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 |