Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment, including equipment acquired under capital lease obligations, are summarized as follows as of December 31, 2011 and 2010:



(in thousands)	Estimated useful life (in years)	2011			2010
Land	—	$	15,686		$	16,053
Buildings and improvements	1-40	275,529			232,946
Machinery and equipment	1-15	176,662			157,973
Computer software	1-10	65,344			53,948
Furniture and office equipment	1-15	76,809			75,030
Construction in progress	—	51,827			59,418
		661,857			595,368
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization		(290,065		)	(249,704		)
Property, plant and equipment, net		$	371,792		$	345,664

Amortization of assets acquired under capital lease obligations is included within accumulated depreciation and amortization above for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 depreciation and amortization expense totaled $57.0 million, $47.9 million and $42.0 million, respectively. Repairs and maintenance expense was $12.9 million, $11.8 million and $10.9 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, construction in progress includes amounts related to the construction of new facilities in Germany and the United States. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, interest capitalized in connection with construction projects was not significant.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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