Sales - Disaggregation of Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 28, 2018	Jun. 29, 2018	Mar. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 29, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales	$ 1,757.5	$ 1,601.2	$ 1,601.8	$ 1,492.2	$ 1,577.9	$ 1,460.6	$ 1,399.5	$ 1,318.1	$ 6,452.7	$ 5,756.1	$ 5,378.2
Retail fueling
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,777.5	1,637.8	1,552.5
Industrial & Manufacturing
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									445.1	314.9	358.1
Vehicle repair
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									581.5	569.3	619.4
Utilities & Power
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									172.3	228.2	136.5
Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,720.3	1,442.8	1,315.9
Total direct sales
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									4,696.7	4,193.0	3,982.4
Distributors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,756.0	1,563.1	1,395.8
Total distributors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									3,136.8	2,877.8	2,620.4
Products
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									5,755.0	5,173.3	4,814.0
Services
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									697.7	582.8	564.2
Professional tools and equipment
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									4,989.7	4,352.7	4,017.1
Industrial automation, controls and sensors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									541.0	510.3	474.9
Franchise distribution
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									640.0	626.2	618.2
All other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									282.0	266.9	268.0
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									3,655.1	3,139.1	2,891.6
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Retail fueling
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									0.0	0.0	0.0
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Industrial & Manufacturing
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									384.5	265.8	304.2
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Vehicle repair
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									0.0	0.0	0.0
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Utilities & Power
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									171.0	227.3	135.3
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,411.7	1,145.0	1,116.8
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Total direct sales
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,967.2	1,638.1	1,556.3
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Distributors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,687.9	1,501.0	1,335.3
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Products
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									3,215.2	2,813.2	2,572.8
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Services
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									439.9	325.9	318.8
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Professional tools and equipment
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,962.1	2,480.1	2,252.8
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Industrial automation, controls and sensors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									411.0	392.1	370.8
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | Franchise distribution
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									0.0	0.0	0.0
Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments | All other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									282.0	266.9	268.0
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,797.6	2,617.0	2,486.6
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Retail fueling
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,777.5	1,637.8	1,552.5
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Industrial & Manufacturing
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									60.6	49.1	53.9
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Vehicle repair
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									581.5	569.3	619.4
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Utilities & Power
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1.3	0.9	1.2
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									308.6	297.8	199.1
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Total direct sales
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,729.5	2,554.9	2,426.1
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Distributors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									68.1	62.1	60.5
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Products
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,539.8	2,360.1	2,241.2
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Services
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									257.8	256.9	245.4
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Professional tools and equipment
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,027.6	1,872.6	1,764.3
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Industrial automation, controls and sensors
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									130.0	118.2	104.1
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | Franchise distribution
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									640.0	626.2	618.2
Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments | All other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									0.0	0.0	0.0
United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									3,539.6	3,148.7	3,010.1
United States | Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,829.6	1,486.0	1,390.9
United States | Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,710.0	1,662.7	1,619.2
China
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									569.0	498.4	458.9
China | Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									459.5	416.7	387.6
China | Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									109.5	81.7	71.3
Germany
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									234.7	217.2	180.7
Germany | Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									138.7	128.7	123.9
Germany | Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									96.0	88.5	56.8
All other (each country individually less than 5% of total sales)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									2,109.4	1,891.8	1,728.5
All other (each country individually less than 5% of total sales) | Professional Instrumentation | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									1,227.3	1,107.7	989.2
All other (each country individually less than 5% of total sales) | Industrial Technologies | Operating Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales									$ 882.1	$ 784.1	$ 739.3