Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards Impact of recently issued accounting standards table (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended							9 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
		Sep. 29, 2018		Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017		Jul. 01, 2017	Apr. 01, 2017	Sep. 29, 2018		Sep. 30, 2017		Dec. 31, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Sales		$ 7,490,445	[1]	$ 7,539,449	$ 6,856,108	[1]	$ 6,422,226	$ 5,736,780	$ 21,758,586	[1]	$ 19,015,114	[1]	$ 26,554,563
Cost of sales		6,566,667		6,610,269	6,013,541		5,598,202	4,975,583	19,033,044		16,587,326		23,197,595
Gross profit		923,778			842,567				2,725,542		2,427,788
Selling, general, and administrative expenses		575,751			552,656				1,719,108		1,599,963
Depreciation and amortization		45,532			38,574				139,201		113,096
Restructuring, integration, and other charges		10,143			15,896				50,497		55,817
Costs and Expenses		633,468			607,126				1,912,410		1,768,876
Operating income		290,310		286,824	235,441		230,446	193,025	813,132		658,912		945,736
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliated companies		(652)			1,216				(808)		2,865
Gain (loss) on investments, net		1,070			(13,029)				(3,945)		(8,784)
Loss on extinguishment of debt		0			786				0		59,545
Employee benefit plan expense		1,296			1,850				3,784		5,547
Interest and other financing expense, net		54,205			40,111				160,187		120,898
Income before income taxes		235,227			180,881				644,408		467,003
Provision for income taxes		57,054			45,972				155,325		115,128
Consolidated net income		178,173			134,909				489,083		351,875
Noncontrolling interests		1,640			845				3,541		3,352
Net income attributable to shareholders		$ 176,533		53,653	$ 134,064		99,722	114,737	$ 485,542		$ 348,523		402,176
Basic		$ 2.02			$ 1.52				$ 5.53		$ 3.92
Diluted	[2]	$ 1.99			$ 1.50				$ 5.47		$ 3.88
Defined Benefit Plan, Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Credit), Gain (Loss) Due to Settlement													16,706
Accounting standards update 2018-02 [Member]
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Reclassification to retained earnings									$ 4,116
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member]
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Sales				7,633,870	$ 6,953,740		6,465,346	5,759,552			$ 19,178,638		26,812,508
Cost of sales				6,703,742	6,110,382		5,641,380	4,999,665			16,751,427		23,455,169
Gross profit					843,358						2,427,211
Selling, general, and administrative expenses					552,896						1,600,762
Depreciation and amortization					38,574						113,096
Restructuring, integration, and other charges					15,896						55,817
Costs and Expenses					607,366						1,769,675
Operating income				270,914	235,992		229,822	191,722			657,536		928,450
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliated companies					1,216						2,865
Gain (loss) on investments, net					(15,000)						(14,250)
Loss on extinguishment of debt					786						59,545
Employee benefit plan expense					0						0
Interest and other financing expense, net					39,748						120,179
Income before income taxes					181,674						466,427
Provision for income taxes					46,199						114,998
Consolidated net income					135,475						351,429
Noncontrolling interests					845						3,352
Net income attributable to shareholders				$ 53,885	$ 134,630		$ 99,679	$ 113,768			$ 348,077		$ 401,962
Basic					$ 1.52						$ 3.92
Diluted					$ 1.50	[2]					$ 3.87
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 [Member]
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Sales					$ (97,632)						$ (163,524)
Cost of sales					(96,841)						(164,101)
Gross profit					(791)						577
Selling, general, and administrative expenses					(240)						(799)
Depreciation and amortization					0						0
Restructuring, integration, and other charges					0						0
Costs and Expenses					(240)						(799)
Operating income					(551)						1,376
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliated companies					0						0
Gain (loss) on investments, net					1,971						5,466
Loss on extinguishment of debt					0						0
Employee benefit plan expense					1,850						5,547
Interest and other financing expense, net					363						719
Income before income taxes					(793)						576
Provision for income taxes					(227)						130
Consolidated net income					(566)						446
Noncontrolling interests					0						0
Net income attributable to shareholders					$ (566)						$ 446
Basic					$ 0						$ 0
Diluted					$ 0	[2]					$ 0.01
Accounting Standards Update 2016-01 [Member]
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Reclassification to retained earnings									$ 18,238

[1] Includes sales related to the United States of $3,181,227 and $8,799,364 for the third quarter and first nine months of 2018 and $2,853,505 and $7,863,591 for the third quarter and first nine months of 2017, respectively.

[2] Stock-based compensation awards for the issuance of 582 and 540 shares for the third quarter and first nine months of 2018 and 396 and 363 shares for the third quarter and first nine months of 2017, respectively, were excluded from the computation of net income per share on a diluted basis as their effect was anti-dilutive.