Barksdale

What Barksdale does

Barksdale is a 75-year-old designer and manufacturer of industrial instrumentation and control devices, founded in 1949 in Los Angeles by L.S. Barksdale around the proprietary Shear-Seal valve technology. The company offers more than 500 product families with millions of configured options across pressure, temperature, level and flow measurement — including mechanical and electronic pressure switches, pressure transducers (BiT HART and BoT series plus hydrogen-specific BHyT models rated to 1400 bar), temperature switches and thermostats, single and multi-level switches, bypass level indicators, flow switches for water/air/gas/oil, and Shear-Seal based valves and regulators. Products carry an unusually broad certification stack (ATEX, IECEx, UL, CSA, DNV-GL, Bureau Veritas, RINA, TÜV, SIL, EN50155, MED, DEKRA, HART, ISO 9001:2015) for use in oil & gas, marine, defense, rail, hydrogen and general industrial applications.

The firm operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crane Company (NYSE: CR), one of four engineering-led manufacturing businesses within the diversified industrial group. Manufacturing is dual-sourced from Reichelsheim (Germany) for European and global customers and the original Los Angeles facility (founded 1949), with direct sales offices in Los Angeles, Shanghai (since 2005) and Pune (since 2010) and an ERP-integrated webshop serving existing German customers. A global distributor network covers Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East, supplemented by engineering-driven custom design services for specification-driven projects. Revenue is generated through unit-priced hardware sales of configured instruments, with pricing quote-based for most products and online only for the domestic German customer base; revenue is not publicly disclosed as Barksdale is a privately held subsidiary. The portfolio includes retained sub-brands UNIMESS (level measurement, acquired 1995) and Dynalco (speed sensors and predictive diagnostics, consolidated 2011).

Name

Barksdale

Legal name

Barksdale Inc.

Website

https://barksdale.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Barksdale is a 75-year-old German-American manufacturer of pressure, temperature, level and flow instrumentation — including electronic switches, transducers, valves and hydrogen-compatible sensors — serving industrial, oil & gas, hydrogen, marine, defense and rail customers globally as a subsidiary of Crane Company.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Reichelsheim

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Industrial Instrumentation Hardware Sales: Barksdale generates revenue through the sale of physical instrumentation products including pressure switches, temperature switches, level switches, flow switches, pressure transducers, and related accessories. The company offers more than 500 product families with millions of configured options, serving industrial, oil & gas, hydrogen, marine, defense, and rail markets. Products are sold through a global distributor network, regional sales offices, and direct e-commerce for existing German customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Barksdale manufactures and sells industrial instrumentation and control devices, offering more than 500 product families across pressure switches, temperature switches, level switches, flow switches, pressure transducers, valves, and regulators. Products are available in mechanical and electronic variants and serve industrial, oil & gas, hydrogen, marine, defense, railway, and construction machinery applications, manufactured in Germany and the United States.

Product overview

Barksdale offers more than 500 product families of industrial instrumentation and controls, primarily serving the pressure, temperature, level, and flow measurement sectors. The portfolio includes mechanical and electronic pressure switches (such as the BPS1000, BPS3000, BDS3000, UDS3V3), pressure transducers (BiT series with HART protocol, BoT series digital transducers, and hydrogen-specific BHyT transducers), mechanical and electronic temperature switches and transducers, level measurement devices including single and multi-level switches, tank level transmitters, bypass level indicators (Levelsite), and flow switches for water, air/gas, oil and hazardous areas. The company also offers IO-Link enabled sensors for IIoT connectivity, speed monitoring products under the Dynalco brand, pressure regulators, and industrial valves featuring proprietary Shear-Seal technology. Products serve industrial, hydrogen, energy (oil & gas), marine, defense, railway and construction applications, with manufacturing in Germany and the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dynalco: Speed sensors and predictive diagnostics solutions for process industries.
• UNIMESS

Products and services

• Electronic Pressure Switches Electronic pressure switches with display and IO-Link options for industrial, medical, and general-purpose systems. Features include programmable outputs, IIoT connectivity, and high switch point accuracy.
• Mechanical Pressure Switches Mechanical pressure switches for industrial, medical, and off-highway applications. Available in diaphragm and piston designs, with pressure ranges from vacuum to 950 bar.
• Pressure Transducers Highly accurate pressure transmitters converting pressure into electrical signals for monitoring and controlling industrial, medical and general systems. Includes BiT and BoT series.
• Hydrogen Pressure Transducers Specialized pressure transducers designed for hydrogen applications including compression and refueling. Addresses hydrogen permeation, embrittlement and leakage. Includes BHyT-BiT and BHyT-BoT series with ratings up to 1400 bar.
• Pressure Indication Instruments Electronic control devices with digital displays for monitoring pressure and other physical quantities. Includes trip amplifiers with switching and analog outputs.
• Mechanical Temperature Switches Simple and robust mechanical temperature switches designed for industrial ambient conditions. Includes single and dual switch configurations with local or remote sensors.
• Electronic Temperature Switches Electronic temperature switches for monitoring temperature in various industrial applications. Includes IO-Link enabled models.
• Temperature Transducers Compact electronic temperature transducers with PT100 sensors for continuous temperature measurement and fast control applications.
• Electronic Thermostats Electronic temperature controllers and limiters including the Kelvin series with ATEX/IECEx approval for hazardous areas.
• Single Level Switches Single point level switches made of brass, stainless steel or plastic for detecting fluid levels in tanks and containers.
• Multi-Level Switches Multi-level switches available in standard and shipyard versions with up to 6 switchpoints for comprehensive tank level monitoring.
• Tank Level Transmitters Sensors for remote indication and continuous level measurement of liquid media. Includes USE series with lengths up to 6000mm.
• Bypass Level Indicators (Levelsite) Magnetic level indicators for safe, reliable liquid level measurement in demanding environments. Includes floats, limit switches and transmitters as accessories.
• Level Probes Level sensors designed for rugged use in maritime, offshore and water/wastewater applications. Includes BLP1 and BLP2 series.
• Water Flow Switches Flow switches for monitoring water applications including BFS-10 and BFS-40 series with various flow rate ranges.
• Air/Gas Flow Switches Flow switches for measuring and monitoring air and gas applications with BFS-10-N-AIR and BFS-10-O-AIR series.
• Oil Flow Switches Flow switches for oil applications including BFS-20-O and BFS-30 series for precise oil flow measurements.
• ATEX/Intrinsically Safe Flow Switches Intrinsically safe flow switches for use in hazardous areas with explosion hazard certifications.
• Speed Products (Dynalco) Speed monitoring and control products including magnetic pickups, speed switches, tachometers and hour meters. Barksdale consolidated with Dynalco in 2011.
• Regulators Pressure regulators providing sensitive, repeatable pressure control by spring or motor with high flow capacity.
• Valves Versatile valve designs providing reliability and safety for commercial and industrial applications using Shear-Seal technology.

Quantifiable outcome

• Switch point accuracy of ±0.5% for electronic switches like BPS1000
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG: WIKA is a closely comparable German-headquartered specialist in industrial pressure, temperature, level, and flow measurement. It competes head-to-head with Barksdale across the same product families, applications, and customer base, and has a similar mid-sized, privately held profile with global distribution.
• Endress+Hauser Group: Endress+Hauser is a leading global supplier of industrial process instrumentation for pressure, level, flow, and temperature measurement with strong direct-sales and IIoT offerings. Highly comparable on product scope and target customers in process industries (oil & gas, chemical, water, food), with a much larger global footprint.
• BD Sensors / BD|SENSORS Group: BD|SENSORS is a focused pressure-measurement specialist with electronic pressure transmitters and switches comparable to Barksdale's pressure transducer and electronic switch portfolio. It is a privately held German industrial sensor supplier serving overlapping OEM and process-industry customers.
• Ashcroft Inc. (formerly Dresser Industrial): Ashcroft is a US-based pressure and temperature instrumentation specialist with mechanical and electronic pressure switches, transducers, and gauges. It competes with Barksdale in similar industrial and process applications, particularly in North American markets.
• VEGA Grieshaber KG: VEGA is a German manufacturer specializing in level, pressure, and switching instrumentation for the process industry. Its level measurement portfolio (including radar/guided wave and level switches) directly overlaps Barksdale's Levelsite bypass indicators and single/multi-level switches.
• NOSHOK Inc. NOSHOK is a US manufacturer of pressure and temperature measurement devices, valves, and related instrumentation. It competes with Barksdale's mechanical pressure switches, transducers, and level products for industrial OEMs.

Broad incumbents

• Emerson Electric (Rosemount / Fisher): Emerson's Rosemount and Fisher brands dominate industrial pressure, flow, and level measurement in process industries. Comparable in product category and end-customer overlap, but vastly larger with broader automation, control, and software portfolios.
• Honeywell International (Process Measurement): Honeywell supplies industrial pressure, temperature, and level instrumentation as part of its broader process-controls portfolio. Comparable in category and customer base, particularly in oil & gas and refining, but operates at much greater scale and scope.
• Siemens AG (Process Instrumentation): Siemens provides SITRANS industrial instrumentation including pressure, level, flow, and temperature products integrated with its larger industrial automation portfolio. Comparable on product scope and end-markets, but as part of a broad automation supplier.

Emerging players

• ifm electronic GmbH: ifm is a German sensor and industrial IoT specialist with strong IO-Link and electronic pressure/temperature/level/flow sensor offerings. Comparable on the electronic-switching and IIoT side of Barksdale's portfolio, particularly competing with the BPS/BDS/BiT/BoT families.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BarksdaleControlProducts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/barksdale-gmbh
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Compliance15 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barksdale