Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Jan. 03, 2015	Dec. 28, 2013	Dec. 29, 2012
Net Sales	$ 3,257.1us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	$ 3,095.7us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	$ 3,166.9us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
Cost of Sales	2,459.8us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	2,312.5us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	2,395.9us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold
Gross Profit	797.3us-gaap_GrossProfit	783.2us-gaap_GrossProfit	771.0us-gaap_GrossProfit
Operating Expenses	516.3us-gaap_OperatingExpenses	494.2us-gaap_OperatingExpenses	458.2us-gaap_OperatingExpenses
Goodwill Impairment	119.5us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	76.3us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Asset Impairments and Other, Net	40.0us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges	4.7us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges	0us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges
Operating Costs and Expenses	675.8us-gaap_OperatingCostsAndExpenses	575.2us-gaap_OperatingCostsAndExpenses	458.2us-gaap_OperatingCostsAndExpenses
Income From Operations	121.5us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	208.0us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	312.8us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest Expense	39.1us-gaap_InterestExpense	42.4us-gaap_InterestExpense	44.5us-gaap_InterestExpense
Interest Income	7.9us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest	4.9us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest	1.6us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest
Income Before Taxes	90.3	170.5	269.9
Provision For Income Taxes	54.2us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	44.5us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	69.6us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net Income	36.1us-gaap_ProfitLoss	126.0us-gaap_ProfitLoss	200.3us-gaap_ProfitLoss
Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests, net of tax	5.1	6.0	4.7
Net Income Attributable to Regal Beloit Corporation	$ 31.0us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 120.0us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 195.6us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Earning Per Share Attributable to Regal Beloit Corporation:
Basic	$ 0.69us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 2.66us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 4.68us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Earnings Per Share, Diluted	$ 0.69us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 2.64us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 4.64us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding:
Basic	45.0	45.0	41.8
Assuming Dilution	45.3	45.4	42.1

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