Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2018

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, 2018, 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, 2018 and 2017 consisted of:

	Cumulative			Pension and			Accumulated
	translation			postretirement benefit			other comprehensive
	adjustments			plan adjustments			loss
Balance at October 31, 2017	$	(28,423	)	$	(106,012	)	$	(134,435	)
Pension and postretirement plan changes, net of    tax of $(665)		—			2,586			2,586
Reclassification due to adoption of new accounting    standard (Note 2)		—			(18,846	)		(18,846	)
Currency translation losses		(28,619	)		—			(28,619	)
Balance at October 31, 2018	$	(57,042	)	$	(122,272	)	$	(179,314	)

Reconciliation of Product Warranty Liability

Following is a reconciliation of the product warranty liability for 2018 and 2017:

	2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year	$	13,377		$	11,770
Accruals for warranties		11,937			11,394
Warranty assumed from acquisitions		—			75
Warranty payments		(12,966	)		(10,090	)
Currency adjustments		(153	)		228
Balance at end of year	$	12,195		$	13,377