BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands						3 Months Ended														6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Sep. 01, 2015	Apr. 01, 2015	May. 01, 2014	Jan. 02, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	[1]	Jun. 30, 2015	[1]	Mar. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	[1]	Jun. 30, 2014	[1]	Mar. 31, 2014	[1]	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Maximum period of information after acquisition date for revision in estimates																					1 year
Goodwill on acquisition						$ 197,362							$ 253,312							$ 197,362	$ 197,362	$ 253,312	$ 188,110
Impairment charges						9,800	$ 58,900		$ 0		$ 0	[1]	117,600	$ 0		$ 0		$ 0			67,663	117,569
Deferred tax liability						600							16,000							600	600	16,000
Acquisition related costs																					7,348	0	0
Business Acquired during 2014 and 2015 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Sales from business acquisitions																					9,100	171,100
Earnings (loss) before taxes and impairment from business acquisitions																					200	(91,500)
Impairment charges																					67,700
Tool Supply, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price			$ 5,000
Goodwill on acquisition											2,900
Intangible assets on acquisition											$ 2,000
Purchase price allocation [Abstract]
Cash						0														0	0
Accounts Receivable, net						442														442	442
Inventory						475														475	475
Property and equipment						42														42	42
Goodwill and intangibles	[2]					4,929														4,929	4,929
Other assets						100														100	100
Assets acquired						5,988														5,988	5,988
Current liabilities assumed						(335)														(335)	(335)
Non-current liabilities assumed	[3]					(653)														(653)	(653)
Net assets acquired						5,000														5,000	5,000
Cortech Engineering, LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price		$ 14,900
Purchase price financed under common stock issued		$ 4,400
Number of shares issued on acquisition (in shares)		148,800,000
Goodwill on acquisition		$ 8,800
Intangible assets on acquisition		$ 5,200
Nontax deductible goodwill or intangible assets					$ 4,500
Purchase price allocation [Abstract]
Cash						0														0	0
Accounts Receivable, net						2,293														2,293	2,293
Inventory						1,243														1,243	1,243
Property and equipment						253														253	253
Goodwill and intangibles	[2]					14,048														14,048	14,048
Other assets						21														21	21
Assets acquired						17,858														17,858	17,858
Current liabilities assumed						(2,610)														(2,610)	(2,610)
Non-current liabilities assumed	[3]					(349)														(349)	(349)
Net assets acquired						14,899														14,899	$ 14,899
B27, LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price					304,900
Transaction cost					1,000
Purchase price financed under common stock issued					$ 4,000
Number of shares issued on acquisition (in shares)					36,000
Goodwill on acquisition					$ 178,300
Intangible assets on acquisition					81,100
Nontax deductible goodwill or intangible assets					$ 154,600
Discount rate for valuation of acquired intangibles																					13.50%
Impairment charges													105,300							67,700
Expected payment to resolve working capital dispute																						11,300
Acquisition related costs																						7,300
Required payment tax refund						4,000														$ 4,000	$ 4,000
Federal portion of refund received						$ 3,600
Purchase price allocation [Abstract]
Cash													2,538									2,538
Accounts Receivable, net													51,448									51,448
Inventory													6,472									6,472
Property and equipment													14,573									14,573
Goodwill and intangibles	[2]												259,412									259,412
Other assets													1,791									1,791
Assets acquired													336,234									336,234
Current liabilities assumed													(26,690)									(26,690)
Non-current liabilities assumed	[3]												(15,992)									(15,992)
Net assets acquired													293,552									293,552
Machinery Tooling and Supply LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price				$ 14,600
Goodwill on acquisition				4,300
Intangible assets on acquisition				$ 4,100
Purchase price allocation [Abstract]
Cash													806									806
Accounts Receivable, net													5,656									5,656
Inventory													2,522									2,522
Property and equipment													557									557
Goodwill and intangibles	[2]												8,405									8,405
Other assets													59									59
Assets acquired													18,005									18,005
Current liabilities assumed													(3,336)									(3,336)
Non-current liabilities assumed	[3]												0									0
Net assets acquired													$ 14,669									14,669
Units Acquired in 2013 and 2014 [Member]
Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Net sales																					1,263,000	1,541,000
Net income (loss)																					$ (37,000)	$ (44,000)
Per share data [Abstract]
Basic earnings (loss) (in dollars per share)																					$ (2.60)	$ (2.99)
Diluted earnings (loss) (in dollars per share)																					$ (2.60)	$ (2.99)
Units Acquired in 2012 and 2013 [Member]
Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Net sales																						$ 1,513,000	1,496,000
Net income (loss)																						$ (45,000)	$ 71,000
Per share data [Abstract]
Basic earnings (loss) (in dollars per share)																						$ (3.08)	$ 4.90
Diluted earnings (loss) (in dollars per share)																						$ (3.08)	$ 4.64

[1] During the fourth quarter of 2014, DXP finalized its purchase accounting for customer relationships for the acquisition of B27 and amortized the customer relationships on an accelerated basis. The revision increased amortization expense by $1.0 million per quarter.

[2] The amounts in the table above have not been reduced by the $105.3 million, or the $67.7 million, of goodwill impairment charges for B27 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the second half of 2015, respectively.

[3] Includes deferred tax liability of $0.6 million and $16.0 million related to intangible assets acquired for 2015 and 2014, respectively.