Detail of Selected Balance Sheet Accounts (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Disclosure Text Block Supplement [Abstract]

Activity in Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Activity in our allowance for doubtful accounts consisted of the following (in thousands):

	September 30,
	2014			2013
Balance at beginning of period	$	572		$	1,297
Bad debt expense/(recovery)		1,074			(544	)
Uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries		(58	)		(171	)
Change in foreign currency translation		(11	)		(10	)
Balance at end of period	$	1,577		$	572

Components of Inventories

The components of inventories are summarized below (in thousands):

	September 30,
	2014			2013
Raw materials, parts and subassemblies	$	35,349		$	30,077
Work-in-progress		2,035			3,818
Provision for excess and obsolete inventory		(4,569	)		(4,932	)
Total inventories	$	32,815		$	28,963

Cost and Estimated Earnings on Uncompleted Contracts

The components of costs and estimated earnings and related amounts billed on uncompleted contracts are summarized below (in thousands):

	September 30,
	2014			2013
Costs incurred on uncompleted contracts	$	604,939		$	618,570
Estimated earnings		157,562			159,962
		762,501			778,532
Less: Billings to date		(715,233	)		(747,446	)
Net underbilled position	$	47,268		$	31,086
Included in the accompanying balance sheets under the following captions:
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts – underbilled	$	95,970		$	79,420
Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts – overbilled		(48,702	)		(48,334	)
Net underbilled position	$	47,268		$	31,086

Schedule of Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment are summarized below (in thousands):

	September 30,						Range of
	2014			2013			Asset Lives
Land	$	23,545		$	24,022		—
Buildings and improvements		100,901			79,621		3 - 39 Years
Machinery and equipment		100,922			71,808		3 - 15 Years
Furniture and fixtures		3,852			2,736		3 - 10 Years
Construction in process		15,878			48,301		—
	$	245,098		$	226,488
Less: Accumulated depreciation		(88,202	)		(81,993	)
Total property, plant and equipment, net	$	156,896		$	144,495

Activity in Product Warranty Accrual

Activity in our product warranty accrual consisted of the following (in thousands):

	September 30,
	2014			2013
Balance at beginning of period	$	5,282		$	5,548
Increase to warranty expense		3,237			4,020
Deduction for warranty charges		(3,892	)		(4,321	)
Increase (decrease) due to foreign currency translations		(70	)		35
Balance at end of period	$	4,557		$	5,282