Revenue from Contracts with Customers

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

REVENUE

The Company disaggregates revenue from contracts with customers by product, service, timing of revenue recognition, and geography. A summary by the Company’s reportable segments follows for the years ended December 31:

Twelve months ended December 31, 2020	U.S. Operations		Swiss Operations		Western European Operations		Chinese Operations		Other Operations		Total
Product Revenue	$	815,046	$	112,542	$	509,385	$	526,231	$	441,968	$	2,405,172
Service Revenue:
Point in time	199,247		22,733		135,793		39,705		110,542		508,020
Over time	58,026		8,648		71,537		12,674		21,100		171,985
Total	$	1,072,319	$	143,923	$	716,715	$	578,610	$	573,610	$	3,085,177

Twelve months ended December 31, 2019	U.S. Operations		Swiss Operations		Western European Operations		Chinese Operations		Other Operations		Total
Product Revenue	$	801,181	$	110,390	$	500,978	$	495,579	$	438,717	$	2,346,845
Service Revenue:
Point in time	207,707		20,968		135,612		37,370		109,802		511,459
Over time	48,227		8,141		64,151		11,767		18,062		150,348
Total	$	1,057,115	$	139,499	$	700,741	$	544,716	$	566,581	$	3,008,652

Twelve months ended December 31, 2018	U.S. Operations		Swiss Operations		Western European Operations		Chinese Operations		Other Operations		Total
Product Revenue	$	769,971	$	106,400	$	517,855	$	475,025	$	430,824	$	2,300,075
Service Revenue:
Point in time	196,314		19,430		134,052		38,528		100,638		488,962
Over time	41,512		8,234		66,881		11,556		18,366		146,549
Total	$	1,007,797	$	134,064	$	718,788	$	525,109	$	549,828	$	2,935,586

The Company's global revenue mix by product category for the year ending December 31, 2020 is laboratory (54% of sales), industrial (40% of sales), and retail (6% of sales). The Company’s product revenue by reportable segment is proportionately similar to the Company’s global mix with the exception of the Company’s Swiss Operations, which is largely comprised of laboratory products, and the Company’s Chinese Operations, which has a slightly higher percentage of industrial products. A breakdown of the Company’s sales by product category for the year ended December 31 follows:

	2020		2019		2018
Laboratory	$	1,669,791	$	1,578,625	$	1,504,600
Industrial	1,224,497		1,233,970		1,211,362
Retail	190,889		196,057		219,624
Total net sales	$	3,085,177	$	3,008,652	$	2,935,586

A breakdown of net sales to external customers by geographic customer destination, net for the year ended December 31 follows:

	2020		2019		2018
Americas	$	1,180,626	$	1,165,847	$	1,105,956
Europe	921,266		892,092		908,773
Asia/Rest of World	983,285		950,713		920,857
Total	$	3,085,177	$	3,008,652	$	2,935,586

The payment terms in the Company’s contracts with customers do not exceed one year and therefore contracts do not contain a significant financing component. In most cases, after appropriate credit evaluations, payments are due in arrears and are recognized as receivables. Unbilled revenue is recorded when performance obligations have been satisfied, but not yet billed to the customer. Unbilled revenue as of December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 was $22.6 million, $17.4 million, and $12.4 million, respectively, and is included within accounts receivable. Deferred revenue and customer prepayments are recorded when cash payments are received or due in advance of the performance obligation being satisfied. Deferred revenue primarily includes prepaid service contracts, as well as deferred installation.

Changes in the components of deferred revenue and customer prepayments during the period are as follows:

	2020		2019		2018
Beginning balances as of January 1	$	122,489	$	105,381	$	107,166
Customer pre-payments/deferred revenue	617,643		633,190		619,257
Revenue recognized	(595,802)		(615,957)		(618,002)
Foreign currency translation	4,776		(125)		(3,040)
Ending balance as of December 31	$	149,106	$	122,489	$	105,381

    The Company generally expenses sales commissions when incurred because the contract period is one year or less. These costs are recorded within selling, general, and administrative expenses. The Company has not disclosed the value of unsatisfied performance obligations other than customer prepayments and deferred revenue as most contracts have an expected length of one year or less and amounts greater than one year are immaterial.