Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:

December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2014		2013
Land	$	20,353	$	21,452
Buildings	97,485		89,734
Machinery and equipment	448,241		459,244
Furniture and fixtures	15,431		14,468
Software	19,950		20,490
Construction in progress	34,134		17,064
Gross property, plant and equipment	635,594		622,452
Less accumulated depreciation	357,616		356,790
Net property, plant and equipment	$	277,978	$	265,662

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 $39.1 million, $42.8 million and $40.3 million for the years 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

During 2013, we wrote down fixed assets within the Americas segment as a result of our decision to reduce manufacturing capacity at our Shreveport, Louisiana, manufacturing facility. A non-cash charge of $1.9 million was recorded in special charges on the Consolidated Statements of Operations to adjust certain machinery and equipment to the estimated fair market value. See note 7 for further discussion of these restructuring charges.