Trimble Acquires BitWyse

Trimble announced today it has acquired the assets of software developer BitWyse Solutions, Inc., Salem, MA. BitWyse founder Mark Klusza will report to Scott Bartlett, strategic development manager for Trimble’s survey division, who reports to Juergen Kliem, vice president of survey and infrastructure. BitWyse develops a line of software applications for registering, displaying, managing and clash-checking point cloud data in multiple CAD environments. According to Bartlett, the acquisition will help Trimble expand its presence in the process and power market. Other than that the deal was all cash, terms were not disclosed.The timing of this announcement bears inspection. Last week we reported that FARO Technologies had agreed to resell BitWyse software solutions with FARO’s line of phase-based laser scanners. We understand that this arrangement is unchanged by Trimble’s acquisition. What’s next? Much process industry work benefits from having both phase-based and time-of-flight capabilities – phase-based tools for their speed; time-of-flight instruments for their dynamic range. We’ll keep you posted.