Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 1,169,355	$ 1,028,617	$ 923,353
Cost of sales	772,398	678,186	621,609
Selling and administrative expenses	269,402	264,033	238,269
Total operating costs and expenses	1,041,800	942,219	859,878
Operating income	127,555	86,398	63,475
Interest expense	10,271	19,984	22,468
Other expense (income), net	395	2,609	(1,953)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	116,889	63,805	42,960
Income taxes	25,316	9,827	130
Income from continuing operations	91,573	53,978	42,830
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes of $1,164, $931 and $815 respectively (Note 2)	(26,858)	(700)	(3,829)
Net income	$ 64,715	$ 53,278	$ 39,001
Basic:
Income from continuing operations	$ 1.66	$ 0.97	$ 0.79
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	$ (0.49)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.07)
Net income	$ 1.17	$ 0.96	$ 0.72
Diluted:
Income from continuing operations	$ 1.64	$ 0.96	$ 0.79
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	$ (0.48)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.07)
Net income	$ 1.16	$ 0.95	$ 0.72
Dividends	$ 0.34	$ 0.32	$ 0.48
Weighted average common shares outstanding [Abstract]
Basic	55,214,586	55,259,732	53,879,976
Diluted	55,931,882	55,925,187	54,206,426