Item 1. Business
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Item 1. Business
Trimble Inc. (“Trimble” or “the Company” or “we” or “our” or “us”) is a leading provider of technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to improve or transform their work processes. Our comprehensive work process solutions are used across a range of industries including architecture, building construction, civil engineering, geospatial, survey and mapping, agriculture, natural resources, utilities, transportation, and government. Our representative customers include construction owners, contractors, engineering and construction firms, surveying companies, farmers and agricultural companies, energy and utility companies, trucking companies, and state, federal, and municipal governments.
We transform the way the world works by delivering products and services that connect the physical and digital worlds. Core technologies used in positioning, modeling, connectivity, and data analytics enable customers to improve productivity, quality, safety, and sustainability. Our products are sold based on return on investment and provide benefits such as lower operational costs, higher productivity, improved quality, enhanced safety and regulatory compliance, and reduced environmental impact. Our representative products include equipment that automates and enables increased precision within large industrial equipment such as tractors and bulldozers; integrated systems that track and manage fleets of vehicles and workers and provide real-time information and analytics to the back-office; data collection systems that enable the management of large amounts of geo-referenced information; software solutions that connect all aspects of a construction site or a farm; and building information modeling ( “BIM”) software that is used throughout the design, build, and operation of buildings.
We focus on integrating our broad technological and application capabilities to create vertically-focused, system-level solutions that transform how work is done within the industries we serve. The integration of sensors, software, connectivity, and information in our portfolio gives us the unique ability to provide an information model specific to the customer’s workflow. For example, in construction, our strategy is centered on the concept of a “constructible model” that is at the center of our “Connected Construction” solutions, which provides real-time, connected, and cohesive information environments for the design, build, and operational phases of construction projects. In agriculture, we continue to develop “Connected Farm” solutions to optimize operations across the agriculture workflow. In long haul trucking, our “Connected Supply Chain” solutions provide transportation companies with tools to enhance fuel efficiency, safety, and transparency through connected vehicles and fleets across the enterprise.
Software is a key element of most of our solutions and accounts for a steadily increasing portion of our business. Our software products and services range from embedded real-time firmware to application software that integrates field data with large scale enterprise back-office applications. Many of our software solutions are built on configurable and enterprise grade scalable platforms that can be tailored to the workflows that our customers follow to implement their customized business processes. Our software capabilities include extensive three-dimensional (“3D”) modeling, analysis and design solutions, design and data preparation software, BIM software, enterprise resource planning and project management solutions, cloud-based collaboration solutions, applications for advanced surveying, data collection and analysis, farm productivity solutions, fleet management solutions for transportation, as well as a large suite of domain-specific software applications used across a host of industries including agriculture, construction, utilities, and transportation. Our software is sold as perpetual or term licenses or as a subscription and can be delivered for on-premise installation or in a hosted environment as Software as a Service (“SaaS”). Our software products allow our customers to optimize their work processes for targeted outcomes, improve their productivity, and gain insight into their projects and operations to enhance their decision-making and to gain maximum benefit from a broad range of other Trimble products and systems.
Many of our products integrate real-time positioning or location technologies with wireless communications and software or information technologies. Information about location or position is transmitted via a wireless link to a domain-specific software application, which enhances the productivity of the worker, asset, or work process. Position is provided through a number of technologies including the Global Positioning System (“GPS”), other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (“GNSS”) and their augmentation systems, and systems that use laser, optical, inertial, or other technologies to establish real-time position. Integration of wireless communications in our solutions facilitates real-time data flow, communication, and situational awareness within sites and between work sites or vehicles and offices.
Our global operations include major development, manufacturing, or logistics operations in the United States, the Netherlands, India, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, Canada, and New Zealand. Products are sold in more than 150 countries, through dealers, representatives, joint ventures, and other channels throughout the world, as well as direct sales to end-users.
Business Strategy
Our growth strategy is centered on multiple elements:
*•*Executing on our Connect & Scale 2025 strategy – We continue to focus on executing our Connect & Scale 2025 strategy. This strategy contains two elements. The first element, Connect, aims to connect more customer workflows, industry lifecycles, and solution offerings, so that we can continue to transform the way our customers work. This includes integrating more of our customers’ data through cloud offerings, and making more of our solutions available over time on a cloud basis and subscription basis. The second element, Scale, aims to invest in the people, processes, and technologies that are necessary for us to continue to grow our business efficiently and effectively for many years into the future.
*•*Focus on attractive markets with significant growth and profitability potential - We focus on large markets historically underserved by technology that offer significant potential for long-term revenue growth, profitability, and market leadership. Our core industries such as construction, agriculture, and transportation are each multi-trillion dollar global industries that operate in demanding environments with technology adoption in the early phases relative to other industries. With the emergence of mobile and cloud computing capabilities, the increasing technological know-how of end users, and compelling return on investment, we believe many of our markets are attractive for substituting Trimble’s technology and solutions in place of traditional operating methods.
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Domain knowledge and technological innovation that benefit a diverse customer base - We have over time redefined our technological focus from hardware-driven point solutions to integrated work process solutions by developing domain expertise and heavily reinvesting in research and development (“R&D”) and acquisitions. We currently have over 1,000 unique patents. We intend to continue to take advantage of our technology portfolio and deep domain knowledge to quickly and cost-effectively deliver specific, targeted solutions to each of the vertical markets we serve. We look for opportunities where the opportunity for technological change is high and that have a requirement for the integration of multiple technologies into complete vertical solutions.
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Increasing focus on software and services - Software and services targeted for the needs of vertical end markets are increasingly important elements of our solutions and are core to our growth strategy. We generally have an open application programming interface philosophy and open vendor environment, which leads to increased adoption of our software and analytics offerings. These software and services solutions integrate and optimize additional workflows for our customers, thereby improving their work productivity, and in the case of subscription, maintenance, and support services, also provide us with enhanced business visibility over time. Professional services constitute an additional customer offering that helps our customers integrate and optimize the use of our offerings in their environment.
*•*Geographic expansion with localization strategy - We view international expansion as an important element of our strategy, and we continue to position ourselves in geographic markets that will serve as important sources of future growth. We currently have distribution channels in over 85 countries, and sales are supported by our own offices located in over 40 countries around the world.
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Optimized go-to-market strategies to best access our markets - We utilize vertically focused go-to-market strategies that leverage domain expertise to best serve the needs of individual markets both domestically and abroad. These go-to-market capabilities include independent dealers, joint ventures, original equipment manufacturers (“OEM”), and distribution alliances with key partners, such as CNH Global, Caterpillar, and Nikon, as well as direct sales to end-users, which provide us with broad market reach and localization capabilities to effectively serve our markets.
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Strategic acquisitions - Organic growth continues to be our primary focus, while acquisitions serve to enhance our market position. We acquire businesses that bring domain expertise, technology, products, and distribution capabilities that augment our portfolio and allow us to penetrate existing markets more effectively, or to establish a market beachhead. Our success in targeting and effectively integrating acquisitions is an important aspect of our growth strategy.
Our focus on these growth drivers has led over time to growth in revenue and profitability as well as an increasingly diversified business model. Software and subscription growth is driving increased recurring revenue and is leading to improved visibility in some of our businesses. As our solutions have expanded, our go-to-market model has also evolved, with a balanced mix between direct, distribution, and OEM customers, and an increasing number of enterprise level customer relationships.
Business Segments and Markets
Our segments are distinguished by the markets they serve. Each segment consists of businesses that are responsible for product development, marketing, sales, strategy, and financial performance. We report our financial performance, including revenue and operating income, based on four reportable segments: Buildings and Infrastructure, Geospatial, Resources and Utilities, and Transportation. For further financial information about our segments, see Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Buildings and Infrastructure
The Buildings and Infrastructure segment primarily serves customers working in architecture, engineering, construction, and operations and maintenance. Within this segment, our most substantial product portfolios are focused on building construction and civil engineering and construction.
Building Construction. Our building construction portfolio of solutions for the residential, commercial, and industrial building industry spans the entire life cycle of a building and is used by construction owners, architects, designers, general contractors, sub-contractors, engineers, and facility owners or lessees. These solutions serve to improve productivity and to enhance data sharing and collaboration across different teams and stakeholders to help keep projects within cost, time, and quality targets. The suite of technologies and solutions we provide to the building industry includes program management solutions for construction owners, software for 3D conceptual design and modeling, BIM software that is used in design, engineering, and construction, enterprise resource planning and project management and project collaboration for general contractors, advanced integrated site layout and measurement systems, cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions for contractors. The suite also includes applications for sub-contractors and construction trades such as steel, concrete and mechanical, electrical and plumbing, project coordination, and capital program planning and management. In addition, our Trimble Connect collaboration platform streamlines customer workflows and enables interoperability between Trimble’s and other providers' solutions. These solutions for the building industry serve to automate, streamline, and transform work processes across the building construction industry. Our solutions provide customer benefits such as reduced costs, reduced waste and re-work, increased worker safety and efficiencies, faster project completion times, improved information flow, better decision making, enhanced quality control, and sustainability. During 2020, we announced advances in several of our software packages and solutions, including: (i) the launch of PreDesign, a service that enables architects and designers to test design strategies and understand how a site’s climate and environment will impact design proposals, and (ii) the announcement of new integrations for Microsoft 365 and BIMcollab with the Trimble® Connect cloud-based collaboration platform.
Civil Engineering and Construction. Before dirt is ever moved in civil construction, feasibility, design, and scheduling are critical steps to site construction. We provide the civil engineering and construction industry with a continuum of field solutions, software solutions, and services at every stage of the project - from planning and design, to construction, operation, and maintenance. Our civil construction solutions are used in civil infrastructure such as roads, railways, airports, land management, marine construction, and landfills. Our solutions are used across the entire project life cycle to improve productivity, reduce waste and re-work, and enable more informed decision making through enhanced situational awareness, data flow, and project collaboration. At the same time, our solutions can improve worker safety and reduce environmental impact. Our suite of integrated solutions and technologies in this area includes field and office software for optimized route selection and design; systems to automatically guide and control construction equipment such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders, motor graders, and paving equipment; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; and software to facilitate the sharing and communication of data in real time. Together, these solutions are designed to transform how work is done within the civil construction industry.
The civil construction market portfolio integrates data and information across the entire construction process and across mixed fleets. This includes data from site positioning and machine control systems, construction asset management equipment and services, and various software applications. Utilizing wireless and internet-based site communications infrastructure, our solutions include the ability to track and control equipment, perform remote machine diagnostics, and reduce re-work. By leveraging our technology, contractors gain greater insight into their operations helping them to lower costs and improve productivity, worker safety, and asset utilization.
We maintain a joint venture with Caterpillar, Caterpillar-Trimble Control Technologies (“CTCT”), to develop the next generation of advanced electronic guidance and control products for earth-moving machines. The joint venture develops machine control and guidance products that use site design information combined with accurate positioning technology to automatically control dozer blades and other machine tools. Caterpillar generally offers joint venture products as a factory-installed option, while we focus on the aftermarket with products for mixed fleets of earth-moving machines from Caterpillar and other equipment manufacturers to allow improved management of construction sites and projects.
During 2020, we announced a number of developments, including: (i) the launch of the Trimble® Platform as a Service, an offering that gives contractors the ability to purchase select civil construction hardware and software solutions and continually upgrade those solutions with the latest innovations from Trimble and (ii) the release of WorksOS, which integrates design data from the office with machine control data from Trimble to deliver real-time progress and productivity updates for the entire jobsite.
We sell and distribute our products in the Building and Infrastructure segment through both a direct sales force and global networks of independent dealers with expertise and customer relationships in the respective markets, including the network of SITECH Technology Dealers, which serves the civil construction industry. BuildingPoint is an initiative to form a global network of specialized distribution partners to serve the needs of the building construction industry by supporting customers in the adoption of our Buildings solutions. We also sell many of our software solutions through our own direct salesforce.
Competitors in this segment are typically companies that provide optical, laser, or GNSS positioning products as well as companies that produce software specific to the construction process. As we extend our software and services offerings to cover the full set of construction life cycle management solutions used by construction owners, designers, and construction companies, we increasingly compete with large established companies that offer similar systems across all industries. We compete principally on the basis of innovation, differentiated products, domain expertise, service, quality, and geographic reach.
Geospatial
The Geospatial segment primarily serves customers working in surveying, engineering, and government. Within this segment our most substantial product portfolios are focused on surveying and geospatial, and geographic information systems (“GIS”).
Surveying and Geospatial. Through our surveying product portfolio, professional surveyors and engineers provide services to the construction, engineering, mining, oil and gas, energy and utilities, government, and land management sectors. Our survey solutions replace less productive conventional methods of surveying, mapping, 2D or 3D modeling, measurement, reporting, and analysis. Our suite of solutions includes field-based data collection systems and field software, real time communications systems, and back-office software for data processing, modeling, reporting, and analysis. Our field-based technologies are used in handheld, land mobile, and airborne applications and incorporate technologies such as mobile application software, high precision GNSS, robotic measurement systems, inertial positioning, 3D laser scanning, digital imaging, and optical or laser measurement. We maintain a joint venture with Nikon, which focuses on the design and manufacture in Japan of surveying instruments including mechanical total stations and related products. Our office-based products include software for planning, data processing and editing, quality control, 3D modeling, intelligent data analysis and feature extraction, deformation monitoring, project reporting, and data export. Our customers in this area gain benefits from the use of our products including significantly improved productivity in both field and office activities, improved safety through non-contact measurement and detection of potentially dangerous ground or structure movement, and improved data flow that enables better decision making.
Geographic Information Systems. Our GIS product line collects authoritative field data and integrates that data into GIS databases. Our handheld data collection systems allow users to quickly log positions and descriptive information about their assets, ensure the integrity and accuracy of GIS information, and ultimately enable better decision-making. Through a combination of wireless technologies and software solutions, fieldwork results are seamlessly delivered to the back-office GIS, and mobile workers can also access GIS information remotely. This capability provides significant advantages to users, including improved productivity, accuracy, and access to information in the field.
During 2020, we announced the release of a new GNSS receiver, the Trimble R12i, which incorporates Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based tilt compensation, which enables points to be measured or staked out while the survey rod is tilted, empowering land surveyors to focus on the job at hand and complete work faster and more accurately.
We sell and distribute our products in the Geospatial segment primarily through a global network of independent dealers and business partners. Major competitors in this segment are typically survey instrument companies that provide software driven, 3D measurement and imaging solutions. We compete principally on the basis of innovation, differentiated products, domain expertise, service, quality, and geographic reach.
Resources and Utilities
The Resources and Utilities segment primarily serves customers working in agriculture, forestry, and utilities. Within this segment, our most substantial product portfolio addresses the agriculture market.
Our precision agriculture products and services consist of guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions that enable farmers and their partners to improve crop performance, profitability, and environmental quality. Our precision agriculture solutions can assist farmers throughout every step of their farming process, beginning with land preparation and continuing through the planting, nutrient, pest management, and harvesting phases of a crop cycle. We provide manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment used in spraying, planting, cultivating, and harvesting applications. The benefits to the farmer include faster machine operation, higher yields, and lower consumption of fuel and chemicals than
conventional equipment. In addition, we provide solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding. Our water solutions help farmers minimize their water costs and distribute water more efficiently and include applications for leveling agricultural fields for irrigation and aligning drainage systems to better manage water flow in fields.
Software solutions that use data to enhance farm productivity are an increasing focus in our agriculture business. Our agricultural software is used by farmers to help integrate all of the information on the farm, and is also used by advisors, suppliers, and purchasers to share information to help improve efficiencies. Our agricultural software enables farmers to make more informed decisions leading to higher yields, better quality crops, increased profitability, and reduced environmental impact.
For many of our end market applications and customer needs, the positional accuracy that can be derived from GNSS satellite signals alone is insufficient. In these applications, higher levels of positional accuracy are required. For these situations, we provide an augmentation service that improves the positional accuracy that is available to the customer, thereby enabling higher levels of precision and automation in work processes that are conducted in the field. This service is provided by Trimble Positioning Services and is available in a variety of formats and accuracy levels, depending on the relevant application's specific needs. Trimble Positioning Services serves customers in a variety of end markets, including agriculture, construction, geospatial, and other markets, with a majority of its customers being in agriculture.
We use multiple distribution approaches to access the agricultural market including independent dealers and direct selling to enterprise accounts. A significant portion of our sales are through CNH Global and affiliated dealer networks. Our distributors provide a premier level of technical expertise, customer service and support capabilities, and operate with a strategy that fosters technology interoperability in mixed fleets used on a farm. Our distributors are committed to providing reliable, responsive, and dedicated in-field service and support as well as creating a hassle-free experience for the grower and their advisors when implementing advanced technology solutions. They also provide training to help farmers and advisors gain a better understanding of how to use the technology in a way that best meets their needs.
Competitors in the agricultural market are vertically integrated farm equipment and implement companies, agricultural instrumentation companies, and companies that provide agricultural software and services. We compete principally on the basis of robust performance, ease of use, domain expertise, customer support, price, interoperability, interconnectedness, and the completeness of our solutions.
Transportation
Our transportation solutions provide capabilities for the long-haul trucking and freight shipper markets to create a connected supply chain and integrate all forms of transportation, drivers, back office management, shippers and freight. We provide enterprise and mobility solutions focused on business intelligence and data analytics, safety and regulatory compliance, navigation and routing, freight brokerage, supply chain visibility and final mile, and transportation management and fleet maintenance. Within this segment, our most substantial product portfolio addresses the truckload freight market.
In the transportation market, we offer a suite of solutions marketed primarily under the Trimble brand. Together, this range of products provides comprehensive fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions to enable the transportation industry to achieve greater overall operational efficiency, fleet performance, and profitability while ensuring regulatory compliance. In addition to cloud-hosted solutions, we also integrate our applications and services directly into the customer’s IT infrastructure.
The mobility solutions encompass route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications. The transportation management system serves as a central hub from which the core operations of transportation organizations are managed, data is stored and analyzed, and mission critical business processes are automated. Our enterprise transportation management system automates business processes spanning the entire surface transportation life cycle for shippers, carriers and intermediaries, delivering visibility, control, and decision support for the intricate relationships and complex processes involved in the movement of freight. Our products also provide truck routing, mileage, and mapping solutions, as well as a voice guided turn-by-turn navigation solution.
The Transportation segment generally sells directly to end-users and OEMs. Sales cycles tend to be long, often involving field trials followed by an extensive decision-making process. Competitors in this segment are typically companies that provide fleet mobility services, transportation management software, and digital freight matching. We compete principally on the basis of interoperability, domain expertise, customer support and service, price, innovative product offerings, quality, and the completeness of our solutions.
Seasonality of Business
Construction equipment revenue, within our Buildings and Infrastructure segment, historically has been higher in early spring. Our agricultural equipment revenue, within our Resources and Utilities segment, has historically been the highest in the first quarter, followed by the second quarter, reflecting buying in anticipation of the spring planting season in the Northern hemisphere. However, overall as a company, as a result of diversification of our businesses across segments and the increased impact of software and subscription revenue, we are experiencing less seasonality. Changes in global macroeconomic conditions could also impact the level of seasonality we experience.
Manufacturing
We outsource the manufacturing of many of our hardware products to our key contract manufacturing partners that include Flex Ltd., Benchmark Electronics Inc., and Jabil. Our contract manufacturing partners are responsible for significant material procurement, assembly, and testing. We continue to manage product design through pilot production for the subcontracted products, and we are directly involved in qualifying suppliers and key components used in all our products. Our current contract with Flex Ltd. continues in effect until either party gives the other ninety days written notice. We also utilize original design manufacturers for some of our products.
We manufacture our laser and optics-based products, as well as some of our GPS products, at our plants in Dayton, Ohio; Danderyd, Sweden; and Shanghai, China. Some of these products or portions of these products are also subcontracted to third parties for assembly.
Our primary design, manufacturing, and distribution sites in Dayton, Ohio; Sunnyvale, California; Danderyd, Sweden; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Auckland, New Zealand, and Shanghai, China are registered to ISO9001:2015 covering the design, production, distribution, and servicing of our products.
Research and Development and Patents, Licenses, and Intellectual Property
We believe that our competitive position is maintained through the development and introduction of new products, including software and services, that incorporate improved features and functionality, better performance, smaller size and weight, lower cost, or some combination of these factors. We invest substantially in the development of new products. We also make significant investments in the positioning, communication, and information technologies that underlie our products and will likely provide competitive advantages. Our investments enable us to push the state-of-the-art in key technology areas and to connect other leading technologies to solve customer problems in new and unique ways.
We expect to continue investing in research and development at a rate consistent with our past, with the goal of maintaining or improving our competitive position and entering new markets.
We seek to establish and maintain our proprietary rights in our technology and products through the use of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secret laws. We have a program to file applications for and obtain patents, copyrights, and trademarks in the United States and in selected foreign countries where we believe filing for such protection is appropriate. We hold over 1,000 unique issued and enforceable patents covering key technology areas, including precision GNSS, optical and inertial positioning solutions, artificial intelligence and machine learning, IoT, cloud computing, laser scanning, 3D modeling, point cloud processing, augmented reality, and many others. We generally prefer to own the intellectual property used in our products, either directly or through subsidiaries. Occasionally we license technology from third parties. We are not dependent on any one patent or license. We also own numerous trademarks and service marks that contribute to the identity and recognition of Trimble and its global products and services.
Human Capital
Trimble’s culture reflects our guiding principles at work and is fundamental to sustaining our success. A company’s culture describes how people behave in the work environment and is closely tied to leadership. At Trimble, people inspire purpose and vision, engage to draw out the best from each other, and strive to achieve meaningful results. This mindset shapes how we treat one another and how we serve our customers, colleagues, and stockholders. These attributes serve as a common foundation across the global organization and also adapt locally to diverse geographic and operational business models. Commitment to these behaviors unites Trimble employees.
In the technology space, intellectual property and know-how derived from employees fosters innovation and serves as a competitive advantage. To continue producing the innovative technologies for which we are known, it is crucial that we continue to attract, engage, and retain top talent. We strive to make Trimble a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and safe workplace and provide opportunities for our employees to grow and develop in their careers, supported by competitive compensation, benefits, and health and wellness programs, and by programs that build connections between our employees and their communities.
At the end of fiscal 2020, we employed 11,402 full-time and part-time employees, the overwhelming majority of which were full-time employees. Approximately 49%, 30%, 17%, and 4% of employees reside in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of world, respectively. Our employees are working in over 200 locations in over 40 countries. Collectively, we speak more than 45 different languages. We believe our diversity makes us stronger and better able to solve complex problems for our customers.
Diversity and Inclusion
We value diversity in our workforce, including various cultures, backgrounds, ages, gender, race and ethnicities, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, people with different abilities, parents and caregivers, and many other characteristics, knowing that it drives our best thinking. Our focus on diversity starts at the top. Four out of our eleven board members are female or ethnically diverse, placing us in a select group of companies. In fiscal 2020, we named a Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In quarterly business reviews, we review gender and U.S. ethnicity demographics and trends for every business within Trimble, as well as initiatives that will lead toward future progress.
We have a number of employee networks that enhance our inclusive and diverse culture, including networks that support women, caregivers, black professionals, veterans, and the LGBTQ+ community. We are focused on measuring and increasing gender representation and diversity in high impact roles such as front-line management, engineering, product management, and sales. We have provided increased access to diversity and inclusion educational resources, training, assessments, articles and other employee forums to help us work together and more effectively across a variety of cultures globally.
We are committed to inspiring and attracting extraordinary and diverse talent. The hiring and retention of top talent is always a strategic priority, and increasingly, a challenging one. In addition, our increasing focus on technologies, such as cloud and autonomy, requires us to compete against leading companies in the technology sector. Colleges and universities remain an important source of talented recruits. We aim to transform and re-invent the way Trimble attracts and hires employees to increase diversity. Initiatives include modifications to our recruiting process to ensure inclusion of diverse candidates, developing relationships with universities with higher underrepresentation, creating diverse talent pools, and increasing networking and referrals with diverse professional organizations.
Compensation and Benefits
We believe people should be paid for the role they perform and their skills and experience, regardless of their gender, race, age or other personal characteristics. To deliver on that commitment, we benchmark and set pay ranges based on market data and consider factors such as an employee’s role, their experience, their performance, and the region in which they live. We also regularly review our compensation practices to ensure our pay is fair and equitable. In addition to base salaries, certain roles are eligible to participate in short-term and long-term incentive plans.
We also offer market competitive benefit programs (which vary by country/region), which include health and wellness benefits, life insurance and disability benefits, flexible savings accounts, paid time off, parental and family leave, employee support programs, retirement plans, an employee stock purchase plan, adoption and surrogacy education assistance, flexible work schedules, tuition assistance, and on-site services such as health centers and fitness centers at some sites, among others.
Talent Development
We are committed to providing every employee with the opportunity to learn, grow, and excel in a respectful and collaborative workplace. Part of our people development mission is to create a culture of continuous learning and curiosity. We believe that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work; brains and talent are just the starting point. We encourage employees to nurture a love of continuous learning and a resilience that is essential for accomplishment.
We have a framework for people development that is employee-centric and evidence-based. Performance reviews include frequent, casual conversations based upon employee survey data that drives engagement and retention. These surveys also include questions oriented around the Company’s mission, vision, values, and purpose, work environment, career development, and employee-manager relations. Our world-wide training portal, Learn.Trimble.com, provides a set of resources that is easy to
access anytime and anywhere, with a range of focus areas from new employees to existing employee development to manager development.
Building Connections
We believe that building connections between our employees, their families, and our communities creates a more meaningful, fulfilling, and enjoyable workplace. Since our employees are passionate about a variety of causes, our company giving and volunteering programs support and encourage employees by engaging with those causes. In our offices around the world, our employee-led committees select local organizations to support, often in the form of grants and employee fundraising. We also frequently collaborate with these organizations on volunteer activities for our employees.
Our Trimble Foundation aligns international philanthropic efforts by giving back to the communities where Trimble does business and helping those in need. We do this by supporting two focus areas, natural disaster relief and female education and empowerment, as well as by supporting the philanthropic efforts of our offices.
Health, Safety and Wellness
The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety, and wellness of our employees. We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible, and convenient health and wellness programs, including benefits that provide protection and security so they can have peace of mind concerning events that may require time away from work or that impact their financial well-being; that support their physical and mental health by providing tools and resources to help them improve or maintain their health status and encourage engagement in healthy behaviors; and that offer choice where possible so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations. This includes having the vast majority of our employees work from home, while implementing additional safety measures for employees continuing critical on-site work.
Available Information
Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to these reports are available free of charge on our web site through investor.trimble.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial news and reports and related information about our Company, as well as GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations, are also found on this web site. Information contained on our web site is not part of this annual report on Form 10-K.
In addition, you may request a copy of these filings (excluding exhibits) at no cost by writing or telephoning us at our principal executive offices at the following address or telephone number:
Trimble Inc.
935 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Attention: Investor Relations
Telephone: 303-635-8551
Information about our Executive Officers
The names, ages and positions of our executive officers as of February 26, 2021 are as follows:
| Name | Age | Position | ||||||||||||
| Steve W. Berglund | 69 | Executive Chairman | ||||||||||||
| Robert G. Painter | 49 | President and Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||||||
| David G. Barnes | 59 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||||||
| Ronald J. Bisio | 52 | Senior Vice President | ||||||||||||
| Bryn A. Fosburgh | 58 | Senior Vice President | ||||||||||||
| James A. Kirkland | 61 | Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary | ||||||||||||
| James Langley | 46 | Senior Vice President | ||||||||||||
| Darryl R. Matthews | 53 | Senior Vice President | ||||||||||||
| Julie A. Shepard | 63 | Chief Accounting Officer |
Steven W. Berglund—Steven Berglund was appointed executive chairman of Trimble’s board in January 2020, and previously served as the president and chief executive officer of Trimble since March 1999. Prior to joining Trimble, Mr. Berglund was president of Spectra Precision, a group within Spectra Physics AB. Mr. Berglund’s business experience includes a variety of senior leadership positions with Spectra Physics, and manufacturing and planning roles at Varian Associates. He began his career as a process engineer at Eastman Kodak. He attended the University of Oslo and the University of Minnesota where he received a B.S. in chemical engineering. Mr. Berglund received his M.B.A. from the University of Rochester. Mr. Berglund is a member of the board of directors of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), as well as chairman of AEM's construction sector board. He is also a member of the board of directors and audit committee of Belden Inc., a global provider of end-to-end signal transmission solutions.
Robert G. Painter—Robert Painter was appointed Trimble’s president and chief executive officer in January 2020. From 2016 through 2019, he served as our chief financial officer, where he was responsible for Trimble’s worldwide finance operations. In 2015, Mr. Painter was appointed vice president of Trimble buildings businesses, a group focused on BIM-centric divisions that span the design-build-operate continuum of the building life cycle. From 2011 to 2014, he served as general manager of our joint venture with Hilti, which was created to foster collaborative development of product innovations for the building construction industry. From 2009 to 2010, he served as general manager of our construction services division. Mr. Painter joined Trimble in 2006 and assumed leadership of Trimble’s business development, leading all acquisition and corporate strategy activities. Prior to joining Trimble, Mr. Painter served in a variety of management and finance positions at Cenveo, Rapt Inc., Bain & Company, Whole Foods Market, and Kraft Foods. In 1993, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from West Virginia University and received an MBA in Business from Harvard University in 1998.
David G. Barnes—David G. Barnes joined Trimble as chief financial officer in January 2020 with more than 35 years of financial and strategic management experience, including treasury, tax, investor relations, and risk management. Prior to Trimble, Mr. Barnes served as chief financial officer at MWH Global Inc., a global provider of engineering and construction services, from January 2009 to May 2016. At MWH, he served on the board of directors and had responsibility for information technology and procurement in addition to his financial role. Following the sale of MWH to Stantec Inc., Mr. Barnes assumed operational responsibility for Stantec’s businesses outside North America from September 2017 to January 2019. He also served as a leader on the committee overseeing the integration of MHW into Stantec from May 2016 to July 2017. Prior to MWH, Mr. Barnes held financial leadership positions at Western Union, Coors, and YUM Brands. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. In 1983, he received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Yale University and his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago in 1987. Mr. Barnes also serves as a board member and chair of the Audit Committee of CSG Systems International.
Ronald J. Bisio*—*In February 2019, Ronald Bisio was appointed senior vice president responsible for Trimble’s surveying and geospatial businesses, where he had previously served as vice president since April 2015. Prior to this role, he served as general manager for Trimble’s rail division from January 2011 until April 2015. He joined Trimble in 1996 and has held several marketing, sales, and general management positions since then at Trimble. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Denver, a Master of Regional Planning degree from the University of Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Cartography from Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts.
Bryn A. Fosburgh—Bryn Fosburgh currently serves as senior vice president responsible for Trimble’s construction businesses, which includes Trimble’s civil engineering and construction, buildings, Viewpoint and e-Builder divisions, as well as Trimble’s joint ventures with Caterpillar, Hilti, and Nikon. From 2016 to 2019, Mr. Fosburgh was our senior vice president responsible for Trimble’s joint ventures, as well as U.S. Federal government strategy and accounts, OEM construction machine division, and professional services groups. From 2014 to 2016, he served as senior vice president for Trimble's geospatial, civil engineering and construction, and building divisions, and the Caterpillar and Hilti-related joint ventures. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Fosburgh was responsible for buildings and heavy civil construction divisions along with Caterpillar and Hilti joint ventures. From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Fosburgh served as vice president for Trimble's construction division, transportation and logistics, field service management, and a number of corporate functions and geographical regions. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Fosburgh was vice president for Trimble's construction and agriculture divisions, and from 2005 to 2007, Mr. Fosburgh served as vice president and general manager of Trimble's engineering and construction division. Mr. Fosburgh joined Trimble in 1994 and has held numerous roles, including vice president and general manager for Trimble's geomatics and engineering division, and division vice president of survey and infrastructure. Prior to Trimble, Mr. Fosburgh was a civil engineer and also held various positions for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Defense Mapping Agency. Mr. Fosburgh received a B.S. in geology from the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay in 1985 and an M.S. from the school of civil engineering at Purdue University in 1989.
James A. Kirkland—James Kirkland currently serves as Trimble’s senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary. He joined Trimble as vice president and general counsel in July 2008. Prior to joining Trimble, he served as general counsel and executive vice president, strategic development at Covad Communications. Mr. Kirkland also served as senior vice president of spectrum development and general counsel at Clearwire Technologies, Inc. Mr. Kirkland began his career in 1984 as an associate at Mintz Levin and in 1992 he was promoted to partner. Mr. Kirkland received his BA from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1981 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984.
James Langley—James Langley currently serves as a senior vice president responsible for Trimble transportation businesses. He was appointed to this role in September 2019 and before that served as Trimble’s general manager of Trimble transportation enterprise since April 2019. Prior to that, Mr. Langley was with Dart Transit Company, a transportation and tractor fleet company based in Eagan, Minnesota, where he served as president from December 2017 until March 2019, and chief operating officer from January 2016 until March 2019. Before Dart, Mr Langley was with TMW Systems, one of Trimble’s transportation businesses, as vice president and general manager of business intelligence and optimization from May 2011 until December 2015. Mr. Langley has extensive experience in the transportation industry, having also held positions at US Xpress, Transcard, and JB Hunt, where he worked in the areas of operations, IT, engineering and analytics. Mr. Langley holds a degree from the University of Arkansas in transportation and logistics.
Darryl R. Matthews—Darryl Matthews currently serves as senior vice president responsible for Trimble’s natural resources businesses, which includes agriculture, forestry, and global services divisions. From 2010 to 2015, Mr. Matthews served as president and general manager of the NAFTA Region for Nufarm Americas, Inc., a subsidiary of Nufarm Limited, a publicly-traded multinational agricultural chemical company. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Matthews served as general manager of Nufarm Agriculture Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Nufarm Limited. Mr. Matthews began his career at Dow AgroSciences in Canada where he held management roles in sales and marketing. From 2010 to 2015, he served on the Board of Directors for CropLife America. He received an Honors B.Sc. in Agriculture majoring in Horticultural Science and Business from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada in 1994.
Julie A. Shepard—Julie Shepard currently serves as Trimble’s chief accounting officer. She joined Trimble in December of 2006 as vice president of finance and was appointed chief accounting officer in May 2017. Prior to joining Trimble, Ms. Shepard served as vice president of finance and corporate controller at Quantum Corporation. Ms. Shepard brings with her over 30 years of experience in a broad range of finance roles, with diverse experience ranging from early stage private equity backed technology companies to large multinational corporations. Ms. Shepard began her career at Price Waterhouse and is a Certified Public Accountant. She received a B.S in Accounting from California State University. She is a member of the AICPA, Financial Executive Institute, and the SASB Alliance.
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