Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:



December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2011		2010
Land	$	19,845	$	21,534
Buildings	89,873		90,666
Machinery and equipment	437,320		438,965
Furniture and fixtures	13,663		13,774
Software	20,893		21,499
Construction in progress	14,595		11,609
Gross property, plant and equipment	596,189		598,047
Less accumulated depreciation	331,471		327,650
Net property, plant and equipment	$	264,718	$	270,397

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally 3 to 14 years for equipment and 10 to 40 years for buildings and improvements. Software consists of internally developed and purchased software packages for internal use. Capitalized costs include software packages, installation, and/or certain internal labor costs. These costs are generally amortized over a five-year period. Depreciation expense was $40.9 million, $39.8 million and $41.7 million for the years 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

During 2011, we wrote down unutilized fixed assets within our Glass Operations segment. The non-cash charge of $0.8 million was included in cost of sales on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

In 2010, we wrote down decorating assets in our Shreveport, Louisiana facility as a result of our decision to outsource our U.S. decorating business. A non-cash charge of $0.4 million was recorded in special charges on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. In addition, in 2010, we wrote down certain after-processing equipment within our Glass Operations segment that was no longer being used in our production process. A non-cash charge of $2.7 million was recorded in cost of sales on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. During 2011, we received a $1.0 million credit from the supplier of this equipment. Also in 2010, we recorded a $0.6 million reduction in the carrying value of our land at the Syracuse China manufacturing facility that was recorded in special charges on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. See note 7 for further discussion of these restructuring charges.

- 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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