Segment Reporting

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Reporting Disclosure

SEGMENT REPORTING

The Company has five reportable segments: U.S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations, and Other. U.S. Operations represent certain of the Company’s marketing and producing organizations located in the United States. Western European Operations include the Company’s marketing and producing organizations in Western Europe, excluding operations located in Switzerland. Swiss Operations include marketing and producing organizations located in Switzerland as well as extensive R&D operations that are responsible for the development, production, and marketing of precision instruments, including weighing, analytical, and measurement technologies for use in a variety of laboratory and industrial applications. Chinese Operations represent the Company’s marketing and producing organizations located in China. The Company’s market organizations are geographically focused and are responsible for all aspects of the Company’s sales and service. Operations that exist outside these reportable segments are included in Other.

The accounting policies of the operating segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies. The Company evaluates performance based on segment profit for segment reporting (gross profit less research and development and selling, general, and administrative expenses, before amortization, interest expense, restructuring charges, other charges (income), net, and taxes). Inter-segment sales and transfers are priced to reflect consideration of market conditions and the regulations of the countries in which the transferring entities are located.

The following tables show the operations of the Company’s reportable segments:

For the Year Ended December 31, 2019	Net Sales to External Customers		Net Sales to Other Segments			Total Net Sales			Segment Profit			Depreciation		Total Assets(c)			Purchase of Property, Plant, and Equipment			Goodwill
U.S. Operations	$	1,057,115	$	114,794		$	1,171,909		$	210,133		$	10,684	$	2,363,725		$	(15,607	)	$	410,022
Swiss Operations	139,499		657,678			797,177			233,292			6,069		1,648,065			(5,820		)	22,369
Western European Operations	700,741		175,759			876,500			123,845			4,450		1,150,214			(11,267		)	87,980
Chinese Operations	544,716		224,517			769,233			266,522			8,045		694,903			(10,252		)	633
Other(a)	566,581		5,890			572,471			71,483			3,395		358,281			(4,936		)	14,975
Eliminations and Corporate(b)	—		(1,178,638		)	(1,178,638		)	(127,197		)	6,348		(3,425,867		)	(49,459		)	—
Total	$	3,008,652	$	—		$	3,008,652		$	778,078		$	38,991	$	2,789,321		$	(97,341	)	$	535,979

For the Year Ended December 31, 2018	Net Sales to External Customers		Net Sales to Other Segments			Total Net Sales			Segment Profit			Depreciation		Total Assets			Purchase of Property, Plant, and Equipment			Goodwill
U.S. Operations	$	1,007,798	$	104,458		$	1,112,256		$	161,615		$	10,425	$	2,113,268		$	(27,896	)	$	410,021
Swiss Operations	134,064		628,529			762,593			202,027			5,835		1,471,625			(1,123		)	21,994
Western European Operations	718,788		176,995			895,783			122,574			4,173		983,809			(16,879		)	87,242
Chinese Operations	525,109		242,452			767,561			270,668			7,869		1,237,248			(13,248		)	644
Other(a)	549,827		6,543			556,370			78,317			3,774		319,070			(8,342		)	14,879
Eliminations and Corporate(b)	—		(1,158,977		)	(1,158,977		)	(104,696		)	5,091		(3,506,173		)	(75,238		)	—
Total	$	2,935,586	$	—		$	2,935,586		$	730,505		$	37,167	$	2,618,847		$	(142,726	)	$	534,780

For the Year Ended December 31, 2017	Net Sales to External Customers		Net Sales to Other Segments			Total Net Sales			Segment Profit			Depreciation		Total Assets			Purchase of Property, Plant, and Equipment			Goodwill
U.S. Operations	$	944,825	$	99,117		$	1,043,942		$	177,705		$	7,659	$	1,937,688		$	(38,969	)	$	409,520
Swiss Operations	133,925		563,083			697,008			174,447			5,551		1,374,150			(19,589		)	22,171
Western European Operations	673,776		170,820			844,596			123,841			4,052		1,805,294			(7,094		)	91,927
Chinese Operations	452,617		232,882			685,499			231,860			7,168		1,068,811			(13,246		)	690
Other(a)	519,910		7,934			527,844			72,681			3,474		310,667			(4,131		)	15,530
Eliminations and Corporate(b)	—		(1,073,836		)	(1,073,836		)	(127,952		)	5,554		(3,946,805		)	(44,397		)	—
Total	$	2,725,053	$	—		$	2,725,053		$	652,582		$	33,458	$	2,549,805		$	(127,426	)	$	539,838

(a) Other includes reporting units in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and other countries.

(b) Eliminations and Corporate includes the elimination of inter-segment transactions as well as certain corporate expenses and intercompany investments, which are not included in the Company’s operating segments.

(c) The lease right-of-use asset, net increased total assets as of December 31, 2019 for U.S. Operations by $38.3 million, Swiss Operations by $1.3 million, Western European Operations by $20.1 million, Chinese Operations by $3.0 million, Other by $22.7 million, and Corporate by $1.9 million.

A reconciliation of earnings before taxes to segment profit follows:

	2019			2018			2017
Earnings before taxes	$	681,394		$	651,858		$	574,222
Amortization	49,690			47,524			42,671
Interest expense	37,411			34,511			32,785
Restructuring charges	15,760			18,420			12,772
Other charges (income), net	(6,177		)	(21,808		)	(9,868		)
Segment profit	$	778,078		$	730,505		$	652,582

During 2019, restructuring charges of $15.8 million were recognized, of which $4.2 million, $3.4 million, $6.9 million, $0.5 million, and $0.8 million relate to the Company’s U.S., Swiss, Western European, Chinese, and Other Operations, respectively. Restructuring charges of $18.4 million were recognized in 2018, of which $11.0 million, $4.0 million, $2.8 million, $0.3 million, and $0.3 million relate to the Company's U.S., Swiss, Western European, Chinese, and Other Operations, respectively. Restructuring charges of $12.8 million were recognized in 2017, of which $6.2 million, $1.8 million, $3.0 million, $0.8 million and $1.0 million related to the Company's U.S., Swiss, Western European, Chinese, and Other Operations, respectively.

The Company sells precision instruments, including weighing instruments and certain analytical and measurement technologies, and related services to a variety of customers and industries. None of these end-customers account for more than 1% of net sales. Service revenues are primarily derived from repair and other services including regulatory compliance qualification, calibration, certification, and preventative maintenance, and spare parts. A breakdown of the Company's sales by product category for the years ended December 31 follows:

	2019		2018		2017
Laboratory	$	1,578,625	$	1,504,600	$	1,358,493
Industrial	1,233,970		1,211,362		1,158,335
Retail	196,057		219,624		208,225
Total net sales	$	3,008,652	$	2,935,586	$	2,725,053

In certain circumstances, our reporting units sell directly into other geographies. A breakdown of net sales to external customers by geographic customer destination and property, plant, and equipment by geographic destination for the years ended December 31 follows:

	Net Sales						Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net
	2019		2018		2017		2019		2018
United States	$	984,524	$	933,419	$	888,241	$	200,497	$	234,395
Other Americas	181,323		172,537		162,672		3,828		2,946
Total Americas	1,165,847		1,105,956		1,050,913		204,325		237,341
Germany	195,790		205,296		192,126		48,401		48,030
France	130,387		141,513		130,427		8,849		7,810
United Kingdom	66,855		70,378		64,361		26,502		17,347
Switzerland	65,202		65,377		63,090		295,029		293,388
Other Europe	433,858		426,209		399,923		59,179		12,791
Total Europe	892,092		908,773		849,927		437,960		379,366
China	527,076		506,360		439,373		85,817		87,643
Rest of World	423,637		414,497		384,840		20,555		13,176
Total Asia/Rest of World	950,713		920,857		824,213		106,372		100,819
Total	$	3,008,652	$	2,935,586	$	2,725,053	$	748,657	$	717,526