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Proceed with caution were the words used in the outlook last year for the upcoming 2012 year. Proceeding with caution resulted in stabilizing the company and the grip on the markets. The strong growth of the previous years flattened to a level of approximately 5. Plans were developed for further expansion however the need for improving and stabilizing the organization was the first priority. The market has changed with growing competition and different demands from our industrial mainly solar energy related customers. Kipp and Zonen has invested in both staff and manufacturing equipment. The traditional solar countries France Spain and Italy slowed down due to various reasons such as economic crisis and change in government policies in funding the feed back tariffs. Other upcoming countries such as Turkey South Africa Central and South America could compensate for this slow down. The market in the US remained very strong and continued with a growth rate similar to previous years. The marketing and sales department expanded with three business managers to cover the various regions in the world better and closer. We have decided to upgrade our sales offices to regional support centers with calibration facilities. This will dramatically reduce the down time of a sensor due to the necessary calibration cycles. The next step is to build up regional inventory for supporting the local customers quicker. With this investment in staff and equipment we can expand and control our markets better and more efficiently. The Smart Interface introduction in 2011 for the Pyranometers was continued in 2012 with the introduction of the Smart Pyrheliometer. Eventually all major sensors will be equipped with a Smart Interface. The interface is not only successful in the industrial market for which it was originally designed but now also in the market of classic meteorology. The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute KNMI has acquired the Smart Interface for the complete Dutch network of pryranometers. This will reduce the cost of data logging tremendously and the design of the network data transmission system is significantly simpler. In 2012 Kipp Zonen launched the new version of the Large Aperture Scintillometer LAS MKII. The instrument was completely redesigned meeting the latest technical requirements such as built in data logging facilities. Integrating the LAS in a complete station for evapotranspiration assessment has never been so easy. The sensor for measuring photosynthetically active radiation the PQS 1 has been proven the best sensor available on the market and is sold in large quantities. Kipp Zonen has made a real breakthrough in the agro meteorological market with this sensor. In 2013 Kipp Zonen is planning to invest in new RD projects multilingual web sites and specific markets such as China India Central and South America. At the moment of writing the economic outlook is diversified for the different areas of the world. Europe will be stable growth will come from the Americas and Asia. Ben Dieterink 9 PIC INVESTMENT GROUP INC.