Inventories and major vendors - Components of Inventories (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Apr. 30, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015
Inventory [Line Items]
Raw materials and supplies	$ 3,059	$ 2,671
Work in process	271	270
Finished goods	3,480	3,987
Totals	$ 6,810	$ 6,928

Amount before valuation and LIFO reserves of completed merchandise or goods expected to be sold within one year or operating cycle, if longer.

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- 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

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- Definition

Amount after valuation and LIFO reserves of inventory expected to be sold, or consumed within one year or operating cycle, if longer.

+ 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 210.5-02.6(a))
-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 330
-SubTopic 10
-Section 35
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51655945&loc=d3e3927-108312

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28358313&loc=d3e6676-107765

+ Details

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- Definition

Gross amount of unprocessed materials to be used in manufacturing or production process and supplies that will be consumed.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before valuation and LIFO reserves of merchandise or goods in the production process expected to be completed within one year or operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant