Founded in 1885 and operating across the Miami River’s North and South Yards, RMK Merrill-Stevens Shipyard manages up to 240 vessels at a time. With high-value projects, multiple service lines, and locations, the organization reached a point where legacy systems could no longer support the pace or scale of the business.
What followed was a strategic shift from fragmented tools to a single, marine-specific operating platform.
When Growth Exposes System Limitations
As RMK Merrill-Stevens expanded, the cracks in its technology stack became increasingly visible. The shipyard relied on general accounting software alongside disconnected tools to manage service operations and inventory. Each system worked independently, but not together.
The impact was structural:
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Separate accounting structures for each yard
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Disconnected service and financial data
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Limited real-time insight into project profitability
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Excess time spent reconciling information instead of analyzing it
Leadership recognized that continued growth required a platform built specifically for the realities of shipyard operations, not another workaround.
Moving to a Single Source of Truth
RMK Merrill-Stevens implemented DockMaster, consolidating service management, inventory, accounting, and project tracking into one unified system across both shipyards.
The shift immediately eliminated duplicated workflows and delivered consolidated financial visibility across locations.
“Before DockMaster, we needed two sets of books and multiple systems,” said Carla Lopez, Accounting Manager. **“Now we have consolidated financials and real-time visibility across all our locations.”
For the finance team, this marked a fundamental change: less time converting figures, more time focused on analysis, forecasting, and financial control.
Operational Control at the Project Level
On the operational side, DockMaster transformed how projects move from estimate to completion.
Project managers now generate estimates, convert them into work orders, track labor and inventory usage, and monitor budgets, all within a single workflow.
“The service module unified everything,” said Avis Torres, Project Manager. **“Inventory, estimates, work orders, all within seconds. It lets me spend more time with customers and less time managing software.”
This end-to-end visibility gave leadership clearer insight into margins, cost overruns, and performance while projects were still in motion, not after the fact.
Speeding Up Decisions with Digital Workflows
With DockMaster Web and eSignature, approval bottlenecks were removed from the process entirely. Estimates, invoices, and work order changes are now sent digitally and approved within minutes, regardless of location.
“I can send estimates, work orders, and invoices with one click and get them back in minutes,” Torres added. **“That alone changed how fast we move.”
Customers also gained transparency through the DockMaster customer portal, improving communication and accelerating decision-making.
Measurable Business Outcomes
By consolidating operations into DockMaster, RMK Merrill-Stevens achieved:
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Consolidated financials across multiple shipyards
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Real-time visibility into project profitability and budgets
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Accurate tracking of time, materials, and cost of goods sold
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Faster estimate-to-approval cycles
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Reduced reliance on multiple disconnected tools
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Improved customer experience through speed and transparency
Built for Marine Operations at Scale
For RMK Merrill-Stevens Shipyard, DockMaster wasn’t just a system replacement, it was an operational reset.
By unifying service management, financials, inventory, and customer workflows into a single marine-specific platform, DockMaster enabled one of Florida’s oldest shipyards to operate with modern control, clarity, and confidence, without sacrificing the scale and precision the business demands.