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Business Segment Information (Policies) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Business Segment Information [Abstract] |
Segment Reporting Policy | The accounting standards for segment reporting establish standards for reporting information about operating segments in annual financial statements and require selected information for those segments to be presented in interim financial reports of public business enterprises. They also establish standards for related disclosures about products and services, geographic areas and major customers. The Company’s business activities, for which discrete financial information is available, are regularly reviewed and evaluated by the chief operating decision maker. As a result of this evaluation, the Company determined that it has two operating segments: Waters® and TA®. The Waters operating segment is primarily in the business of designing, manufacturing, distribut ing and servicing LC and MS instruments, columns and other precision chemistry consumables that can be integrated and used along with other analytical instruments. The TA operating segment is primarily in the business of designing, manufacturing, distribut ing and servicing thermal analysis, rheometry and calorimetry instruments. The Company’s two operating segments have similar economic characteristics; product processes; products and services; types and classes of customers; methods of distribution; and re gulatory environments. Because of these similarities, the two segments have been aggregated into one reporting segment for financial statement purposes.

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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for segment reporting. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84158767&loc=d3e18780-107790 + Details
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