Customer Success Story
Applied Marine Technology Inc.
Applied Marine Technology, Inc. achieves growth, efficiency using Deltek Solution
The Challenge
Applied Marine Technology Inc. (AMTI) is a government contractor that provides analytical and management support services to Department of Defense organizations, federal agencies, state governments and commercial enterprises. The firm also provides security management, training and IT services to a range of private organizations worldwide. The firm's employees support more than nine federal government organizations in the United States and abroad. Its proficiency in providing timely and cost-effective professional services has earned the firm a reputation for excellence.
Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, AMTI also has offices in Fairfax, Virginia; San Diego, California and Southern Pines, North Carolina. A rapidly expanding small business, it has experienced dramatic revenue increases over the past 5 years — from $600,000 in 1996 to $9.7 million in 2001. The firm anticipates 2002 revenues of $16 million, an increase of approximately sixty percent from the previous year.
Given its rapid growth strategy and government contract-based business, AMTI knew it needed a cost accounting system capable of meeting the special needs of a government contracting firm. After extensive research, the firm decided to turn to Deltek GCS Premier —, a streamlined cost accounting, project and financial management system that is the recognized industry standard accounting software for small to mid-sized federal contractors.
AMTI first became aware of Deltek through highly positive word-of-mouth from a very persuasive source. “We first heard the company's name mentioned at the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), when we went in for an audit,” says Paul W. Albers, Executive Vice President of AMTI.
“The auditors asked if we were using Deltek software, and were visibly disappointed when we said no. We really liked the fact that the DCAA auditors were very knowledgeable about the company and trusted their products.”
The Solution
AMTI was initially concerned that Deltek, whose government contracting clients range in size from those employing ten people to those employing several thousand, would not devote its full energies to serving AMTI's needs. However, after speaking with other users these fears were quickly allayed. These references affirmed that Deltek offers the same comprehensive service and industry expertise to all its clients, regardless of their size. “After talking to several other clients, we were confident that we'd get responsive service we could rely on,” says Albers.
“After talking to several other (Deltek) clients, we were confident that we'd get responsive service we could rely on,” says Albers.
With extensive assistance from Deltek consultant Mike Bressin, AMTI began implementing the software in late 2000. On January 1, 2001, the firm started manually collecting data from its previous cost accounting system and entering it into Deltek GCS Premier. The transition to the new software was so smooth that the firm actually ran its payroll only two weeks after the initial switch over. “Incredibly, after starting the data collection process on January 1, we made payroll on January 15 using the new system,” says Albers. “I can't say how much we appreciate Mike's assistance. He was a tremendous help in getting us up and running the way we wanted to, especially in streamlining the billing and payroll processes.” Deltek's highly responsive technical support also impressed Lynn Schrage, Controller. “One time I lost the payroll file and I couldn't recover it to send it to the bank. I put an urgent call into Deltek. I had fifteen minutes to get the payroll file out the door when I placed the call for help,” recalls Schrage. “They called me back within ten minutes. The problem was fixed quickly and we made payroll right on schedule.”
The Benefits
Since becoming fully operational only 45 days after starting the implementation process, the Deltek GCS Premier solution has enabled AMTI to run its operations more efficiently than ever. The firm is now handling twice the workload in half the time.
The Deltek solution has enabled the firm to not only to maintain their rapid growth plan, but also to assume a lead contractor role on many projects where it would have previously been a subcontractor.
“During our first two years in business, we were subcontractors to a bigger company. Now we're doing a lot of work as the prime contractor,” says Albers. “The bottom line is that it would have been very difficult for us to operate this successfully in our business environment without a system in place as sophisticated and easy-to-use as Deltek GCS Premier. “
A major factor in AMTI's success with the Deltek solution has been the software's specific focus on government contractors and government contracting regulations. The government contracting process, where bids are audited by the DCAA and the numbers are often haggled down to the fourth decimal place, is incredibly burdensome and extremely complicated. Having the industry recognized standard has helped streamline this process.
The firm can now better handle cash flow, particularly with regards to linking payables and receivables. This enables the firm to provide financial information to its government clients in a more timely fashion and in a far-more streamlined format than the previous system allowed. Trusting the accuracy and integrity of the data provided by Deltek GCS Premier has been a major key to achieving this efficiency.
| The Challange | The Solution | The Deltek Advantage |
| Given its rapid growth strategy and government contractbased business, AMTI knew it needed a cost accounting system capable of meeting the special needs of a government contracting firm. | After extensive research, the firm decided to turn to Deltek GCS Premier — a streamlined cost accounting, project and financial management system that is the recognized industry standard accounting software for small to mid-sized federal contractors. |
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The system also enables AMTI to export financial data into other formats including Microsoft—Excel. This enables the firm to manipulate its reports, so that program managers can better understand them. In addition to its superior functionality, the intuitive ease-of-use of Deltek GCS Premier and the software's compliance with federal cost accounting standards helps AMTI prevent costly mistakes from occurring. “The software is very useful even for the relatively inexperienced user,” says Albers. “We can easily catch errors because the system's intuitive interface doesn't allow you to do anything that would conflict with federal cost accounting standards. This product is clearly designed with our type of business in mind.”
AMTI is pleased with the way that their Deltek solution has enabled it to grow to its present size, and is eager to fully leverage the software's capabilities to continue this trend of rapid growth. The firm is reassured by the knowledge that should it reach this goal, the solution is more than able to handle the increased requirements and revenues created by such rapid growth without having to add to the two person staff currently managing the system.
“The new system is helping us keep our G&A rates two to three percent lower than they otherwise might have been,” says Albers. “I can confidently say that Deltek GCS Premier has played and will continue to play a critical role in getting us to the next level as we continue to win new business.”