SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Trimble announced today that it has acquired privately-held IRON Solutions Inc. of Franklin, Tenn.

IRON Solutions provides market information, analytics-based intelligence and a cloud-based enterprise system to improve dealer and producer productivity. Coupled with Trimble's Connected Farm solution, IRON Solutions will enable improved real-time decisions for equipment fleets and more tightly link equipment, seed and chemical dealers to the grower through its ERP/CRM systems. Farmers, their equipment dealers and their agronomy advisors will now have one Connected Farm platform for collaboration on key investment and prescription decisions. IRON Solutions manages over 15 million data points annually from over 1,200 manufacturers and over 2,200 retail sources throughout North America.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Iron Solutions product portfolio includes:

  • Equipment purchase optimization through IRON Guides, which tracks prices of actual equipment sales transactions including specifications, options and adjustments for condition and hours of use; IRON Builder, which provides accurate and efficient pricing specifications that enable original equipment manufacturers to better manage product configuration and promotion for their dealers; and IRON Vector, advanced analytics for benchmarking and forecasting equipment values across a wide variety of specifications and economic conditions
  • Dealership operation optimization through IRON HQ, a cloud-based enterprise system for equipment dealers; and Precision HQ, a cloud-based enterprise system for agriculture technology dealers
  • Equipment resale optimization through IRON Search, a leading equipment sales networked-marketplace for growers and equipment dealerships, which draws over five million visitors each year.

For the Grower

IRON Search is a leading online marketplace and trusted source for new and used agricultural, industrial and outdoor power equipment. With it growers can locate, evaluate and buy equipment online. Growers can also list their equipment for sale for potential buyers to review within minutes. Using IRON Search in combination with the Connected Farm Field application, growers will be able to make more informed purchasing decisions, efficiently plan equipment turns and manage the fleet to the unique agronomic requirements of each farming operation. 

For the Equipment and Ag Technology Dealer

IRON Solutions is the publisher of the Official Guide of farm equipment, which is used widely across the industry as the trusted used equipment valuation guide for tractors, combines and now over 4,000 makes and models of equipment annually. IRON's suite of integrated market intelligence and enterprise systems enable sales, parts, service, finance and operations teams to collaborate and engage the grower in one mobile, cloud-based system. 

By utilizing IRON Solutions services with Connected Farm's fleet productivity and utilization applications dealers will be able to provide capabilities to the grower such as diagnostics in order to efficiently schedule machinery maintenance or optimizing the timing of the sale of equipment based on usage and market conditions. 

For the Agronomic Advisor

IRON Solutions and Connected Farm together provide seed, fertilizer, and chemical resellers a cloud-based ERP/CRM platform. This open flexible platform enables their agronomists and crop advisors to track and manage their customers' needs through varying farming prescriptions and growing cycle conditions. The platform also provides agronomists and crop advisors with access to a variety of tools such as the Connected Farm's Soil Information System solution, PurePixel Precision Vegetation Health solution and RainWave Contour Map.

"With the acquisition of IRON Solutions, Trimble is empowering our dealers with trusted technologies that employ best-in-class information, next generation enterprise services and market analytics," said Joe Denniston, vice president of Trimble's Agriculture Division. "The IRON Solutions information together with Connected Farm will provide growers with a critical element in understanding their equipment lifecycle, enabling them to more efficiently manage their fleets."

"We are excited to be joining Trimble at a time of increased collaboration between farmers, retailers and agronomists," said Darwin Melnyk, CEO of IRON Solutions. "Our farm equipment, dealer and industry domain knowledge, independence and trust combined with Trimble's leadership in agricultural technology can enable a farmer and their service provider to better drive efficiencies. In addition, by leveraging Trimble's global presence we will work to extend the reach of our HQ product lines."