How Caliagua Ditched Pen and Paper to Grow Their Business with Raken

The problem: Time-consuming pen and paper

As a family-owned business founded in 1978, Caliagua values community trust, prioritizing accurate analysis and costing for their clients. But manual reporting and data collection made this process take longer than it should. Foremen would have to take photos from a digital camera and then upload those to print out for reports, then someone in the office would scan in all the reports for the week and manually enter time cards to run payroll. 

It was also difficult to make updates to contract drawings as new information was released. If the plans had to be revised, they would have to be marked up with a red pen, which could make things even more confusing. “It was a long process,” says Cory Wolfrom, Vice President at Caliagua. “Feedback between the field and the office wasn’t efficient.”

The solution: Improved daily reporting and documentation

That’s what made Raken an attractive option to Caliagua. With our digital daily reports, Caliagua was better able to capture field data, cost codes, and photos to keep information from the jobsite accurate and up to date. And digital documentation makes it easier to keep everyone on the same page.

Plus, it was simple for staff in the field and the office to use.

“We haven’t had any issues with internal staff picking it up. The field staff would be the biggest concern, but it hasn’t been a problem at all.”

Cory W., Vice President

Intuitive digital daily reports

Raken’s digital daily reports make it easy to gather data from the jobsite. Caliagua keeps an iPad on every job so foremen can easily capture and upload progress directly into Raken—and now, there’s no more need for digital cameras or manual reports.

Contractors like Caliagua are able to get real-time updates from the jobsite with key information including timestamped photos and videos. They can also use Raken’s task feature to check off daily punch list items and track the smaller components necessary for project completion.

Most importantly, though, digital daily reports take far less time to process than handwritten ones. Not only do you not have to worry about deciphering someone else’s handwriting, but data automatically syncs so you can see everything happening on the jobsite in real time.

Improved documentation

With Raken’s document storage capabilities, Caliagua has been able to ensure that crews in the field and staff in the office stay on the same page.

“We’ve been able to remove Dropbox and just use documents in Raken. We can track plans and communication back and forth between the field and office.”

Cory W., Vice President

Raken’s document storage feature also helps Caliagua keep track of important information, including RFIs, contract drawings, work plans, and more. Cory explains, “It’s been super helpful for us to be able to update those plans and then update the file in Raken.”

Digital forms have also helped Caliagua considerably with things like change orders and daily extra work tickets. It’s easier to get sign-offs and approvals from owner’s representatives. 

“Previously, we were using carbon copies, and it was a pain to get the guys to fill them out, get the owner to sign them, or even collect those forms,” Cory says. “Now, being on Raken, it’s been super helpful.”

“The foreman doesn’t even need to be notified—whenever he’s looking at that file, he’s looking at the latest and greatest.”

Cory W., Vice President

Seamless daily toolbox talks

Raken has a digital library of toolbox talks with a large variety of safety topics to choose from. Caliagua utilizes our talks for Job Hazard Analysis and other topics every day on projects to help keep crews informed about their surroundings and aware of potential hazards. 

You can even schedule these talks in bulk and collect attendance digitally to ensure important topics have been covered.

Standardized software

By keeping crews all on the same software, it’s easy to keep everything streamlined and standardized. From project engineers to foremen to payroll managers, Cory’s entire team has found Raken intuitive and easy to use. 

Year-end audits are also easier for Caliagua because all of their important data is in one place. “On the auditing side and compliance—workman’s comp is the one that comes to mind right away—at the end of the year, they’re asking for your payroll records. They want to see some samples,” Cory says.

“Using Raken makes it a smoother and easier process on the HR department.”

Cory W., Vice President

More time spent on growing business

Having been with Caliagua for more than 10 years, Cory is glad he no longer has to worry about wasted time chasing down paper forms and deciphering handwritten reports. Plus, he and the team now have better pictures from project galleries that they can use to promote their company and work on social media.

All of this gives him more time to focus on growth and the overall success of his family’s business.

“As we’ve been growing, Raken has really allowed us to scale and be more efficient in communication and document control from the field to the office—it’s been a huge part of our success.”

Cory W., Vice President

Caliagua has seen improved growth since adopting Raken, and they aren’t slowing down. Cory concludes, “We’ve been using it ever since and don’t plan on changing.”