How The Riley Group Eliminated Reporting Backlogs and Reclaimed Billable Time with Aldoa

Overview

The Riley Group is a geotechnical engineering firm operating across several counties in the Pacific Northwest. With a team of approximately 10 field staff across two different locations, the firm operates with the complexity of a much larger organization.

As project volume increased, internal workflows struggled to keep up. Manual processes across field reporting, lab data, scheduling, and reporting created inefficiencies that impacted both productivity and profitability.

After implementing Aldoa, The Riley Group transformed how their field and lab teams operate, eliminating reporting backlogs, reducing errors, and saving multiple hours each week.

The Challenge

Before Aldoa, The Riley Group relied on a combination of Microsoft Word, Excel, paper forms, and group text messages to manage daily operations. The firm gained an incredible reputation with clients in the Pacific Northwest, and business began to boom. While the old ways were manageable at a smaller scale, the system faced some pressure under increasing project volume.

Field technicians visited multiple job sites per day, only to spend hours writing reports from memory back at the computer. In many cases, reports would pile up until the end of the week, creating delays in client deliverables and added stress on staff.

Lab workflows introduced another layer of complexity. Data was handwritten, physically moved between spaces, and manually entered into spreadsheets, which introduced some risk of errors.

Scheduling added to the complexity as well. Daily coordination was handled across more than 30 group text threads, with constant updates due to weather, equipment issues, and changing site conditions. The system worked, but it was difficult to track assignments and communicate changes effectively in one centralized place. 

Finally, field data and lab results lived in separate systems. Reports frequently sat in draft status while completed lab data remained unlinked, creating bottlenecks and slowing project turnaround.

Why The Riley Group Chose Aldoa

Project Manager Collin McCracken had long recognized the need for a better system. When introduced to Aldoa, his reaction was immediate: it was the solution he had dreamed of building himself.

Aldoa stood out because it offered the right balance of flexibility and simplicity. Unlike larger & clunkier enterprise systems, it was tailored to geotechnical and CMT workflows without introducing unnecessary complexity or long implementation timelines.

The Riley Group chose Aldoa because it provided:

• An intuitive interface for field and lab teams
• Customizable workflows aligned with their operations
• A unified system without enterprise-level overhead
• Fast deployment and strong ongoing support

This combination made it possible to modernize operations without disrupting the team.

The Solution: Aldoa's Cloud-Based Software

The Riley Group implemented Aldoa across field reporting, lab data management, and scheduling, replacing their fragmented workflows with a single, connected platform.

In the field, technicians were equipped with Samsung tablets, allowing them to complete structured reports directly on-site. With Aldoa, reports are now created in real time, with photos captured and attached within the same workflow, eliminating the need for post-site administrative work.

In the lab, a dedicated workstation running Aldoa replaced handwritten processes. Data is entered once and flows automatically into reports, removing the need for manual transcription and reducing the risk of errors.

Scheduling was centralized within Aldoa’s drag-and-drop system. Instead of relying on text message chains, technicians now receive assignments that include project details, locations, and report types. Updates are communicated instantly, ensuring everyone is working from the same information.

By connecting field, lab, and scheduling workflows, Aldoa created a single source of truth for the entire operation.

The Results

The impact of implementing Aldoa was immediate and measurable across the organization.

Reports that once took hours to complete after a long field day are now finished before technicians leave the job site. This has effectively eliminated reporting backlogs and improved turnaround times for clients.

Each staff member now saves approximately 2–4 hours per week by eliminating manual reporting and administrative tasks. At a rough $150 per hour billing rate, The Riley Group's investment in Aldoa paid for itself in weeks.

"We're parking somebody out there for 40 hours a week for months and months and months during the summer construction season. And if we're billing 8-hour days versus 10-hour days, that's a very significant chunk. I mean, we're talking tens of thousands of dollars that we're able to save on a budget." - Collin McCracken, P.E.

Data accuracy has also improved substantially. Required fields and built-in validation ensure that reports are complete before submission, while real-time feedback in lab workflows helps catch errors immediately rather than days later.

The quality and consistency of documentation have improved as well. Photos are now captured directly within reports, automatically formatted, and linked to the correct project. This has led to more thorough site documentation without additional effort from staff.

Scheduling, once a major source of headache, has been streamlined into a single system. The elimination of fragmented communication has improved coordination and reduced the time spent managing daily changes.

Overall, the firm has seen:

• Faster report turnaround
• Reduced administrative workload
• Improved data accuracy
• Better documentation
• More efficient scheduling

Conclusion

For The Riley Group, adopting Aldoa was not just a software upgrade. It was a shift in how their business fundamentally manages field & lab data.

By replacing disconnected tools and manual processes with a unified platform, they eliminated reporting delays, reduced errors, and gave their team back valuable time. The result is a more efficient operation that can scale with project demand while maintaining high-quality deliverables.

The Riley Group has gone above and beyond for its clients for more than three decades - and with Aldoa, they now have a stronger foundation to continue to scale the team for years to come.