Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

6. Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following (in thousands):


	August 31,
	2014		2013
Land and improvements	$	101,754	$	109,348
Buildings		736,853		657,497
Leasehold improvements		410,212		348,572
Machinery and equipment		2,152,828		2,175,526
Furniture, fixtures and office equipment		124,297		121,190
Computer hardware and software		461,239		435,428
Transportation equipment		20,598		20,822
Construction in progress		187,674		144,572

		4,195,455		4,012,955
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization		1,923,750		1,703,635

	$	2,271,705	$	2,309,320

Depreciation expense of approximately $461.3 million, $382.6 million and $319.2 million was recorded for fiscal years 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Maintenance and repair expense was approximately $158.7 million, $153.8 million and $115.5 million for fiscal years 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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