Blog
Denver Firm Streamlines Field Reporting with MetaField
Jun 02, 2020
A.G. Wassenaar’s Senior Engineer Kenny Broseghini was hesitant to try MetaField® when he first learned about it at a conference. He was worried it would take too much time to onboard, and his busy team definitely did not have extra time on their hands. Fortunately, a local competitor and happy MetaField user offered to show him a demo. Once Broseghini saw the clear benefits of using MetaField--particularly how the platform streamlines field reporting and communication--he decided it was the right solution. Broseghini and his team have been using MetaField for a couple years now, and they continue to find enormous value.
A.G. Wassenaar is an environmental and geotechnical engineering firm based in Denver, CO, offering services along Colorado’s Front Range. The company has a large geotechnical division managing a lot of residential projects. That translates to huge amounts of data coming in from materials testing and observation work. That’s where MetaField comes in.
Before using MetaField, Broseghini’s team struggled to keep information organized. Paper files of project data traveled from office to office, often getting lost or misplaced and was difficult to track down when it was needed. “Now we can go into MetaField and find anything we want with just a couple clicks of a button. Everyone knows it’s right there, right where we can find it. Also, data-entry mistakes are easier to catch and fix quickly,” said Broseghini.
Daily site visits to check on various phases of construction will require data entry in MetaField. This includes uploading job site photos, hand-written field notes, answering task-specific questions, and entering materials testing data directly into MetaField. With all of this work now being done in MetaField, A.G. Wassenaar has significantly cut down on paperwork and can easily organize its project data.
Reporting with MetaField is a major benefit for A.G. Wassenaar, helping them keep all project stakeholders updated quickly and easily. Project data is accessible and can be instantly pulled into a report, allowing Broseghini’s team to quickly send out final reports or to notify clients about problems.
Prior to using MetaField, sending out a report like this would have required waiting on the field personnel to turn in the paperwork to the office for review, which would have taken at least a full day, then to provide the final report would have taken another day or so before sending to their client.
Now, they can review the report in Metafield soon after the work is complete in the field and send out the report within minutes of doing the observation/testing. The field tech can complete a final signed report and send it to the client before the field tech drives away from the site.
The Do-It-Yourself form builder in MetaField is a useful tool that helps Broseghini’s team with dynamic reporting to keep clients updated.
“We’ve really picked up on MetaField’s DIY forms and have created and done a lot with them. We can include pictures and sketches, which is very useful when sending a report to clients. The picture/sketch shows the client what the issues are without having to go and take a look for themselves, saving time for us and them,” said Broseghini.
Having everything on one platform ensures the entire project team is working from the same information, accessible from anywhere. This helps reduce time needed to plan and coordinate project work.
According to Broseghini,
“Our field personnel don’t have to come into our office to pick up paperwork. In the past they’ve had to come in to make copies of reports, get copies of plans, or to review failing paperwork. Now they go straight to the job site because everything they need is in MetaField. We’re saving gas and we can cover more work in the field because we aren’t wasting time. Field personnel heading straight to their job sites from home can save up to an hour drive time every day.”
After using MetaField for two years, A.G. Wassenaar has begun to use Metafield’s scheduling platform for all field personnel. Using this feature has allowed their office staff to be more efficient assigning jobs and more accurate assigning work. Throughout the day, Broseghini’s team is able to monitor progress of each field personnel by tracking the schedule in Metafield real-time.
By saving A.G. Wassenaar so much time and helping to improve efficiency, MetaField also saves on costs. Kenny estimates that the company has been 20% busier this year, which would have required hiring another administrative staff person or two. Thanks to MetaField keeping data organized, they haven’t had to hire extra people to help manage information.
In addition to costs saved with improved efficiency and having to deal with less paperwork, MetaField helps A.G. Wassenaar deliver projects faster. Broseghini said,
“We love that MetaField helps us with a quick turnaround time. Some clients need things done quickly, and we can get things done in the field faster. I see it all on my computer in real time, and get projects signed and out the door the same day it’s done!”