Trimble Navigation

Trimble Navigation, Ltd.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: TRMB
Industry	Geospatial, Construction, Agriculture, Transportation and Logistics, Telecommunications, Asset tracking, Mapping, Utilities, Mobile Resource Management, Government, RFID
Founded	1978
Founder(s)	Charles Trimble, et al.
Headquarters	Sunnyvale, California, United States
Key people	Steven Berglund (CEO)
Revenue	$2.0 Billion for FY 2012
Employees	6,561 (as of 2012)
Website	www.trimble.com

Trimble Navigation, Ltd., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, makes GPS (Global Positioning Systems) receivers, laser rangefinders and inertial navigation systems. The company is best known in the fields of surveying, construction, agriculture, scientific instrumentation, and mobile and fleet management. As of 2012, the company employs more than 6561 employees who are located in more than 30 countries around the world – approximately 54% of its employees are located outside the United States. Steve Berglund has been Trimble's CEO since 1999.

Since 1999, Trimble's revenues have grown from approximately $270 million to over $2.0 billion in 2012.^[1]

History

1978–1990

Trimble Navigation was founded in 1978 by Charles Trimble and two partners from Hewlett Packard, initially operating from Los Altos, California. Prior to founding Trimble Navigation, Trimble was manager of Integrated Circuit Research and Development at Hewlett-Packard’s Santa Clara Division.

Initially, Trimble based its products on LORAN technology, a ground-based navigation, location and timing system in U.S. coastal waters, and focused its products on the marine navigation market. At the same time, the Global Positioning System (GPS) was being developed by the U.S. as a dual-use technology.

The company began to focus resources on harnessing and expanding the power of GPS, thus spearheading the development of GPS for commercial and consumer applications, as well as military use of the new technology. In 1982, Trimble began engineering products that would take advantage of the U.S. Government's newly launched GPS satellites. In 1984, Trimble introduced the world's first commercial scientific-research and geodectic-survey products based on GPS for oil-drilling teams on offshore platforms.

From 1984 to 1988, Trimble greatly increased its family of products for scientific and research applications, as well as marine navigation markets. The next two years were explosive growth years, with Trimble receiving the first of its many U.S. and foreign patents for advances in GPS and other technology.

In 1989, Trimble acquired the Navigation Systems Division of TAU Corporation and began developing differential GPS (DGPS) technology to provide increased accuracy for the fleet management market. Trimble also made headway into new markets in 1990 by acquiring a New Zealand company, Datacom Software Research Ltd., enabling Trimble to offer new survey and mapping software products.

Trimble became the first GPS company to go public in 1990, offering stock on the NASDAQ (TRMB). That same year, its product line became solely dedicated to GPS.

1991–1998

In 1992, Trimble developed real-time kinematic (RTK) technology, allowing moment-by-moment GPS updates while on the move. For surveyors, this was revolutionary; GPS equipment now enabled them to do topographic mapping, stakeout, Geographic Information System (GIS) data acquisition, and as-built surveys in real-time.

Over the next several years, Trimble rapidly advanced GPS technology. In 1994, the company developed the first GPS receiver small enough to be integrated on a PC card. Just a year later, Trimble introduced the first 'plug-and-play' GPS sensor for laptops and PDAs. Trimble became the first company to put GPS and cellular communications on a single board in 1998; and in 1999, Trimble GPS was used in Seiko Epson's Locatio communication device, the world's first combination PDA, wireless phone, personal navigator and digital camera. In 2000, Trimble was the first to develop a GPS architecture – FirstGPS™ technology – that uses the host product's CPU, a huge advance in enabling GPS technology to be integrated into more and more products.

1999–present

Steve Berglund took over as president and CEO in March 1999, and remains in the position today.

Since 1999, Trimble has grown its business through a series of acquisitions. Its acquisitions include Spectra Precision Group, Tripod Data Systems, Advanced Public Safety, Inc., Apache Technologies, Acutest Engineering Solutions Ltd, Applanix, Géo-3D, INPHO, Gatewing, Meridian Systems, NTech Industries, Pacific Crest, Quantm, Accubid Systems, QuickPen International, SECO Mfg. Co., Inc., Visual Statement, XYZ Solutions, Inc, Tekla, ThingMagic^[2] and Punch Telematix NV.^[3]

On 1 June 2012, Trimble completed the acquisition of the 3D modeling software package SketchUp from Google.^[4]

Market segments

Engineering and Construction

Trimble’s Engineering and Construction segment composes 55% of the company’s overall revenue. Products are made for civil engineering, building construction, surveying, geospatial, energy, cadastre and land management industries.

Software and Information Technology capabilities within the Engineering and Construction segment include civil engineering alignment selection, design and data preparation software, BIM software, cloud-based collaboration solutions, applications for advanced surveying and geospatial data collection and analysis and many application specific field and office software components.

Field Solutions

The Field Solutions segment composes 25% of the company’s total revenue, addressing the Agriculture and Mapping and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) markets. Distribution for Field Solutions is primarily through a network of independent dealers and business partners

The company’s agriculture products consist of guidance and positioning systems, automated application systems information management solutions, and solutions for leveling fields. Handheld data collectors are the core of the Mapping and GIS product line enabling data collection and storage that incorporates the location of the asset.

Mobile Solutions

Trimble’s Mobile Solutions segment generates 13% of the company’s total revenue. Solutions in this segment are related to field service management, transportation and logistics, forestry, and public safety. The Mobile Solutions segment provides both hardware and software applications for managing mobile work, mobile workers, and mobile assets. As opposed to the engineering and construction and field solutions segments, Trimble sells its mobile solutions directly.

Advanced Devices

The Advanced Devices segment is the smallest of Trimble’s market segments, generating only 7% of the company’s total revenue. Advanced Devices includes the product lines from its Embedded Technologies, Timing, Applanix, Trimble Outdoors, and Military and Advanced Systems, or MAS, and ThingMagic businesses. With the exception of Trimble Outdoors and Applanix, these businesses share several common characteristics: they are hardware centric, generally market to original equipment manufacturers, or OEM, system integrators or service providers, and have products that can be utilized in a number of different end-user markets and applications. Solutions in this segment are sold direct to end-user.

Acquisitions

Joint ventures

Trimble has embarked on a number of joint ventures with companies that include Caterpillar, Nikon Corporation, and Hilti. In April 2002, Trimble and Caterpillar Inc. began a joint venture, Caterpillar Trimble Controls Technologies LLC, to develop the next generation of advanced electronic guidance and control products for earthmoving machines in the construction, mining and waste industries. The joint venture is the exclusive supplier to Trimble and Caterpillar, who each market, distribute, service and support the products using both companies' independent distribution channels.

Trimble and Caterpillar announced a second joint venture in October 2008. The new company, VirtualSite Solutions, integrates the expertise of both companies in the areas of product design and software development to transform the way contractors manage their businesses. A new distribution channel, SITECH, was established to bring these technologies to customers and other users. Trimble has primary responsibility for managing the SITECH dealer relationship.

In March 2003, Trimble and Nikon Corporation formed a 50–50 joint venture in Japan, Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd., to address Japan’s survey instruments market in March 2003. As part of the joint venture, Trimble acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd., which assumed the operations of Nikon Geotecs Co., Ltd. in Japan. The new entity focuses on the design and manufacture of surveying instruments including mechanical total stations and related products. In Japan, the joint venture distributes Nikon's survey products as well as Trimble's survey products including GPS and robotic total stations. Outside of Japan, Trimble became the exclusive distributor of Nikon survey and construction products.

In May 2009, Trimble and the China Aerospace Science & Industry Academy of Information Technology (CASIC-IT) signed a definitive agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture in China. Based in Beijing, the joint venture combines the commercial expertise, knowledge and technologies of both CASIC-IT and Trimble to develop, manufacture and distribute in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and systems in China, based on the Chinese Compass satellite system, for civil applications in the commercial positioning, navigation and timing markets.

In November 2009, Trimble and the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. (CREEC) signed a definitive agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture in China. Based in Chengdu, the joint venture leverages Trimble's commercial positioning, communications and software technologies and CREEC's expertise in rail design and construction to develop and provide digital railway solutions that address the design, construction and maintenance for the Chinese railway industry. Trimble and Russian Space Systems formed a 50/50 joint venture in Russia in 2010. The joint venture, Rusnavgeoset, was officially launched at the GLONASS Forum in Moscow on June 1, 2010. Based in Moscow, Rusnavgeoset is responsible for selling commercial Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) geodetic network infrastructure systems localized for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

To address the building construction industry, Trimble and the Hilti Group reached a definitive agreement to form Intelligent Construction Tools, LLC in September 2010. The joint venture, 50 percent owned by Trimble and 50 percent owned by Hilti, focuses on leveraging technologies from both companies to develop measuring solutions for the building construction trades. The joint venture will supply products to Trimble and Hilti. Each will market, distribute, service and support the products using its independent distribution or direct sales channels.

Recognition

In 2009, Trimble was recognized on Forbes’ list of the top 400 best big companies. This was the first time Trimble made the list.^[6] In prior years, the company was also featured on Forbes’ 100 Best Mid-Caps in America (2005, 2006, and 2008) and Forbes’ 200 Best Small Companies (2005) lists.^[7]

References

External links

• Official website