Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Parenthetical) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jul. 01, 2011		Jul. 02, 2010		Jul. 01, 2011		Jul. 02, 2010
Revenue	$ 407,169,000	[1]	$ 333,363,000	[1]	$ 791,462,000	[1]	$ 652,378,000	[1]
Cost of sales	198,435,000	[1]	169,937,000	[1]	391,198,000	[1]	329,955,000	[1]
Joint Ventures [Member]
Revenue	5,200,000		4,800,000		11,000,000		10,300,000
Cost of sales	3,500,000		3,400,000		7,400,000		7,100,000
Cost of sales associated with related party net inventory purchases	$ 10,600,000		$ 8,500,000		$ 18,500,000		$ 14,600,000

[1] Sales to Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies Joint Venture (CTCT) and Nikon-Trimble Joint Venture (Nikon-Trimble), were $5.2 million and $4.8 million for the three months ended July 1, 2011 and July 2, 2010, respectively, with associated cost of sales to those related parties of $3.5 million and $3.4 million, respectively. Sales to CTCT and Nikon-Trimble were $11.0 million and $10.3 million for the six months ended July 1, 2011 and July 2, 2010, respectively, with associated cost of sales of $7.4 million and $7.1 million, respectively. In addition, cost of sales associated with related party net inventory purchases were $10.6 million and $8.5 million for the three months ended July 1, 2011 and July 2, 2010, respectively, and $18.5 million and $14.6 million for the six months ended July 1, 2011 and July 2, 2010, respectively. See Note 4 regarding joint ventures for further information about related party transactions.