Inventories and major vendors - Components of Inventories (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Apr. 30, 2019	Oct. 31, 2018
Inventory [Line Items]
Raw materials and supplies	$ 3,442	$ 2,711
Work in process	687	603
Finished goods	3,803	3,799
Totals	$ 7,932	$ 7,113

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

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.6(a)(1))
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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.

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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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 330
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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

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
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-Paragraph 1
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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

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
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