Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:



December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2012		2011
Land	$	20,168	$	19,845
Buildings	86,498		89,873
Machinery and equipment	449,805		437,320
Furniture and fixtures	13,662		13,663
Software	19,987		20,893
Construction in progress	21,308		14,595
Gross property, plant and equipment	611,428		596,189
Less accumulated depreciation	353,274		331,471
Net property, plant and equipment	$	258,154	$	264,718

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 furnishings 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 $40.3 million, $40.9 million and $39.8 million for the years 2012, 2011 and 2010, 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.

+ References+ Details