Intangible assets (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jan. 31, 2020	Oct. 31, 2019
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Total	$ 3,700	$ 1,092
Non-amortizable intangible assets, Trademarks	1,174	657
Non-compete agreement (estimated life 5 years)
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortizable intangible assets, gross	423	200
Amortizable intangible assets, Accumulated amortization	(211)	(200)
Total	212	0
Customer relationships (estimated lives 7 - 15 years)
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortizable intangible assets, gross	5,058	2,879
Amortizable intangible assets, Accumulated amortization	(2,005)	(1,884)
Total	3,053	995
Backlog (estimated life 1 - 2 years)
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortizable intangible assets, gross	287	134
Amortizable intangible assets, Accumulated amortization	(167)	(134)
Total	120	0
Patents (estimated life 10 - 14 years)
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortizable intangible assets, gross	368	142
Amortizable intangible assets, Accumulated amortization	(53)	(45)
Total	$ 315	$ 97