Customer Success Story
PHH ARC

International environmental engineering firm cites cost savings nearing 20% with Deltek Vision®

The Challenge

With more than 20 years of experience, PHH ARC Environmental Ltd is a growing international leader in environmental engineering, geo-sciences, hazardous materials and health and safety solutions. The 100-plus-employee firm operates in eight offices in Western Canada, working with key clients including Exxon-Mobil, Husky Oil, Major financial institutions and all levels of government.

In 2004, PHH Environmental acquired Alberta-based ARC Inc., in order to expand its range of expertise and services. As the two companies merged together to create PHH ARC, part of the Pinchin Group of Companies across Canada, their respective enterprise software systems also had to be merged to create business process standards across the entire organization. PHH had been using ACCPAC and Timeslips to handle its respective accounting and labor processes, while ARC was a user of SEMA4, a predecessor product to Deltek Vision.

According to Mark Huston, Business Operations Manager at PHH ARC, there were already serious problems with the current software setup at PHH before the merger. “For many years, we suffered at PHH from not having a project management system tied in with accounting,” he recalled. “Because ACCPAC and Timeslips were not integrated with one another, we had to manually duplicate data entry functions, then convert it into a format ACCPAC could accept in order to export the data. The wasted time and resources was less than ideal.

“Of course, any time you rely on manual entry, the problem of duplicate entries and human error becomes significant,” he added. “We used to pore over the data to check for mistakes, which was not an efficient use of our time.” The SoluTionAfter PHH acquired ARC, key management on the PHH side grew quickly fascinated with SEMA4's project functionality.

ARC's Controller Alana Lamport pointed to Deltek Vision as an ideal Web-based software solution that built upon SEMA4 to combine project management with accounting and labor processes. Lured by the solution's integrated approach to managing resources, finances and projects, the firm purchased Vision in the summer of 2004. One of Deltek's implementation partners, AMR Group, provided key expertise during the software rollout, which began with a group of 25 ARC employees in the company's Calgary and Edmonton offices. By January 1, 2005, the solution was up and running in seven PHH ARC offices across Canada.

The Benefits

Today, PHH ARC uses Deltek Vision for all project management, core accounting, billing and timekeeping functions for hundreds of projects, ranging from small engagements to multimillion dollar oil cleanups. In just a year, the company has begun reaping tremendous benefits, including reduced labor costs, increased productivity and efficiency, and greater transparency with access to more current and up-to-date project and resulting financial information.

“I would say that Vision has reduced our administrative labor costs by at least 15 percent, and our time savings reduction is directly proportionate,” Huston said. “For instance, we used to have assistants employed in each regional office who were required to manually file, distribute and analyze all our project data. Vision has allowed us to streamline and better utilize our employees.”

Lamport agreed. “Vision enables data entry at all appropriate levels, instead of requiring a dedicated data entry group,” she said. “Because of Vision's single-point-of-entry architecture, data now only needs to be entered once, as opposed to multiple times previously.”

Not only has Vision streamlined the structure of each regional office, but it has also enabled PHH ARC to in effect stop having a specific head office. “Deltek Vision has become the roof for all of us to live under,” Huston said.

Other benefits include greater flexibility and improved security functions and internal control. With Vision's easy-to-use Windows-based interface, key metrics are delivered right to an employee's dashboard so that critical project data is never hard to find. PHH ARC continues to work with both Deltek and AMR Group to maximize return on investment and minimize their total cost of ownership.

Lamport also cited the solution's Web-based architecture as particularly handy. “At any time, our company has about 25 field employees in remote locations,” she said. “Deltek Vision helps them stay connected to their projects and their goals, anytime and anywhere.” “Before Vision, our employees had to contact the accounting department in order to find out information about their projects – whether they were staying on budget or within the time required,” Huston said. “Now, they have all the information they need at their fingertips whenever they need it.”

Huston and Lamport have already upgraded to Deltek Vision 3 as they continue to plan for their company's future growth. “It allows for greater configuration within our database, and will increase the overall time and cost savings of our organization,” Huston said. In addition, PHH ARC has a division in the United Kingdom that is currently considering implementing Vision in 2006.

“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 Vision has played and will continue to play a critical role in getting us to the next level as we continue to win new business.”

In addition, evaluations are being done on Deltek's customer relationship management and purchasing order modules. “Overall, Deltek has brought a comforting amount of predictability to our project management, timekeeping and financial systems,” Huston said. “Our relationship with Deltek is strong and holds a bright future.”