INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of income before income tax expense

Income before income tax expense consists of the following (in thousands):

	2014		2013		2012
U.S. operations	$	61,353	$	32,328	$	63,049
Foreign operations	14,397		6,574		18,858
Total	$	75,750	$	38,902	$	81,907

Schedule of income tax expense

Income tax expense is comprised of the following (in thousands):

	2014			2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	20,154		$	6,665		$	18,708
State	4,472			1,903			3,347
Foreign	4,808			3,621			3,936
Total current	29,434			12,189			25,991
Deferred:
Federal	(1,315		)	4,135			2,934
State	753			607			608
Foreign	293			(1,213		)	851
Total deferred	(269		)	3,529			4,393
Income tax expense	$	29,165		$	15,718		$	30,384

Schedule of tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to the deferred tax assets and liabilities

The following table sets forth the tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to the deferred tax assets and liabilities (in thousands):

	December 31, 2014			December 31, 2013
Deferred tax assets
Accounts receivable, principally due to allowance for doubtful accounts	$	2,750		$	2,127
Inventories	3,883			3,649
Net operating loss carryforwards	8,626			8,817
Accrued pension	27,598			3,136
Stock-based compensation	5,794			7,347
Compensation-related accruals	4,218			3,364
Warranty	2,893			2,880
Obligation for postretirement benefits other than pension	3,706			3,770
Accrued liabilities and other items	9,247			7,956
Gross deferred tax assets	68,715			43,046
Valuation allowance	(7,901		)	(8,991		)
Net deferred tax assets	60,814			34,055
Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangibles	86,464			82,837
Plant and equipment	22,685			16,245
Gross deferred tax liabilities	109,149			99,082
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(48,335	)	$	(65,027	)

Schedule of reconciliation of statutory federal income tax rate to the effective income tax rate

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the effective income tax rate:

	2014		2013		2012
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) in the tax rate resulting from:
State taxes, net of federal effect	3.5	%	3.7	%	3.3	%
Effect of tax rates of other countries	(0.4	)%	0.2	%	(0.5	)%
Section 199 deduction	(1.2	)%	(1.7	)%	(1.5	)%
Change in Contingency Reserve	0.7	%	2.0	%	(1.8	)%
Limitation on deduction of Officer’s compensation	1.5	%	2.6	%	1.7	%
Other	(0.6	)%	(1.4	)%	0.9	%
Effective tax rate	38.5	%	40.4	%	37.1	%

Summarizes the activity related to the entity's unrecognized tax benefits

The following table summarizes the activity related to our unrecognized tax benefits during 2014, 2013, and 2012 (in thousands):

	2014			2013			2012
Balance, beginning of the year	$	4,611		$	4,039		$	4,930
Additions for tax position related to the current year	125			691			125
Additions for tax position related to the prior year	350			—			191
Decreases for tax position related to the prior year	—			—			(1,207		)
Prior year reductions
Lapse of statute of limitations	(164		)	(119		)	—
Change in exchange rate	—			—			—
Balance, end of the year	$	4,922		$	4,611		$	4,039