Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Financial Information by Reportable Segment and Product Line (Detail)

v2.4.1.9
Summary of Financial Information by Reportable Segment and Product Line (Detail) (USD $)
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2014
Segment
Nov. 30, 2013
Aug. 31, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Number of reportable segments 3us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments    
Net sales $ 327,765us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet $ 339,556us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet  
Operating profit (Loss) 38,218us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss 43,647us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss  
Assets 1,787,464us-gaap_Assets   1,856,879us-gaap_Assets
Industrial      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Net sales 102,413us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
98,641us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
 
Operating profit (Loss) 26,705us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
26,897us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
 
Assets 293,531us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
  307,058us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_IndustrialMember
Energy      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Net sales 111,522us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
107,925us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
 
Operating profit (Loss) 12,442us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
8,923us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
 
Assets 746,982us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
  788,915us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EnergyMember
Engineered Solutions      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Net sales 113,830us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
132,990us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
 
Operating profit (Loss) 6,278us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
13,190us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
 
Assets 643,239us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
  643,323us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_EngineeredSolutionsMember
Vehicle Systems      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Net sales 58,468us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_VehicleSystemsMember
71,649us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_VehicleSystemsMember
 
Other      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Net sales 55,362us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_OtherProductsMember
61,341us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_OtherProductsMember
 
General Corporate      
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]      
Operating profit (Loss) (7,207)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_GeneralCoporateMember
(5,363)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_GeneralCoporateMember
 
Assets $ 103,712us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_GeneralCoporateMember
  $ 117,583us-gaap_Assets
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= atu_GeneralCoporateMember