Note 9 - Restructuring

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Restructuring and Related Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

9. Restructuring

During the period 2006 through 2009, the company announced closures of its facilities in Dundalk, Ireland, Irving, Texas, Des Plaines, Illinois, Elk Grove, Illinois, Matamoros, Mexico, Swindon, U.K., Dünsen, Germany, Utrecht, Netherlands, and Yangmei, Taiwan. These manufacturing and distribution center closures were part of a multi-year plan to improve the company’s cost structure and margins by rationalizing the company’s footprint, reducing labor costs and moving closer to customers. As of December 31, 2011, all of these facility closures have been completed except for Yangmei, Taiwan. Together, these initiatives have impacted approximately 946 employees and resulted in aggregate restructuring charges of $53.8 million through December 31, 2011. The company does not expect to incur any additional costs associated with these facility closures and related restructuring.

A summary of activity for the restructuring liability is as follows:

Littelfuse, Inc. restructuring (in thousands)
Balance at December 27, 2008	$	12,093
Additions		11,196
Payments		(12,472	)
Exchange rate impact		100
Balance at January 2, 2010		10,917
Additions		1,687
Payments		(8,732	)
Exchange rate impact		(107	)
Balance at January 1, 2011		3,765
Additions		594
Payments		(2,941	)
Exchange rate impact		23
Balance at December 31, 2011	$	1,441

Additional costs recorded that are not related to the initial restructuring plans discussed above were $0.4 million and $0.0 million for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2011, respectively.