Trimble acquires Beena Vision to expand its rail portfolio

Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it has acquired privately-held Beena Vision Systems Inc., a manufacturer of vision-based automatic wayside inspection systems for the railroad industry, headquartered in Norcross, Ga.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Beena Vision provides vision-based wayside detectors for the rolling stock maintenance market. Its non-contact measurement technology enables highly detailed condition assessment of train components—ranging from wheel surface condition to full train inspection—on trains operating in service and at high speeds. Beena Vision's wayside systems, coupled with software applications and image analysis technology, enable Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to manage fleet maintenance and operation through automatic measurements and inspections. Real-time alarms, alerts and reports enable significant reductions in maintenance costs and increase fleet availability for revenue generation.

Beena Vision systems are installed at most major North American Class 1 railroads as well as other worldwide TOCs.

Beena Vision integrates with Trimble's rail strategy and complements Trimble's rolling stock asset management solutions, adding vision-based data collection to existing data aggregation and analytics tools. Trimble's enterprise solutions manage the lifecycle of rolling stock from operation through maintenance and repair, allowing companies to improve operational efficiencies, manage service levels and reduce their costs. Beena Vision solutions, when integrated with the Trimble platform, provide TOCs with a more complete picture of their rolling stocks' on-board systems as well as the train components.

"Many of the largest TOCs in the U.K. and Europe rely on Trimble's solutions for rolling stock asset management. Adding Beena Vision's automatic wayside inspection systems makes us even more relevant to an expanding customer base. Beena Vision's strong North American and Australian presence, in conjunction with Trimble's UK and Europe presence, provides the ability to access new customers. In addition, Beena Vision's freight segment focus combined with Trimble's passenger rail focus creates significant synergy potential," said Tomas Larsson, general manager of Trimble's Railway Solutions Business. "Our fundamental focus is to provide solutions that reduce cost, improve efficiency and provide better visibility into train operations to maximize productivity."

"We are very excited to join Trimble. I believe the addition of Beena Vision's solutions to Trimble's portfolio extends our collective ability to deliver more powerful and robust rail solutions," said Dr. Kambiz Nayebi, CEO of Beena Vision. "In addition, we can leverage Trimble's broad portfolio of technology to even further strengthen our solutions. As part of Trimble, our commitment to our customers remains unchanged as we continue to deliver best-in-class solutions and services."

The Beena Vision business will be reported a part of Trimble's Engineering and Construction Segment.

About Trimble

Trimble is transforming the way the world works by delivering products and services that connect the physical and digital worlds. Core technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity and data analytics enable customers to improve productivity, quality, safety and sustainability. From purpose built products to enterprise lifecycle solutions, Trimble software, hardware and services are transforming a broad range of industries such as agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation and logistics.

About Trimble's Railway Solutions

Trimble's railway solutions combine the latest in sensors and monitoring technologies with customized software and wireless communications enabling users to quickly and accurately capture the data needed to maintain and construct railway infrastructure or to manage rail transport assets. Trimble's solutions use integrated processes and workflows for complete railway infrastructure and asset lifecycle management. From the infrastructure planning, design, construction, and maintenance phases to the operation, maintenance and repair of rail transport assets the solutions streamline operations to keep railway projects on time and in budget.

About Beena Vision Systems Inc.

Founded in 2003, Beena Vision Systems Inc. is a leading manufacturer of vision-based automatic wayside inspection systems for the railroad industry using sophisticated machine vision and non-contact measurement technologies. These products are specifically designed to provide valuable information to effectively assess train components and track safety conditions. Headquartered in Norcross, Ga., Beena Vision has a state-of-the-art facility and an extensive R&D program to develop additional advanced systems for automatic monitoring of several critical components for freight and passenger cars, bogies, and locomotives.