PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment consist of the following:



	2012			2011
Land	$	48,607		$	51,588
Buildings and improvements	488,463			521,419
Machinery and equipment	745,615			835,013
Information technology hardware & software	229,438			202,574
Furniture and fixtures	96,595			94,965
	1,608,718			1,705,559
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(857,725		)	(910,960		)
	$	750,993		$	794,599

Depreciation expense from continuing operations for property, plant and equipment for fiscal years 2012, 2011 and 2010 was $82,852, $75,283 and $72,109, respectively. These amounts exclude $7,536, $9,178 and $9,752 for depreciation expense related to the discontinued operations for fiscal years 2012, 2011 and 2010. With reference to the disclosures in Note 19, Discontinued Operations, the amounts of property, plant and equipment as of July 31, 2012 exclude those assets classified as held for sale of $75,506.

- 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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