As Northeast Florida’s construction sector continues to gain strength, Ellis & Associates, one of Jacksonville’s largest integrated engineering services firms, has been working to develop systems and software that will expedite and streamline its testing results delivery process.
After more than a year of research and development, the company launched its proprietary “E-REPORTS” system, a unique, new online delivery system that allows clients to access their construction materials testing reports via the Internet.
With more than 200 construction materials testing clients, Ellis & Associates expects the new system to save thousands of sheets of paper, hundreds of hours of time and be more efficient for its customers and its own internal operations.
The E-REPORTS system provides E&A’s clients with 24-hour access to PDF-formatted reports that include secure, digitally-signed copies of the reports. Results from construction materials testing must be completed before actual construction can begin. So with this new system, Ellis & Associates’ clients receive the reports sooner, can e-mail the reports to multiple parties instantly, and clients have continual access to the reports at their desktops as well as in the field via Internet-equipped personal digital assistants.
“E-REPORTS means that our clients will get the reports in a more timely and efficient manner, said Greg Edmonds, the CEO of Ellis & Associates. “While I don’t think we will ever be a totally paperless society, this kind of advancement allows our clients to have these critical reports at their fingertips whenever they want, wherever they are.”
The E-REPORTS concept came out of an intensive strategic planning process where Ellis & Associates asked customers what would make their lives easier, and they answered quicker CMT reporting and easier access (no lost paper). A year later, the consulting engineering firm answered the call by launching E-REPORTS.
In addition to the E-REPORTS system, Ellis & Associates has acquired several new drilling rigs, trucks and materials testing equipment as well as internal office equipment to create more streamlined and technologically advanced business operations.
Ellis & Associates Inc. (E&A) is a provider of integrated engineering services including environmental, geotechnical and materials testing in the public and private sectors of land development throughout the Southeast. With regional offices in Jacksonville and Titusville, E&A has a professional staff of 115 engineers, geologists, and technicians and one of the largest drilling fleets in Florida.
Incorporated in 1970, Ellis & Associates is a member of the Northeast Florida Builders Association.