Represents the increase (decrease) in income related to large power projects.

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Represents the increase (decrease) in revenue related to large power projects.

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Represents the number of countries in which the entity sells its products and services.

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The amount of expenses at the corporate level which are not otherwise separately disclosed and are not allocated to the reportable segments or other operating segments for reporting purposes.

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Represents the revenue recognized during the period using the percentage-of-completion method.

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Amount charged against earnings in the period for incurred and estimated costs associated with an exit from business activities or restructuring pursuant to a duly authorized plan, excluding asset retirement obligations. Such costs include charges associated with employee terminations, lease terminations, asset impairments, etc.

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Liability attributable to (i) billings in excess of costs under the percentage of completion contract accounting method representing the difference between contractually invoiced amounts (billings) and revenue recognized based, for example, on costs incurred to estimated total costs at period end or (ii) contractually invoiced amounts (billings) in excess of costs incurred and accumulated under the completed contract accounting method that are expected to be realized within one year or one operating cycle, whichever is longer, from the reporting date.

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Amount of receivable reflecting the cost incurred on uncompleted contracts in excess of related billings.

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The total amount of net periodic benefit cost for defined benefit plans for the period. Periodic benefit costs include the following components: service cost, interest cost, expected return on plan assets, gain (loss), prior service cost or credit, transition asset or obligation, and gain (loss) due to settlements or curtailments.

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The number of countries in which the entity operates as of balance sheet date.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

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Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

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The aggregate amount of noncash, equity-based employee remuneration. This may include the value of stock or unit options, amortization of restricted stock or units, and adjustment for officers' compensation. As noncash, this element is an add back when calculating net cash generated by operating activities using the indirect method.

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INFORMATION ON REPORTABLE SEGMENTS AND OTHER OPERATING SEGMENTS (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 28, 2015 segment	Mar. 29, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Business segment
Number of reportable segments	2us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 946.9us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	$ 1,077.1us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Revenues recognized under percentage of completion method	239.4	274.2
Income (loss):
Pension and postretirement expense	(1.3)	(19.8)
Stock-based compensation expense	(23.6)us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation	(24.7)us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation
Special charges, net	(6.6)spw_SpecialCharges	(10.0)spw_SpecialCharges
Operating income	14.8us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15.7us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Assets
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings	241.5		237.1
Liabilities
Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts reported as a component of accrued expenses	180.7us-gaap_BillingsInExcessOfCostCurrent		178.9us-gaap_BillingsInExcessOfCostCurrent
General corporate
Income (loss):
Corporate expense	(29.2)	(28.5)
Special charges, net		(0.6)
Reportable and other operating segments
Income (loss):
Operating income	75.5	98.7
Flow Technology Reportable Segment
Revenues:
Revenues	530.8	616.7
Income (loss):
Special charges, net	(3.8)	(8.9)
Flow Technology Reportable Segment \| Reportable and other operating segments
Income (loss):
Operating income	59.3	66.2
Thermal Equipment and Services reportable segment
Revenues:
Revenues	247.2	279.6
Income (loss):
Special charges, net	(2.3)	(0.1)
Thermal Equipment and Services reportable segment \| South Africa
Revenues:
Decline in revenue related to large power projects	15.0
Decline in income related to large power projects	8.0
Thermal Equipment and Services reportable segment \| Reportable and other operating segments
Income (loss):
Operating income	(2.8)	9.2
Industrial Products and Services and Other
Revenues:
Revenues	168.9	180.8
Income (loss):
Special charges, net	(0.5)	(0.4)
Industrial Products and Services and Other \| Reportable and other operating segments
Income (loss):
Operating income	$ 19.0	$ 23.3
Minimum
Business segment
Number of countries in which entity operates	35
Number of countries in which entity sells its products and services	150