Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Apr. 04, 2015	Mar. 29, 2014
Operating Activities:
Net Income Attributable to Kadant	$ 6,897us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 5,053us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	93	127
(Income) loss from discontinued operation	(65)	5
Income from continuing operations	6,925	5,185
Adjustments to reconcile income from continuing operations to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	2,910	3,045
Stock-based compensation expense	1,588us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation	1,395us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation
Provision for losses on accounts receivable	185us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts	85us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts
Gain on the sale of property, plant, and equipment	0	(96)
Other items, net	(1,523)	(197)
Contributions to pension plan	(270)us-gaap_PensionContributions	(270)us-gaap_PensionContributions
Changes in current assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions:
Accounts receivable	(5,247)	1,187
Unbilled contract costs and fees	1,817	2,065
Inventories	(7,660)us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories	312us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories
Other current assets	(1,908)	(813)
Accounts payable	375	(2,290)
Other current liabilities	(1,715)	(3,406)
Net cash (used in) provided by continuing operations	(4,523)	6,202
Net cash (used in) provided by discontinued operation	(41)	1
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(4,564)	6,203
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	(2,035)
Purchases of property, plant, and equipment	(1,216)	(539)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and equipment	5	139
Other, net	0	1
Net cash used in continuing operations for investing activities	(1,211)	(2,434)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of long-term obligations	10,000us-gaap_ProceedsFromIssuanceOfDebt	5,354us-gaap_ProceedsFromIssuanceOfDebt
Repayments of short-and long-term obligations	(5,111)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfDebt	(131)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfDebt
Purchases of Company common stock	0	(1,918)
Dividends paid	(1,630)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock	(1,389)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock
Proceeds from issuance of Company common stock	148	514
Other, net	687	683
Net cash provided by continuing operations for financing activities	4,094	3,113
Exchange Rate Effect on Cash and Cash Equivalents from Continuing Operations	(857)	110
(Decrease) Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents from Continuing Operations	(2,538)	6,992
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period	45,378	50,032
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	$ 42,840	$ 57,024

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Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.