Attendance at Trimble’s 2006 user meeting soared 60% over last year – almost 2000 customers, dealers, prospects and employees gathered this week in Las Vegas to get updated on the company’s direction and latest products, and to share best practices.
Customer excitement about the company’s “connected site” message was palpable. For me the marker was the high conversation decibel level at lunchtime on the first day, and the smile index. There isn’t a chance this excitement will stay in Vegas. Trimble is riding a wave of innovation in three domains: sensor technology (GPS, optical measurement, RFID, etc.), communications technology (cellular, Bluetooth, etc.) and processing of very large data sets. The company’s vision for the connected site is well founded in integrating these elements. Q3 revenues were up 25%. Investors like the company a lot – Trimble stock closed at $45.49 today, up 54% from a year ago.
On the laser scanning front, I heard some excellent presentations by Trimble customers on how the technology is being used for construction and asset management in civil, pipeline, railroad and research facility projects. Beyond design, this is the next wave of value-add, particularly as laser scanning technology is integrated with GPS, traditional total station measurement and other technologies. We’ll get you more details in coming weeks.
Yesterday afternoon I caught the last part of a show floor walkthrough led by vice president Bryn Fosburgh to the recently acquired XYZ Solutions and Quantm exhibit booths. Trimble has a healthy appetite for purchasing innovative software companies (BitWyse Solutions, Meridian Systems and Visual Statement were also purchased in the past year). I doubt the shopping spree is over.
Las Vegas has plenty of distractions. Nature’s physical attributes are improved upon at every opportunity, including those of the citizenry. Congratulations to the Trimble team for putting together a program that filled the technical sessions to overflowing and kept the crowd together.
