Blog
Powerful Data Management and Scheduling Tools are Vital for GPI Success
Mar 11, 2020
Many AEC consulting firms have a common problem: managing the volume of data that their various business lines generate. How have firms tried to solve this issue? Let's look at how one of Agile Frameworks customers approached this problem.
GeoProfessional Innovation Corporation (GPI), based in Pullman, Wash., specializes in geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, and construction material testing and inspection. The material testing component of their business generates a lot of data. And that data is often very difficult to manage and present to their clients in a format they can understand and find useful.
Several years ago at a previous company, current GPI CEO Travis Wambeke started down the road of generating an internal program to manage the volume of materials testing data. There was some value in that exercise, but the functionality and the database management component of the data itself was just not there. That company selected Agile Frameworks’ MetaField® solution and Wambeke brought that tried and true solution to GPI.
“We turned to MetaField and found that it offered the most flexibility, the most technical management of the data and the best presentation of data to our clients,” said Wambeke.
For GPI, the key components of MetaField are the scheduling and dispatch feature and the ability to manage the volume of data they put in. Schedulers can see the daily, weekly or monthly schedule in real time and move personnel resources around to accommodate project needs. The solution also offers streamlined data entry whether it’s through a smartphone or tablet or computer. According to Wambeke, “The overall workflow of the data is fairly powerful.”
Using MetaField’s powerful data workflow, entering data as well as reviewing and publishing the data for clients isn’t as time intensive. The time savings for each of these tasks may be just minutes or hours. But when you start adding up each individual increment of efficiency, the total time savings can have quite an impact on the bottom line.
With MetaField, GPI’s clients have found presentation of the data very easy to follow. They can track the data whether it’s for concrete tests across different mix designs or for repetitive density tests over large fill areas.
“MetaField offers a lot of opportunities to create efficiencies whether through real-time scheduling or managing the data. Profitability at the end of the day is your ultimate metric and I certainly attribute a significant component of our financial success today to a using MetaField,” said Wambeke.
According to Wambeke, the Agile Frameworks team has been very welcoming and helpful. “The team has been phenomenal, very user-centric, and focused on making sure we’re happy and engaged,” said Wambeke. When GPI calls and asks “Hey, how can we do this better?” the Agile Frameworks team is always there to tell them how.
