BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Revenue is recognized when obligations under the terms of a contract are satisfied and control is transferred to the customer. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for goods or services. The Company recognizes any discounts, credits, returns, rebates and incentive programs based on reasonable estimates as a reduction of sales to arrive at Net sales at the same time the related revenue is recorded. Taxes collected by the Company, including sales tax and value add tax, are excluded from Net sales. The Company recognizes freight billed as a component of Net sales and shipping costs as a component of Cost of goods sold when control transfers to the customer. Sales commissions are expensed when incurred because the amortization period is generally one year or less. These costs are recorded within Selling, general and administrative expenses in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company’s payment terms vary by the type and location of the customer and the products or services offered. The Company does not offer any payment terms that would meet the requirements for consideration as a financing component under Topic 606.

Segments

The Company's business units are aligned into three operating segments. The operating segments consist of Americas Welding, International Welding and The Harris Products Group. The Americas Welding segment includes welding operations in North and South America. The International Welding segment includes welding operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Harris Products Group includes the Company’s global cutting, soldering and brazing businesses as well as its retail business in the United States.

Segment performance is measured and resources are allocated based on a number of factors, the primary profit measure being adjusted earnings before interest and income taxes (“Adjusted EBIT”). EBIT is defined as Operating income plus Other income (expense). EBIT is adjusted for special items as determined by management such as the impact of rationalization activities, certain asset impairment charges and gains or losses on disposals of assets.

Financial Instruments

The Company uses derivative instruments to manage exposures to currency exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices arising in the normal course of business. Both at inception and on an ongoing basis, the derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting are assessed as to their effectiveness, when applicable. Hedge ineffectiveness was immaterial in the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017.

The Company is subject to the credit risk of the counterparties to derivative instruments. Counterparties include a number of major banks and financial institutions. None of the concentrations of risk with any individual counterparty was considered significant at June 30, 2018. The Company does not expect any counterparties to fail to meet their obligations.

Cash Flow Hedges

Certain foreign currency forward contracts were qualified and designated as cash flow hedges. The dollar equivalent gross notional amount of these short-term contracts was $55,468 at June 30, 2018 and $35,489 at December 31, 2017.

Fair Value Hedges

Certain interest rate swap agreements were qualified and designated as fair value hedges. At June 30, 2018, the Company had interest rate swap agreements outstanding that effectively convert notional amounts of $125,000 of debt from a fixed interest rate to a variable interest rate based on three-month LIBOR plus a spread of between 0.5% and 1.8%. The variable rates reset every three months, at which time payment or receipt of interest will be settled.

Net Investment Hedges

The Company has foreign currency forward contracts that qualify and are designated as net investment hedges. The dollar equivalent gross notional amount of these short-term contracts was $48,686 at June 30, 2018. The effective portions of the fair value gains or losses on these net investment hedges are recognized in AOCI and subsequently reclassified to Selling, general and administrative expenses, as the underlying hedged investment is liquidated.

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments

The Company has certain foreign exchange forward contracts that are not designated as hedges. These derivatives are held as economic hedges of certain balance sheet exposures. The dollar equivalent gross notional amount of these contracts was $317,311 at June 30, 2018 and $340,884 at December 31, 2017.

NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The following ASUs were adopted as of January 1, 2018 and did not have a significant financial impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements unless otherwise described within the table below:



Standard	Description
ASU No. 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, issued August 2017.	ASU 2017-12 provides updated guidance to more closely align hedge accounting with a company's risk management strategy, to simplify the application of hedge accounting and to better portray the economic results of hedging instruments in the financial statements. The Company early adopted the ASU on January 1, 2018.
ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Period Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, issued March 2017.	ASU 2017-07 requires an entity to report the service cost component of the net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other employee compensation costs. The other components of the net periodic benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside of any subtotal of operating income. Additionally, only the service cost component will be eligible for capitalization in assets. The impact of the adoption resulted in the reclassification of the other components of net periodic benefit cost from Cost of goods sold and Selling, general & administrative expenses to Other periodic pension income. The reclassification resulted in a decrease in Operating income of $2,069 as a result of an increase in Cost of goods sold of $1,177 and an increase in Selling, general & administrative expenses of $892 for the three months ended June 30, 2017. The reclassification resulted in a decrease in Operating income of $4,148 as a result of an increase in Cost of goods sold of $2,370 and an increase in Selling, general & administrative expenses of $1,778 for the six months ended June 30, 2017. Refer to Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements for details.



Standard	Description
ASU No. 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business, issued January 2017.	ASU 2017-01 provides updated guidance for evaluating whether certain transactions should be accounted for as an acquisition (or disposal) of an asset or a business.
ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows(Topic 230): Restricted Cash, issued November 2016.	ASU 2016-18 requires amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows.
ASU No. 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, issued October 2016.	ASU 2016-16 requires an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs.
ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, issued August 2016.	ASU 2016-15 reduces existing diversity in practice by addressing eight specific cash flow issues related to how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows.
ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) issued May 2014 and ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date, issued August 2015.	ASU 2014-09 requires an entity to recognize revenue in a manner that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard also specifies the accounting of some costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer and expands the disclosure requirements around contracts with customers. ASU 2015-14 deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted ASU 2014-09 as of January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective transition method applied to those contracts that were not completed as of that date. The adoption did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. Refer to Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements for further details.

The Company is currently evaluating the impact on its financial statements of the following ASUs:



Standard	Description
ASU No. 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), issued February 2018.	ASU 2018-02 allows a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the U.S. Tax Act (as defined within Note 14 to the consolidated financial statements). The ASU only applies to the income tax effects of the U.S. Tax Act, all other existing guidance remains the same. The ASU is effective January 1, 2019, early adoption is permitted and the ASU should be applied retrospectively to each period impacted by the U.S. Tax Act.
ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), issued February 2016 and ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases, issued July 2018.	ASU 2016-02 aims to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and requiring disclosure of key information about leasing agreements. ASU 2018-10 provides narrow amendments to clarify how to apply certain aspects of the new lease standard. Entities are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. The modified retrospective approach includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply. The ASU is effective January 1, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company has established a cross-functional team to implement the ASU and is in the process of determining the scope of impact and use of practical expedients, gathering data on all leases and designing a new system solution. The Company is also evaluating its processes and internal controls to meet the ASU’s accounting, reporting and disclosure requirements. While the Company has not yet completed its evaluation of the ASU’s impact, the Company expects to recognize a right of use asset and a corresponding liability on the Consolidated Balance Sheets related to substantially all operating lease arrangements.