Yokogawa

Corporate brand

Japanese multinational electrical engineering and software company focused on industrial automation, process control, measurement, and operational information systems.

Last updated August 31, 2026

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Overview

Yokogawa Electric Corporation is a Japanese multinational technology company whose principal activities are built around measurement, control, and information technologies. Founded in Tokyo in 1915 by architect and researcher Tamisuke Yokogawa, the company initially concentrated on the research and manufacture of electrical meters. It was incorporated as Yokogawa Electric Works in 1920 and gradually expanded from measurement hardware into industrial instrumentation, process control, analytical equipment, and software. The company is best known internationally for its role in industrial automation. Its customers operate complex, continuous or batch processes in sectors including oil and gas, refining, chemicals, power generation, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, water, mining, and general manufacturing. Yokogawa supplies distributed control systems, safety and shutdown systems, programmable and supervisory control solutions, field instruments, industrial analyzers, data acquisition equipment, manufacturing execution systems, and advanced process-control applications. Its products are commonly deployed as part of larger plant-wide engineering and operational environments rather than as stand-alone consumer products. A central milestone in the brand's development was the introduction of the CENTUM distributed control system in 1975. Yokogawa was among the early companies to commercialize distributed process control, helping move industrial control away from centralized architectures toward networked systems that could coordinate plant operations while improving monitoring and reliability. CENTUM remains one of the company's flagship industrial automation families. Other recognizable Yokogawa offerings include pressure transmitters, flowmeters, oxygen and other process analyzers, recorders, controllers, fieldbus instruments, safety systems, and process and production-management software. Yokogawa also maintains a substantial test-and-measurement business. This activity covers electronic measurement instruments, data acquisition, recorders, and related equipment used in engineering, research, manufacturing, and semiconductor-related applications. The company has additionally developed specialized scientific and biotechnology technologies, including confocal microscopy components and systems used in biological and drug-discovery research. International expansion began through overseas technical cooperation, sales offices, manufacturing operations, and regional subsidiaries. The company established a New York sales office after the Second World War, expanded into Europe and the Middle East, and opened its first manufacturing plant outside Japan in Singapore during the 1970s. In the twenty-first century, Yokogawa strengthened its international industrial-automation structure through Yokogawa Electric International in Singapore and through acquisitions in measurement, biotechnology, and cybersecurity. Yokogawa's more recent strategy has emphasized cloud services, industrial Internet of Things applications, operational technology cybersecurity, and the integration of control data with higher-level business and production systems. The OpreX brand provides a framework for many of its automation and digital offerings. The company operates through a global network of subsidiaries and affiliates and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its brand positioning combines high-reliability instrumentation and control engineering with long-term plant support, lifecycle services, and digital transformation capabilities.

History

Yokogawa's history began in 1915 in Tokyo, when Tamisuke Yokogawa established an enterprise devoted to electrical research and measurement. Japan's industrial modernization created demand for dependable domestic instruments, and the company developed expertise in electrical meters and related technologies. The early business established the technical identity that still characterizes the brand: precision measurement intended for professional and industrial use. During the twentieth century, Yokogawa broadened its activities from instruments into industrial control. As process industries adopted increasingly complex plants, operators required systems that could continuously measure variables such as pressure, temperature, flow, and composition, then use those measurements to regulate production. Yokogawa responded by developing process instrumentation, control equipment, analyzers, engineering capabilities, and service organizations. Its international expansion followed the growth of Japanese manufacturing and large-scale industrial projects abroad. A major turning point came with the company's development of distributed control technology. Distributed control systems moved many control functions from centralized hardware into coordinated digital controllers distributed around a plant, while retaining supervisory operation from a control room. Yokogawa's CENTUM platform became a central part of its process-automation identity and helped establish the company as a major supplier to continuous-process industries. The same industrial setting also required independent safety systems, leading to offerings such as ProSafe-RS for safety instrumented applications. Yokogawa maintained a parallel presence in test and measurement. Its instruments have been used in electrical engineering, electronics, power, communications, research, and industrial maintenance. This activity complemented the automation business because customers often needed both precision instruments for development and maintenance and integrated control systems for production facilities. Over time, the company's activities also included analytical instruments, industrial networks, control-room technologies, engineering, commissioning, maintenance, and plant lifecycle support. In the twenty-first century, Yokogawa increasingly connected automation with operational information and software. Industrial customers sought not only stable control loops but also better visibility across assets, production lines, sites, and enterprises. Yokogawa therefore expanded into manufacturing execution, asset performance, industrial analytics, remote operations, collaborative work environments, and digital transformation services. Its OpreX framework, introduced in 2018, grouped a broad range of automation and industrial technology offerings under a common market identity. The company has also pursued growth in life sciences and bioprocessing, energy transition, renewable energy, sustainability, and industrial autonomy. These areas extend Yokogawa's traditional strengths in process knowledge, measurement, control, and operational reliability into industries that require flexible production and stronger data integration. Acquisitions and partnerships have supported the addition of specialized software and biotechnology capabilities. Today, Yokogawa Electric Corporation is a publicly listed Japanese industrial technology company headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo. It serves customers worldwide through subsidiaries, offices, service organizations, and partners. Its brand combines a century-long measurement heritage with process automation, safety, engineering, and digital operations. While its customer base remains concentrated in technically demanding industrial sectors, the company increasingly presents itself as a provider of solutions for autonomous, sustainable, and data-driven operations rather than solely as an instrument manufacturer.

2023
Insilico Biotechnology acquisition completed
[6]Yokogawa news and press releasesyokogawa.com
Yokogawa completed the acquisition of Insilico Biotechnology, adding capabilities in bioprocess modeling and digital technologies for life-science manufacturing.
2018
OpreX portfolio brand launched
[2]Yokogawa OpreX industrial automation portfolioyokogawa.com
Yokogawa introduced OpreX to unify its automation, control, measurement, engineering, and lifecycle-service offerings.
2012
ProSafe-RS safety system developed as a core offering
[4]Yokogawa ProSafe-RS safety instrumented systemyokogawa.com
Yokogawa continued developing its safety instrumented system business around ProSafe-RS for high-integrity process safety applications.
1997
Yokogawa Electric Corporation adopted as corporate name
[1]Yokogawa Electric Corporation: Company information and historyyokogawa.com
The company adopted the name Yokogawa Electric Corporation as its corporate identity.
1975
CENTUM distributed control system introduced
[3]Yokogawa CENTUM distributed control systemsyokogawa.com
Yokogawa introduced CENTUM, one of the earliest commercial distributed control systems, establishing a major platform for process automation.
1955
Entry into industrial control
[1]Yokogawa Electric Corporation: Company information and historyyokogawa.com
Yokogawa began expanding its measurement expertise into industrial control and process automation technologies.
1920
Yokogawa Electric Works established
[1]Yokogawa Electric Corporation: Company information and historyyokogawa.com
The business was reorganized as Yokogawa Electric Works, supporting the development and commercialization of electrical measurement equipment.
1915
Company founded in Tokyo
[1]Yokogawa Electric Corporation: Company information and historyyokogawa.com
Tamisuke Yokogawa established an electrical research and measurement business in Tokyo, forming the origin of the modern Yokogawa group.

Products and positioning

A premium, engineering-led industrial technology provider for reliable process control, measurement, safety, plant operations, and industrial digital transformation.

Distributed control system · 1975
CENTUM
CENTUM is Yokogawa's flagship distributed control system family for continuous and batch process plants. It integrates field measurements, regulatory control, sequence functions, alarm and event handling, operator interfaces, engineering tools, and plant information. The platform is designed for long operating lifecycles and is used in industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, power, pharmaceuticals, and other process manufacturing environments.
Safety instrumented system
ProSafe-RS
ProSafe-RS is Yokogawa's safety instrumented system for applications where an independent layer of protection is needed to bring a process to a safe state. It is used in process industries for emergency shutdown, fire and gas, burner management, and other safety functions. The product is positioned around high availability, lifecycle support, and integration with plant automation while preserving the required independence of safety functions.
Industrial automation and digital solutions portfolio · 2018
OpreX
OpreX is Yokogawa's portfolio brand for industrial automation and operational technology. It covers control systems, field instruments, analyzers, safety, production management, asset performance, operational intelligence, engineering, and lifecycle services. Rather than being one device, OpreX provides a common structure for Yokogawa's products and services as customers move from traditional control toward connected, data-driven, and increasingly autonomous operations.
Process measurement and analytical instrumentation
Yokogawa field instruments and analyzers
Yokogawa supplies instruments for measuring and analyzing process conditions, including pressure, differential pressure, temperature, flow, level, liquid properties, and gas or liquid composition. These devices provide input to control systems and production-management applications across process industries. The range is supported by engineering, calibration, installation, maintenance, and lifecycle services, allowing customers to standardize measurement infrastructure across large facilities.
Test and measurement
Yokogawa test and measurement instruments
Yokogawa's test and measurement business includes oscilloscopes, power analyzers, digital power meters, recorders, optical measurement equipment, and related instruments. These products serve electrical and electronic design, power engineering, communications, research, manufacturing, and maintenance users. The business extends the company's original expertise in precision electrical measurement beyond plant automation.

Brand decisions

2023
Acquire Insilico BiotechnologyM&A
Background
Biopharmaceutical manufacturers require digital models and process knowledge to improve development, scale-up, and production. Yokogawa identified bioprocess software and biotechnology as an extension of its industrial automation and life-science strategy.
Action taken
Yokogawa completed the acquisition of Insilico Biotechnology, a company focused on digital bioprocess technology.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded Yokogawa's capabilities for digitalized bioprocess development and manufacturing applications.
Source
2018
Unify automation offerings under the OpreX portfolioStrategy
Background
Industrial customers were increasingly combining control hardware with software, engineering, analytics, and lifecycle services. Yokogawa needed a clearer structure for presenting its broad automation and operational technology portfolio.
Action taken
Yokogawa launched OpreX as an umbrella portfolio covering automation, measurement, control, safety, engineering, operational intelligence, and lifecycle services.
Aftermath
The OpreX identity became a central part of Yokogawa's positioning as an integrated industrial technology and digital transformation provider.
Source

Recent events

2023
Yokogawa completes acquisition of Insilico Biotechnology[6]Yokogawa news and press releasesyokogawa.com
M&A
Yokogawa announced completion of its acquisition of Insilico Biotechnology, strengthening its capabilities in bioprocess digitalization and life-science manufacturing technology.
2021
Yokogawa launched the OpreX Control Care cloud service[8]横河推出OpreX Control Care云服务yokogawa.com
Product launch
Yokogawa introduced OpreX Control Care as a cloud-based service intended to support the monitoring, maintenance, and lifecycle management of industrial control assets.
2021
Yokogawa acquired Industrial Control Systems, Inc.[8]横河推出OpreX Control Care云服务yokogawa.com
M&A
Yokogawa acquired Industrial Control Systems, Inc. to strengthen its industrial-control and operational-technology cybersecurity capabilities.
2020
Yokogawa expands industrial autonomy and digital transformation offerings[5]Yokogawa industrial autonomy solutionsyokogawa.com
Product launch
The company continued to promote autonomous operations, industrial software, cloud connectivity, remote operations, and data-driven plant management as extensions of traditional automation.
2020
Yokogawa acquired Fluid Imaging Technologies[8]横河推出OpreX Control Care云服务yokogawa.com
M&A
Yokogawa acquired Scarborough, Maine-based Fluid Imaging Technologies, a company associated with flow imaging and particle-analysis technologies. The transaction expanded Yokogawa's capabilities in laboratory and biological analysis; financial terms were not disclosed.
2018
Yokogawa launches OpreX as an integrated industrial automation and control brand[2]Yokogawa OpreX industrial automation portfolioyokogawa.com
Product launch
Yokogawa introduced OpreX as a portfolio and brand framework covering its automation, control, measurement, engineering, and lifecycle-service offerings.

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