Steven W. Berglund
Analyst · Jonathan Ho
Yes. So I think building construction is pretty much -- well, in the first instance, the first order effect is the fact that commercial and residential construction is showing a pulse rate these days, whereas for a few years it didn't show any pulse rate. So I think that drives that. Now in survey, I think earlier this year, I think we were attributing kind of flattish to even down sales to survey instruments. I would say that was the pertubation, and we're kind of returning to some level of normalcy in spite of government spending levels. If that got fixed, I think we'd see a significant upside. I think the theory on survey instruments is that, if you will, is the market has really never kind of found its feet if you talk to surveyors out doing work for construction companies or for government agencies or cadastral surveyors doing one thing or the other. I think the market has been comparatively muted really since the 2008 collapse. And so if you look at it, surveyors out there, practicing surveyors, are probably 2 or 3 generations behind from a technology standpoint. They've been making do with old technology. And the model here would be -- the market model here would be; that if they start to see any pickup in activity, they're going to start to look at, okay, either hiring another person, talking about a small survey services firm or putting in -- updating their technology, getting the productivity improvements and potentially avoiding hiring the person. That is, I think, the magic moment. I don't necessarily know that we're truly at that point yet, but I think some of those dynamics are starting to work is that there -- the industry is, I think, significantly behind overall in terms of applying technology, and we may be seeing that. And I'd say the other thing in survey is the fact that, for example, at our INTERGEO show with Germany earlier in October, we made a number of meaningful product introductions. In fact, we created a whole new category of product there. And I think our products will lift that. So heavy civil, we're basically kind of pegging as kind of steady as she goes kind of similar to 2013. Survey, we're looking for a step up. The building construction stuff, we're expecting a step up both because of the market and the fact that we got an increasingly attractive portfolio and can start selling in a way that we haven't had historically. Then there's ag. There's GIS, which we're assuming to be flat. And then mobile, we're basically kind of -- so yes, the reported numbers will -- growth rate will drop, but apparently maybe less of a drop than people are anticipating. So those are, I think, are the large drivers. So it's -- we're not naming a number. It's directional, but I think it's -- I think the facts support the directional guidance.