How Anchor QEA Uses Raken + Egnyte

The problem: Manual, time-consuming reports

Anchor QEA prides themselves on quality assurance and detailed, organized reports. But previously, with handwritten notes and sometimes no onsite field office, their inspectors were spending too much time away from active work areas.

The solution: Raken + Egnyte

Raken and Egnyte’s integration helps Anchor QEA collect and store field data in one secure place. With clean data at their fingertips, Anchor QEA can better serve and protect their clients.

Saving hours a week on reports

As a trusted leader in engineering and environmental services, Anchor QEA solves complex problems every day. Their past reporting system worked for a while, but as the company grew, Anchor QEA looked at ways to improve efficiency. They chose Raken to get more done in less time and continue delivering the highest quality projects and data possible.

“Before Raken, we would handwrite everything,” said Adam Carlson, Resident Engineer at Anchor QEA. “Now, Raken lets us use our cell phones or tablets to directly log what we need right into the app.”

“We’ve really improved the efficiency of our reporting.”

Adam C., Resident Engineer

Raken is built for the field, so everything inspectors need is always with them. From daily reports to time-stamped photos, inspectors can easily complete documentation on the go. As inspectors fill out reports, team members in the office can see updates on the web app in real time, so everyone is on the same page. More streamlined reports also gave Anchor QEA more time to build better projects.

“Currently, we track what resources are on our sites, including how many excavators or how many laborers and operators. Each of those resources have their own billing rate,” said Adam. “That capability is really valuable in construction management.”

“Raken is a more user-friendly and efficient way of inputting and sharing data in real time.”

Adam C., Resident Engineer

Protecting clients from litigation

With better reports in hand, Anchor QEA wanted to take things even further. They looked to Raken and Egnyte’s integration to help keep their project data safe. More secure cloud storage means they can access data whenever they need it. And, as a result, Anchor QEA can better protect clients from future litigation.

“With construction, there’s always risk, uncertainty, and unanticipated conditions. Having that detailed documentation in Raken and Egnyte, including many photographs, helps us revisit what occurred on previous work days,” said Adam. “When it comes to a change order or claim—or if it ever gets to the stage of litigation—we can convey exactly what happened and calculate the true cost to perform the work.”

Raken and Egnyte’s integration makes it so Anchor QEA no longer has to spend hours in front of a computer at the end of the shift to type up handwritten notes. Now, they have higher quality, streamlined data in real time. The best part? Anchor QEA and their clients can track productivity, manpower, and site conditions in an automated manner. This detailed documentation makes it easy to prove how unexpected conditions affected the project and back up their work.

“Since implementing Raken and Egnyte, our clients have recognized an improvement in quality and accessibility of reports and project files.”

Adam C., Resident Engineer

“Thanks to the integration, our daily reports and photographs from Raken are automatically uploaded to Egnyte. That file-sharing program is really useful when you have projects with many different companies collaborating,” said Adam.

Choosing easy-to-use software

At the end of the day, a construction app is only as good as how much it’s used. Construction has been slower to adopt technology than other industries. However, after trying out Raken for a few days, Anchor QEA’s inspectors were on board fast.

“Fortunately, our inspectors have been really receptive to Raken,” said Adam. “Initially, some staff can be a little skeptical or unsure and think there might be a steep learning curve, but after the first couple days, they’re on board. It really helps them stay more organized and helps everyone on the team collaborate.”

“The technology saves our inspectors an hour or more each day, and the integration allows remote managers and stakeholders to see updates in real time.”

Adam C., Resident Engineer

Inspectors are the ones actually uploading project data, so their approval is crucial for new tech. In Raken, Anchor QEA found a field-friendly app that still gives them the insights they need to improve.

“We can have multiple people, including inspectors and office engineers, work on things at the same time, and we can document things more clearly. The quality of work also improves when you have a system like Raken that helps inspectors be more organized,” said Adam.