounts of compensation expense as profits change.

We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet as of the end of fiscal year 2023, which included a current ratio of 2.0, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.5, and Share Owners’ equity of $524 million. Recently, we have invested to support our expansions and growth in Mexico, Thailand, and Poland. At the same time, we have supported our customers through strategic inventory purchases to mitigate part shortages. We expect our balance sheet to normalize as parts shortages abate and our expansions continue to ramp up production. Refer to the Future Liquidity section of Liquidity and Capital Resources below for further discussion of our liquidity.

A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022 is presented below. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021 can be found under captions entitled “Results of Operations - Fiscal Year 2022 Compared with Fiscal Year 2021” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in the section entitled “Item 7 - Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2022 filed with the SEC on August 30, 2022, which is available free of charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or the Company’s website, http://investors.kimballelectronics.com. The Company’s website and the information contained therein, or incorporated therein, are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Gross profit as a percent of net sales improved in fiscal year 2023 when compared to fiscal year 2022 primarily due to the leverage gained on higher revenue and favorable product mix. Additionally, we experienced lost absorption in the first half of fiscal year 2022 as the prior fiscal year was impacted to a much greater degree than the current fiscal year by component shortages, and as we retained our workforce, our gross profit as a percent of net sales was negatively impacted.

For fiscal year 2023, selling and administrative expenses declined as a percent of net sales but increased in absolute dollars when compared to fiscal year 2022. The selling and administrative expense increase was driven by the increased factoring fees coupled with increased accounts receivable factoring activity, added resources to support our significant growth, wage inflation, and higher incentive-based compensation.

Other General Income in fiscal years 2023 and 2022 consisted of $0.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively, resulting from payments received related to class action lawsuits in which Kimball Electronics was a class member. These lawsuits alleged that certain suppliers to the EMS industry conspired over a number of years to raise and fix the prices of electronic components, resulting in overcharges to purchasers of those components.

Net cash used for operating activities for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 and the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 was driven by changes in operating assets and liabilities, partially offset by net income plus non-cash depreciation and amortization charges. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $107.3 million of cash in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 and $152.8 million of cash in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, respectively.

The cash used of $107.3 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities in fiscal year 2023 was largely due to an increase in accounts receivable, which used cash of $82.4 million primarily resulting from increased sales volumes, and an increase in inventory, which used cash of $50.2 million, driven by investment to support our expansions. Partially offsetting cash used by inventory was an increase in accounts payable, which provided cash of $20.4 million largely resulting from increased inventory purchases, and an increase in advances from customers, which provided cash of $7.9 million.

Net cash used for investing activities during fiscal year 2023 includes $90.7 million cash used for capital investments. The capital investments were primarily for expansions at our Mexico, Thailand, and Poland facilities and to support new business awards.

Net cash used for investing activities during fiscal year 2022 includes $74.7 million cash used for capital investments. The capital investments were primarily for expansions at our Thailand and Mexico facilities and to support new business awards.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 resulted largely from net borrowings on our credit facilities of $100.7 million primarily for working capital purposes and capital investments supporting expansions.

Net cash used for financing activities for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 resulted largely from net borrowings on our credit facilities of $114.9 million primarily for working capital purposes.

The Company maintains a U.S. primary credit facility (the “primary credit facility”) scheduled to mature on May 4, 2027. The primary credit facility provides for $300 million in borrowings, with an option to increase the amount available for borrowing to $450 million at the Company’s request, subject to the consent of each lender participating in such increase. The Company also maintains a 364-day multi-currency revolving credit facility (the “secondary credit facility”), which allows for borrowings up to $50 million and has a maturity date of February 2, 2024. The proceeds of the loans on the primary credit facility and the secondary credit facility are to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes of the Company. We were in compliance with the financial covenants of the primary and secondary credit facilities during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.

We believe our principal sources of liquidity from available funds on hand, cash generated from operations, and the availability of borrowing under our credit facilities, will be sufficient to meet our working capital and other operating needs for at least the next 12 months. The unused borrowings in USD equivalent under all of our credit facilities totaled $106.1 million at June 30, 2023, including the $50 million secondary facility expiring in February 2024. Additionally, accounts receivable factoring arrangements could provide flexible access to cash as needed. While our primary and secondary credit facilities include a covenant that limits the amount of sold receivables outstanding at any time, currently and historically, we have been considerably below this limit.

We expect to continue to prudently invest in capital expenditures, including for capacity expansions and potential acquisitions, that would help us continue our growth as a multifaceted manufacturing solutions company. We recently completed our Thailand facility expansion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, our Mexico facility expansion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, and our Poland expansion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023.

At June 30, 2023, our capital expenditure commitments were approximately $13 million, consisting primarily of equipment for the Poland, Mexico, and Thailand facility expansions and capital related to new program wins. We anticipate our available liquidity will be sufficient to fund these capital expenditures.

We have purchase obligations that arise in the normal course of business for items such as raw materials, services, and software acquisitions/license commitments. In certain instances, such as when lead times dictate, we enter into contractual agreements for material in excess of the levels required to fulfill customer orders to help mitigate the potential impact related to component shortages, which require longer lead times. In turn, our material authorization agreements with customers cover a portion of the exposure for material which is purchased prior to having a firm order.

At June 30, 2023, our foreign operations held cash totaling $41.4 million and the aggregate unremitted earnings of our foreign subsidiaries were approximately $420 million. Most of our accumulated unremitted foreign earnings have been invested in active non-U.S. business operations, and it is not anticipated such earnings will be remitted to the United States. Our intent is to permanently reinvest the remaining funds outside of the United States, and our current plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate these funds to our U.S. operations. However, if such funds were repatriated, a portion of the funds remitted may be subject to applicable non-U.S. income and withholding taxes.

The Company has a Board-authorized stock repurchase plan (the “Plan”) to allow the repurchase of up to $100 million of common stock. Purchases may be made under various programs, including in open-market transactions, block transactions on or off an exchange, or in privately negotiated transactions, all in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations. The Plan has no expiration date but may be suspended or discontinued at any time. The extent to which the Company repurchases its shares, and the timing of such repurchases, will depend upon a variety of factors, including market conditions, regulatory requirements, and other corporate considerations, as determined by the Company’s management team. The Company expects to finance the purchases with existing liquidity. The Company has repurchased $88.8 million of common stock under the Plan through June 30, 2023.

Our ability to generate cash from operations to meet our liquidity obligations could be adversely affected in the future by factors such as general economic and market conditions, lack of availability of raw material components in the supply chain, a decline in demand for our services, loss of key contract customers, unsuccessful integration of acquisitions and new operations, global health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the related uncertainties around the financial impact, and other unforeseen circumstances. In particular, should demand for our customers’ products and, in turn, our services decrease significantly over the next 12 months, the available cash provided by operations could be adversely impacted.

As of June 30, 2023, we do not have any material off-balance sheet arrangements.

Kimball Electronics’ Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These principles require the use of estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported and disclosed in the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions. Management uses its best judgment in the assumptions used to value these estimates, which are based on current facts and circumstances, prior experience, and other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable. Management believes the following critical accounting policies reflect the more significant judgments and estimates used in preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements and are the policies that are most critical in the portrayal of our financial position and results of operations. Management has discussed these critical accounting policies and estimates with the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors and with the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm.

Other Intangible Assets, $12.3 million and $14.7 million as of June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, are reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and consist of capitalized software, customer relationships, technology, and trade name. Intangible assets are reviewed for impairment, and their remaining useful lives evaluated for revision, when events or circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable over the remaining lives of the assets.

We operate within multiple taxing jurisdictions and are subject to tax audits in these jurisdictions. These audits can involve complex issues, which may require an extended period of time to resolve. However, we believe we have made adequate provision for income and other taxes for all years that are subject to audit. As tax positions are effectively settled, the tax provision will be adjusted accordingly. The liability for uncertain income tax and other tax positions, including accrued interest and penalties on those positions, was $1.8 million at both June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2022.

The management of Kimball Electronics, Inc. is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting and for the preparation and integrity of the accompanying financial statements and other related information in this report. The consolidated financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, including the footnotes, were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and include judgments and estimates, which in the opinion of management are applied on an appropriately conservative basis. We maintain a system of internal and disclosure controls intended to provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded from loss or material misuse, transactions are authorized and recorded properly, and that the accounting records may be relied upon for the preparation of the financial statements. This system is tested and evaluated regularly for adherence and effectiveness by employees who work within the internal control processes and by our staff of internal auditors.

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, which is comprised of directors who are not employees of the Company, meets regularly with management, our internal auditors, and the independent registered public accounting firm to review our financial policies and procedures, our internal control structure, the objectivity of our financial reporting, and the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm. The internal auditors and the independent registered public accounting firm have free and direct access to the Audit Committee, and they meet periodically, without management present, to discuss appropriate matters.

Because of inherent limitations, a system of internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements and even when determined to be effective, can only provide reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Kimball Electronics, Inc. (also referred to herein as “Kimball Electronics,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a global, multifaceted manufacturing solutions provider. We provide electronics manufacturing services (“EMS”), including engineering and supply chain support, to customers in the automotive, medical, and industrial end markets. We deliver a package of value that begins with our core competency of producing durable electronics, and we further offer contract manufacturing services for non-electronic components, medical disposables, precision molded plastics, and production automation, test, and inspection equipment. Our design and manufacturing expertise coupled with robust processes and procedures help us ensure that we deliver the highest levels of quality, reliability, and service throughout the entire life cycle of our customers’ products. We deliver award-winning service across our highly integrated global footprint, which is enabled by our largely common operating system, procedures, and standardization. We are well recognized by customers and industry trade publications for our excellent quality, reliability, and innovative service.

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of all domestic and foreign subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in the consolidation.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and related note disclosures. While efforts are made to assure estimates used are reasonably accurate based on management’s knowledge of current events, actual results could differ from those estimates.

The Company reviews the estimated useful lives of its fixed assets on an ongoing basis. In evaluating useful lives, the Company considers how long assets will remain functionally efficient and effective, given levels of technology, competitive factors, and the economic environment. If the assessment indicates that the assets will continue to be used for a shorter or longer period than previously anticipated, the useful life of the assets is revised, resulting in a change in estimate. Changes in estimates are accounted for on a prospective basis by depreciating the assets’ current carrying values over their revised remaining useful lives.

The review performed by the Company in the prior fiscal year indicated that Surface Mount Technology production equipment had actual lives that were longer than previously estimated. As a result of these findings, the Company changed its estimates of useful lives on these assets to 10 years, from lives of 5 or 7 years. The change was effective and accounted for prospectively beginning on November 1, 2021. The effects of this change in useful life estimate for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 were a decrease in depreciation expense of $6.8 million, an increase in net income of $5.3 million, and an increase to basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.21. The effects of this change for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 were a decrease in depreciation expense of $6.3 million, an increase in net income of $4.9 million, and an increase to basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.19.

Kimball Electronics has business units located in the United States, China, Mexico, Poland, Romania, and Thailand, and each of these business units qualify as operating segments. In addition, GES has operations located in the United States, China, India, Japan, and Vietnam. The GES operations qualify as a single operating segment with its group results regularly reviewed by our chief operating decision maker, which is our Chief Executive Officer.

Our operating segments meet the aggregation criteria under the current accounting guidance for segment reporting. As of June 30, 2023, all of our operating segments provide contract manufacturing services, including engineering and supply chain support, for the production of electronic assemblies and other products including medical devices, medical disposables, precision molded plastics, and automation, test, and inspection equipment primarily in automotive, medical, and industrial applications, to the specifications and designs of our customers. The nature of the products, the production process, the type of customers, and the methods used to distribute the products have similar characteristics across all our operating segments. Each of our operating segments service customers in multiple markets, and many of our customers’ programs are manufactured and serviced by multiple operating segments. We leverage global processes such as component procurement and customer pricing that provide commonality and consistency among the various regions in which we operate. All of our operating segments have similar long-term economic characteristics, and as such, have been aggregated into one reportable segment.

We recognize revenue in accordance with the standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all the related amendments. Our revenue from contracts with customers is generated primarily from manufacturing services provided for the production of electronic assemblies, components, medical devices, medical disposables, precision molded plastics, and automation, test, and inspection equipment built to customer’s specifications. Our customer agreements are generally not for a definitive term but continue for the relevant product’s life cycle. Typically, our customer agreements do not commit the customer to purchase our services until a purchase order is provided, which is generally short term in nature. Customer purchase orders primarily have a single performance obligation. Generally, the prices stated in the customer purchase orders are agreed upon prices for the manufactured product and do not vary over the term of the order, and therefore, the majority of our contracts do not contain variable consideration. In limited circumstances, we may enter into a contract which contains minimum quantity thresholds to cover our capital costs, and we may offer our customer a rebate for specific volume thresholds or other incentives; in these cases, the rebates or incentives are accounted for as variable consideration.

The majority of our revenue is recognized over time as manufacturing services are performed as we manufacture a product to customer specifications with no alternative use and we have an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date. The remaining revenue for manufacturing services is recognized when the customer obtains control of the product, typically either upon shipment or delivery of the product dependent on the terms of the contract, and the customer is able to direct the use of and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from the asset. We generally recognize revenue over time using costs based input methods, in which judgment is required to evaluate assumptions including anticipated margins to estimate the corresponding amount of revenue to recognize. Costs used as a basis for estimating anticipated margins include material, direct and indirect labor, and appropriate applied overheads. Anticipated margins are determined based on historical or quoted customer pricing. Costs based input methods are considered a faithful depiction of our efforts and progress toward satisfying our performance obligations for manufacturing services and for which we believe we are entitled to payment for performance completed to date. The cumulative effect of revisions to estimates related to net contract revenues or costs are recorded in the period in which the revisions to estimates are identified and the amounts can be reasonably estimated.

We have elected to account for shipping and handling activities related to contracts with customers as costs to fulfill our promise to transfer the associated services and products. Accordingly, we record customer payments of shipping and handling costs as a component of net sales and classify such costs as a component of cost of sales. We recognize sales net of applicable sales or value add taxes. Based on estimated product returns and price concessions, a reserve for returns and allowances is recorded at the time revenue is recognized, resulting in a reduction of net revenue.

Direct incremental costs to obtain and fulfill a contract are capitalized as a contract asset only if they are material, expected to be recovered, and are not accounted for in accordance with other guidance. Incidental items that are immaterial in the context of the contract are recognized as expense in the period incurred.

Cash equivalents consist primarily of highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at the time of acquisition. Cash and cash equivalents consist of bank accounts and money market funds. Bank accounts are stated at cost, which approximates fair value, and money market funds are stated at fair value.

The Company’s trade accounts receivable are recorded per the terms of the agreement or sale, and accrued interest is recognized when earned. Our policy for estimating the allowance for credit losses on trade accounts receivable includes analysis of such items as aging, credit worthiness, payment history, and historical bad debt experience. Management uses these specific analyses in conjunction with an evaluation of the general economic and market conditions to estimate expected credit losses. Management believes that historical loss information generally provides a basis for its assessment of expected credit losses. Trade accounts receivable are written off after exhaustive collection efforts occur and the receivable is deemed uncollectible. Adjustments to the allowance for credit losses are recorded in Selling and Administrative Expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Income.

In the ordinary course of business, customers periodically negotiate extended payment terms on trade accounts receivable. Customary terms require payment within 30 to 45 days, with any terms beyond 45 days being considered extended payment terms. We utilize factoring arrangements with third-party financial institutions for certain of our accounts receivables in order to extend terms for the customer without negatively impacting our cash flow. These arrangements in all cases do not contain recourse provisions which would obligate us in the event of our customers’ failure to pay. Receivables are considered sold when they are transferred beyond the reach of Kimball Electronics and its creditors, the purchaser has the right to pledge or exchange the receivables, and we have surrendered control over the transferred receivables. During fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021, we sold, without recourse, $485.4 million, $303.4 million, and $306.3 million of accounts receivable, respectively. Factoring fees were $4.8 million, $1.6 million, and $1.2 million during fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, and were included in Selling and Administrative Expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Goodwill represents the difference between the purchase price and the related underlying tangible and intangible net asset fair values resulting from business acquisitions. Annually, or if conditions indicate an earlier review is necessary, goodwill is assessed or tested at the reporting unit level. If the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, goodwill is written down to its estimated fair value.

The remainder of our workforce not covered by self-insured plans have medical and disability coverage through either our external plans or government plans. Insurance benefits are not provided to retired employees.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities, recorded in Other Assets and Other long-term liabilities, respectively, in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. These assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. We evaluate the recoverability of deferred tax assets each quarter by assessing the likelihood of future taxable income and available tax planning strategies that could be implemented to realize our deferred tax assets. If recovery is not likely, we provide a valuation allowance based on our best estimate of future taxable income in the various taxing jurisdictions and the amount of deferred taxes ultimately realizable. Future events could change management’s assessment.

We have business and credit risks associated with our customers. The Company monitors credit quality and associated risks of receivables on an individual basis based on criteria such as financial stability of the party and collection experience in conjunction with general economic and market conditions.

Other General Income in fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021 consisted of $0.2 million, $1.4 million, and $0.4 million, respectively, resulting from payments received related to class action lawsuits in which Kimball Electronics was a class member. These lawsuits alleged that certain suppliers to the EMS industry conspired over a number of years to raise and fix the prices of electronic components, resulting in overcharges to purchasers of those components. The fiscal year 2021 amount was partially offset by lawsuit settlement accruals and payments.

Non-operating income and expense include the impact of such items as foreign currency rate movements and related derivative gain or loss, fair value adjustments on supplemental employee retirement plan (“SERP”) investments, government subsidies, bank charges, and other miscellaneous non-operating income and expense items that are not directly related to operations. The gain or loss on SERP investments is offset by a change in the SERP liability that is recognized in Selling and Administrative Expense.

The Company predominantly uses the U.S. dollar and Euro as its functional currencies. Foreign currency assets and liabilities are remeasured into functional currencies at end-of-period exchange rates, except for nonmonetary assets and equity, which are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Revenue and expenses are remeasured at the weighted average exchange rate during the fiscal year, except for expenses related to nonmonetary assets, which are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Gains and losses from foreign currency remeasurement are reported in Non-operating income or expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

For business units whose functional currency is other than the U.S. dollar, the translation of functional currency statements to U.S. dollar statements uses end-of-period exchange rates for assets and liabilities, weighted average exchange rates for revenue and expenses, and historical rates for equity. The resulting currency translation adjustment is recorded in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), as a component of Share Owners’ Equity.