Debt Capital leases (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2018	Jan. 31, 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 846	$ 283
Canadian lease
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Issuance Date	Oct. 20, 2017
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 100
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate at Period End	4.00%
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment	$ 3
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Sep. 29, 2022
Canadian capital lease
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Issuance Date	May 05, 2017
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 700
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate at Period End	8.00%
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment	$ 9
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Apr. 30, 2021
Indian capital leases [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Issuance Date	Aug. 05, 2016
Face value of debt in local currency	0.6 million Indian Rupees
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 8
Debt instrument, interest rate, stated percentage range, minimum	15.60%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Jul. 05, 2019
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Issuance Date	Jun. 26, 2014
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 942
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate at Period End	3.25%
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment	$ 14
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Jun. 25, 2018
Vehicles [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Issuance Date	Jul. 01, 2014
Capitalized lease obligations	$ 52
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate at Period End	3.25%
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment	$ 1
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Jun. 30, 2018

Face value of debt in local currency

No definition available.

Name:	ppih_FaceValueOfDebtInLocalCurrency
Namespace Prefix:	ppih_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount equal to the present value (the principal) at the beginning of the lease term of minimum lease payments during the lease term (excluding that portion of the payments representing executory costs such as insurance, maintenance, and taxes to be paid by the lessor, together with any profit thereon) net of payments or other amounts applied to the principal through the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84164817&loc=d3e45280-112737

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeaseObligations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Date the debt instrument was issued, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentIssuanceDate1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentMaturityDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of the required periodic payments including both interest and principal payments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75038535&loc=d3e64711-112823

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentPeriodicPayment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_LeasesAcquiredInPlaceMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CapitalLeaseObligationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=ppih_IndianCapitalLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CapitalAdditionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_VehiclesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: