Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2016

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Useful Lives of Property, Plant and Equipment and Depreciation

Useful lives are as follows:

Land improvements	15-25 years
Buildings	20-40 years
Machinery and equipment	3-18 years
Enterprise management systems	5-13 years

Weighted Average Useful Lives for Each Major Category of Amortizable Intangible Assets

At October 31, 2016, the weighted-average useful lives for each major category of amortizable intangible assets were:

Patent/technology costs	13 years
Customer relationships	14 years
Noncompete agreements	3 years
Trade names	16 years

Summary of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Accumulated other comprehensive loss at October 31, 2016 and 2015 consisted of:

	Cumulative			Pension and			Accumulated
	translation			postretirement benefit			other comprehensive
	adjustments			plan adjustments			loss
Balance at October 31, 2015	$	(42,427	)	$	(102,259	)	$	(144,686	)
Pension and postretirement plan changes, net of    tax of $(8,416)		—			(14,868	)		(14,868	)
Currency translation losses		(8,693	)		—			(8,693	)
Balance at October 31, 2016	$	(51,120	)	$	(117,127	)	$	(168,247	)

Reconciliation of Product Warranty Liability

Following is a reconciliation of the product warranty liability for 2016 and 2015:

	2016			2015
Balance at beginning of year	$	10,537		$	9,918
Accruals for warranties		14,487			12,531
Warranty assumed from acquisitions		—			11
Warranty payments		(12,575	)		(11,487	)
Currency adjustments		(679	)		(436	)
Balance at end of year	$	11,770		$	10,537