Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2017

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, 2017, 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	15 years

Summary of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Accumulated other comprehensive loss at October 31, 2017 and 2016 consisted of:

	Cumulative			Pension and			Accumulated
	translation			postretirement benefit			other comprehensive
	adjustments			plan adjustments			loss
Balance at October 31, 2016	$	(51,120	)	$	(117,127	)	$	(168,247	)
Pension and postretirement plan changes, net of    tax of $(4,852)		—			11,115			11,115
Currency translation losses		22,697			—			22,697
Balance at October 31, 2017	$	(28,423	)	$	(106,012	)	$	(134,435	)

Reconciliation of Product Warranty Liability

Following is a reconciliation of the product warranty liability for 2017 and 2016:

	2017			2016
Balance at beginning of year	$	11,770		$	10,537
Accruals for warranties		11,394			14,487
Warranty assumed from acquisitions		75			—
Warranty payments		(10,090	)		(12,575	)
Currency adjustments		228			(679	)
Balance at end of year	$	13,377		$	11,770