Saving Time, Energy, and Money at Level 10 Construction

The problem: Difficulty with organization and coordination

Building is a complicated process—one that Level 10 knows all too well with the Moffett Towers II project.

This project included five eight-story buildings—complete with kitchen areas, conference rooms, and laboratory space. And that was just inside. Outside, there were three parking structures, a basketball court, a swimming pool, a gym, and community gardens throughout. In total, the build was a whopping 1.8 million sq. ft.

“With an 8-story buildout like this, and such a tough schedule, it’s important to be precise,” said Igor Charsov, senior field engineer. “On a daily basis, we have one subcontractor following another on the floor, and any type of delay can really affect the schedule heavily.”

Level 10 Construction’s massive project for Amazon and Facebook took place across several buildings and stories and included multiple subcontractors. With a tight schedule and budget to meet, Level 10 needed a way to efficiently communicate project updates and securely store and share insights with the right people.

And because of how many massive, large-scale projects they work on at a time, securely storing and sharing insights (with the right people) took too much time out of their day.

The solution: Better data and documentation

With Raken’s field-first software, Level 10 can collect data straight from subcontractors—then store it all in one place. This saves them time and gives them real-time project visibility to keep projects on track.

And with our Egnyte integration, they can even sync that field data into their Egnyte Connect folder. That means all of Level 10’s documentation stays in one place, and project managers and owners are easily updated on projects.

Better communication with digital daily reports

Delays due to miscommunication, materials, or change orders are all too common on complex projects. They can cost GCs plenty of time and money, and ultimately delay the build itself. Since Moffett Towers II had 20 subcontractors constantly moving in and out of the jobsite, paper daily reports simply weren’t enough.

“You’d be out in the field collecting information all day, and hopefully writing it down if you weren’t being stopped or pulled away,” said Mike Brennan, superintendent. “Then, you’d have to go back and read your notes that hopefully made sense eight hours later.”

Paper reports also take time to transfer into a spreadsheet. Brennan says that gave superintendents up to an hour and a half of extra work. But when they switched to Raken, our digital daily reports gave the entire team better project visibility—without creating more work for the field.

Superintendent Andrew Martin agrees.

“I can go into Raken and see what subs are onsite, what their manpower count is. Then, I can coordinate that with what my field is telling me by seeing what they log into Raken.”

Andrew M., Superintendent

“If something doesn’t add up, I can just call that sub and find out what’s happening.”

Secure cloud storage with Raken + Egnyte

Level 10 was already using Raken to manage the Moffett Towers II project. And while Raken helped streamline reporting, Level 10 unlocked the tech’s full potential with the Egnyte integration.

Egnyte is a secure cloud file storage and management system. As soon as a daily report is signed in Raken, it’s automatically placed into the right folder within Egnyte. They’re stored right alongside other important project files, like RFIs or change orders. With more than 50 people working on Moffett Towers II, easy access to documentation was priceless.

“Every single project document is stored on Egnyte, and if I need to find anything, it’s organized through folders,” said senior field engineer Igor Charsov.

“I don’t have to run down to the office and ask them to open a folder for me—whether it’s subcontracts, RFIs, or even the latest drawings, which is the most important thing being in the field.”

Andrew M., Superintendent

Level 10 empowers field engineers like Charsov with the information they need right there in the field. At any point of the day, Charsov can use Egnyte and Raken on his iPad or phone. That means he can answer questions and keep the project moving without wasting time running between the office and jobsite.

Raken also helps Level 10 coordinate their subcontractors by comparing what’s happening on-site with Level 10’s budget. That way, instead of finding out about them later, discrepancies can easily be adjusted on the spot.

Digital documentation is something field engineers appreciate, too. And with the Egnyte integration, all of Level 10’s documents (including RFIs and change orders) are stored safely in the cloud. That makes it easy to access any documents—and back up work in the case of a dispute.

“In my daily activities, I go around the site snapping photos of what happened that day,” said field engineer Evan Sinclaire.

“If there’s ever a question if the work got done or didn’t get done, I can go back to those photos in Raken and check to see if it was actually done or not.”

Evan S., Field Engineer

And because Raken reports are automatically synced to the cloud in Egnyte, Level 10 can be confident their historical data is safe. 

“At any time, your computer or iPad can crash and everything can disappear,” said Charsov.

“Having your daily reports on Raken and all your pictures uploaded to Egnyte with all the project documents, you never have to worry about a thing.”

Igor C., Senior Field Engineer

Using better data to make informed decisions

When project data is accurate, GCs get a clear picture of their progress—and can find ways to improve profitability. Raken and Egnyte’s integration helps them do just that. While Raken collects data straight from the field, Egnyte keeps everything together. And it’s all done digitally, so there are no paper trails to chase.

“Raken’s focus on mobile is perfect for our superintendents in the field. It makes it easy for them to capture important events, and communicate them quickly,” said Dominic Silvia, who leads Level 10’s IT department.

“It’s a game-changer for how we use field information in our decision-making.”

Dominic S., IT Leader

Better data (and better storage for it) helps everyone work more efficiently, too.

“Egnyte Connect’s ability to provide seamless access to our content streamlined our workflows, and made our teams more efficient,” said Silvia. “Integrating Raken and Egnyte, so that our daily reports were automatically synced to an Egnyte Connect project folder, was a no-brainer.”