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Commitments and Contingencies (Text Block) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies [Text Block] | Commitments and Contingencies Commitments Operating lease rental expense for factories, service and distribution locations, offices, and equipment was as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015
| (in thousands)
Rental expense | $ | 14,824 |  |  | $ | 14,232 |  |  | $ | 15,524 |
Future minimum lease payments at December 31, 2017, under noncancelable operating leases with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year are as follows:
Year Ending December 31, |  | Minimum Payments
|  | (in thousands)
2018 |  | $ | 15,353 |
2019 |  | 10,274 |
2020 |  | 6,556 |
2021 |  | 3,732 |
2022 |  | 2,888 |
Beyond 2022 |  | 9,799 |
Future minimum lease payments |  | $ | 48,602 |
Rent expense is recognized straight-line over the lease term, including renewal periods if reasonably assured. We lease most of our sales and distribution locations and administrative offices. Our leases typically contain renewal options similar to the original terms with lease payments that increase based on an index. Guarantees and Indemnifications We are often required to obtain standby letters of credit (LOCs) or bonds in support of our obligations for customer contracts. These standby LOCs or bonds typically provide a guarantee to the customer for future performance, which usually covers the installation phase of a contract and may, on occasion, cover the operations and maintenance phase of outsourcing contracts. Our available lines of credit, outstanding standby LOCs, and bonds are as follows:
| At December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016
| (in thousands)
Credit facilities(1) |  |  |
Multicurrency revolving line of credit | $ | 500,000 |  |  | $ | 500,000 |
Long-term borrowings | (125,414 | ) |  | (97,167 | )
Standby LOCs issued and outstanding | (31,881 | ) |  | (46,103 | )
Net available for additional borrowings under the multi-currency revolving line of credit | $ | 342,705 |  |  | $ | 356,730 |
Net available for additional standby LOCs under sub-facility | 218,119 |  |  | 203,897 |
Unsecured multicurrency revolving lines of credit with various financial institutions |  |  |
Multicurrency revolving line of credit | $ | 110,477 |  |  | $ | 91,809 |
Standby LOCs issued and outstanding | (21,030 | ) |  | (21,734 | )
Short-term borrowings(2) | (916 | ) |  | (69 | )
Net available for additional borrowings and LOCs | $ | 88,531 |  |  | $ | 70,006 |
Unsecured surety bonds in force | $ | 51,344 |  |  | $ | 48,221 |
(1) | Refer to Note 6 and Note 19 for details regarding our secured credit facilities, including the refinancing of the 2015 credit facility.
(2) | Short-term borrowings are included in “Other current liabilities” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
In the event any such standby LOC or bond is called, we would be obligated to reimburse the issuer of the standby LOC or bond; however, we do not believe that any outstanding LOC or bond will be called. We generally provide an indemnification related to the infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property right on software or equipment within our sales contracts, which indemnifies the customer from and pays the resulting costs, damages, and attorney’s fees awarded against a customer with respect to such a claim provided that (a) the customer promptly notifies us in writing of the claim and (b) we have the sole control of the defense and all related settlement negotiations. We may also provide an indemnification to our customers for third party claims resulting from damages caused by the negligence or willful misconduct of our employees/agents in connection with the performance of certain contracts. The terms of our indemnifications generally do not limit the maximum potential payments. It is not possible to predict the maximum potential amount of future payments under these or similar agreements. Legal Matters We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims of which the outcomes are subject to significant uncertainty. Our policy is to assess the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes related to legal matters, as well as ranges of probable losses. A determination of the amount of the liability required, if any, for these contingencies is made after an analysis of each known issue. A liability is recognized and charged to operating expense when we determine that a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Additionally, we disclose contingencies for which a material loss is reasonably possible, but not probable. Warranty A summary of the warranty accrual account activity is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016
| (in thousands)
Beginning balance | $ | 43,302 |  |  | $ | 54,512 |
New product warranties | 7,849 |  |  | 7,987 |
Other adjustments and expirations | (393 | ) |  | 5,933 |
Claims activity | (18,094 | ) |  | (24,364 | )
Effect of change in exchange rates | 2,198 |  |  | (766 | )
Ending balance | 34,862 |  |  | 43,302 |
Less: current portion of warranty | 21,150 |  |  | 24,874 |
Long-term warranty | $ | 13,712 |  |  | $ | 18,428 |
Total warranty expense is classified within cost of revenues and consists of new product warranties issued, costs related to extended warranty contracts, insurance and supplier recoveries, and other changes and adjustments to warranties. Warranty expense was as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015
| (in thousands)
Total warranty expense | $ | (2,054 | ) |  | $ | 13,920 |  |  | $ | 45,984 |
Warranty expense during the year ended December 31, 2015 included a $29.4 million special warranty provision. During the second quarter of 2015, we concluded it was necessary to issue a product replacement notification to customers of our Water segment who had purchased certain communication modules manufactured between July 2013 and December 2014. We determined that a component of the modules was failing prematurely. Warranty expense decreased during the year ended December 31, 2017 compared with the same period in 2016 primarily due to an insurance recovery of $8.0 million associated with our 2015 product replacement provision. Extended Warranty A summary of changes to unearned revenue for extended warranty contracts is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016
| (in thousands)
Beginning balance | $ | 31,549 |  |  | $ | 33,654 |
Unearned revenue for new extended warranties | 1,186 |  |  | 1,437 |
Unearned revenue recognized | (4,247 | ) |  | (3,594 | )
Effect of change in exchange rates | 154 |  |  | 52 |
Ending balance | 28,642 |  |  | 31,549 |
Less: current portion of unearned revenue for extended warranty | 4,220 |  |  | 4,226 |
Long-term unearned revenue for extended warranty within other long-term obligations | $ | 24,422 |  |  | $ | 27,323 |
Health Benefits We are self insured for a substantial portion of the cost of our U.S. employee group health insurance. We purchase insurance from a third party, which provides individual and aggregate stop loss protection for these costs. Each reporting period, we expense the costs of our health insurance plan including paid claims, the change in the estimate of incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims, taxes, and administrative fees (collectively, the plan costs). Plan costs were as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015
| (in thousands)
Plan costs | $ | 30,521 |  |  | $ | 27,276 |  |  | $ | 25,355 |
IBNR accrual, which is included in wages and benefits payable, was as follows:
| At December 31,
| 2017 |  | 2016
| (in thousands)
IBNR accrual | $ | 2,664 |  |  | $ | 2,441 |
Our IBNR accrual and expenses may fluctuate due to the number of plan participants, claims activity, and deductible limits. For our employees located outside of the United States, health benefits are provided primarily through governmental social plans, which are funded through employee and employer tax withholdings.

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