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Commitments and Contingencies (Text Block)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies [Text Block]
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments
Operating lease rental expense for factories, service and distribution locations, offices, and equipment was as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
 
(in thousands)
Rental expense
$
14,824

 
$
14,232

 
$
15,524



Future minimum lease payments at December 31, 2017, under noncancelable operating leases with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year are as follows:

Year Ending December 31,
 
Minimum Payments
 
 
(in thousands)
2018
 
$
15,353

2019
 
10,274

2020
 
6,556

2021
 
3,732

2022
 
2,888

Beyond 2022
 
9,799

Future minimum lease payments
 
$
48,602



Rent expense is recognized straight-line over the lease term, including renewal periods if reasonably assured. We lease most of our sales and distribution locations and administrative offices. Our leases typically contain renewal options similar to the original terms with lease payments that increase based on an index.
Guarantees and Indemnifications
We are often required to obtain standby letters of credit (LOCs) or bonds in support of our obligations for customer contracts. These standby LOCs or bonds typically provide a guarantee to the customer for future performance, which usually covers the installation phase of a contract and may, on occasion, cover the operations and maintenance phase of outsourcing contracts.

Our available lines of credit, outstanding standby LOCs, and bonds are as follows:

 
At December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
(in thousands)
Credit facilities(1)
 
 
 
Multicurrency revolving line of credit
$
500,000

 
$
500,000

Long-term borrowings
(125,414
)
 
(97,167
)
Standby LOCs issued and outstanding
(31,881
)
 
(46,103
)
 
 
 
 
Net available for additional borrowings under the multi-currency revolving line of credit
$
342,705

 
$
356,730

Net available for additional standby LOCs under sub-facility
218,119

 
203,897

 
 
 
 
Unsecured multicurrency revolving lines of credit with various financial institutions
 
 
 
Multicurrency revolving line of credit
$
110,477

 
$
91,809

Standby LOCs issued and outstanding
(21,030
)
 
(21,734
)
Short-term borrowings(2)
(916
)
 
(69
)
Net available for additional borrowings and LOCs
$
88,531

 
$
70,006

 
 
 
 
Unsecured surety bonds in force
$
51,344

 
$
48,221



(1)
Refer to Note 6 and Note 19 for details regarding our secured credit facilities, including the refinancing of the 2015 credit facility.
(2) 
Short-term borrowings are included in “Other current liabilities” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

In the event any such standby LOC or bond is called, we would be obligated to reimburse the issuer of the standby LOC or bond; however, we do not believe that any outstanding LOC or bond will be called.

We generally provide an indemnification related to the infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property right on software or equipment within our sales contracts, which indemnifies the customer from and pays the resulting costs, damages, and attorney’s fees awarded against a customer with respect to such a claim provided that (a) the customer promptly notifies us in writing of the claim and (b) we have the sole control of the defense and all related settlement negotiations. We may also provide an indemnification to our customers for third party claims resulting from damages caused by the negligence or willful misconduct of our employees/agents in connection with the performance of certain contracts. The terms of our indemnifications generally do not limit the maximum potential payments. It is not possible to predict the maximum potential amount of future payments under these or similar agreements.
Legal Matters
We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims of which the outcomes are subject to significant uncertainty. Our policy is to assess the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes related to legal matters, as well as ranges of probable losses. A determination of the amount of the liability required, if any, for these contingencies is made after an analysis of each known issue. A liability is recognized and charged to operating expense when we determine that a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Additionally, we disclose contingencies for which a material loss is reasonably possible, but not probable.
Warranty
A summary of the warranty accrual account activity is as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
(in thousands)
Beginning balance
$
43,302

 
$
54,512

New product warranties
7,849

 
7,987

Other adjustments and expirations
(393
)
 
5,933

Claims activity
(18,094
)
 
(24,364
)
Effect of change in exchange rates
2,198

 
(766
)
Ending balance
34,862

 
43,302

Less: current portion of warranty
21,150

 
24,874

Long-term warranty
$
13,712

 
$
18,428



Total warranty expense is classified within cost of revenues and consists of new product warranties issued, costs related to extended warranty contracts, insurance and supplier recoveries, and other changes and adjustments to warranties. Warranty expense was as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
 
(in thousands)
Total warranty expense
$
(2,054
)
 
$
13,920

 
$
45,984



Warranty expense during the year ended December 31, 2015 included a $29.4 million special warranty provision. During the second quarter of 2015, we concluded it was necessary to issue a product replacement notification to customers of our Water segment who had purchased certain communication modules manufactured between July 2013 and December 2014. We determined that a component of the modules was failing prematurely.

Warranty expense decreased during the year ended December 31, 2017 compared with the same period in 2016 primarily due to an insurance recovery of $8.0 million associated with our 2015 product replacement provision.

Extended Warranty
A summary of changes to unearned revenue for extended warranty contracts is as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
(in thousands)
Beginning balance
$
31,549

 
$
33,654

Unearned revenue for new extended warranties
1,186

 
1,437

Unearned revenue recognized
(4,247
)
 
(3,594
)
Effect of change in exchange rates
154

 
52

Ending balance
28,642

 
31,549

Less: current portion of unearned revenue for extended warranty
4,220

 
4,226

Long-term unearned revenue for extended warranty within other long-term obligations
$
24,422

 
$
27,323

Health Benefits
We are self insured for a substantial portion of the cost of our U.S. employee group health insurance. We purchase insurance from a third party, which provides individual and aggregate stop loss protection for these costs. Each reporting period, we expense the costs of our health insurance plan including paid claims, the change in the estimate of incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims, taxes, and administrative fees (collectively, the plan costs).

Plan costs were as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
 
(in thousands)
Plan costs
$
30,521

 
$
27,276

 
$
25,355


IBNR accrual, which is included in wages and benefits payable, was as follows:

 
At December 31,
 
2017
 
2016
 
(in thousands)
IBNR accrual
$
2,664

 
$
2,441



Our IBNR accrual and expenses may fluctuate due to the number of plan participants, claims activity, and deductible limits. For our employees located outside of the United States, health benefits are provided primarily through governmental social plans, which are funded through employee and employer tax withholdings.