Business Description (Details)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Reporting Segments Number	3
Entity Number of Employees	19,600
Manufacturing Facilities Number	74

Represents the number of manufacturing facilities held by the entity.

No definition available.

Name:	bms_ManufacturingFacilitiesNumber
Namespace Prefix:	bms_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration