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| Company type | part ofHexagon AB |
|---|---|
| Industry | Surveying &Engineering Geographic Information Systems (GIS) High PrecisionMeasurement instruments |
| Founded | Heerbrugg,Switzerland (1921) |
| Headquarters | Heerbrugg,Canton of St. Gallen,Switzerland |
Number of employees | > 3,500[1] |
| Website | www.leica-geosystems.com |
Leica Geosystems (formerly known asWild Heerbrugg or justWild) based in easternSwitzerland produces products and systems forsurveying and geographical measurement (geomatics). Its products employ a variety of technologies includingGPS satellite navigation andlaser rangefinders to enable users to model existing structures, terrains in computer based systems to high accuracies, often under 1 cm.
The brand Leica, better known forLeica Cameras, was formed on 2 April 1990 after the merger of several companies. In 2005, the company was acquired byHexagon AB. Leica was listed on the Swiss stock exchange until the 7 August 2006 which saw the cancellation of all publicly held registered shares in Leica Geosystems Holdings Ltd and delisting of all listed registered shares of a par value of CHF 50.[2]
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging is a Strategic Member in theOpen Geospatial Consortium since 2008. Strategic Membership is the highest level of membership in the OGC. Strategic Members provide significant resources to support OGC objectives in the form of funding for program initiatives and staff resources inserted into the OGC process.[3]
Heinrich Wild (1877–1951) ofGlarus, Switzerland, a leading designer of geodetic and astronomical instruments, began his career as an apprenticesurveyor. In 1908, having invented a military rangefinder and convincedZeiss to manufacture it, Wild moved to the city ofJena and became head of the new Zeiss branch responsible for surveying instruments, GEO.
Wild returned to Switzerland after the First World War.[4] On 26 April 1921, with Colonel Jacob Schmidheiny of Balgach and geologist Robert Helbling of Flums and with the help of Swiss financiers, he founded WILD Heerbrugg inHeerbrugg in theAlpine Rhine Valley.[5] In the early 1930s, having recognized that he was not cut out to be a factory manager, Wild moved toZürich, severed his connections with the firm in Heerbrugg, and designed instruments forKern & Co in Aarau. His old firm became Wild Heerbrugg in 1937.
It merged with the optical firm ofErnst Leitz ofWetzlar in 1987, acquired a majority interest in Kern in 1988, was renamedWild Leitz AG in 1989, and became part of the Leica holding company in 1990. Starting in 1996, the company was divided gradually into smaller units. Thus in 1996,Leica Camera AG was founded, followed in October 1997 byLeica Geosystems AG, and on 1 April 1998 byLeica Microsystems AG.
These three companies are independent public companies. Leica Geosystems produces, in continuation of Wild Heerbrugg, the geodetic instruments and is the global market leader in this section. The main customers of Leica Geosystems are surveyors, manufacturers andGIS companies.
In 2000 Leica Geosystems purchasedCyra Technologies, maker of the Cyrax laser 3D scanner line. In April 2001, Leica Geosystems acquired ERDAS, Inc., aremote sensing software firm, and LH Systems, a photogrammetric software firm (seeIMAGINE Photogrammetry). These two companies were merged into software company, ERDAS, Inc.[6] ERDAS purchased Acquis, ER Mapper and IONIC in 2007.[7][8] This expanded further ERDAS in the remote sensing market, let them enter the enterprise topological GIS market, and expanded their footprint in the image web serving and image enterprise market.
The Swedish companyHexagon AB purchased Leica Geosystems in late 2005.[9]
In October 2010, Intergraph was acquired by Hexagon AB. As part of the Hexagon acquisition, Hexagon moved ERDAS from under Leica Geosystems to Intergraph, and Z/I Imaging airborne imaging sensors from under Intergraph to Leica Geosystems.[citation needed]
In September 2011, Leica Geosystems Mining announced an exclusive industry partnership withLocata Corporation to provide the mining industry with the world’s only high precision radio positioning system that is not reliant on GPS.[10]
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