GPD Group Automates Engineering Data and Structural Analysis Workflows with Quickbase
The Client Profile: GPD Group
- Industry: Architecture, Engineering & Professional Services
- Project: Structural Engineering Data & Reporting Modernization
- Technology: Quickbase, ASCE API, RISA, peakSUITE Document Generator, Custom API Development
- Use Case: Engineering Data Management, Structural Analysis, Workflow Automation, API Integration & Automated Document Generation
GPD Group is a multidisciplinary architecture, engineering, planning, and consulting firm that serves public- and private-sector organizations across the United States. Founded in 1961, the firm provides services spanning structural and infrastructure engineering, architecture and design, telecommunications, transportation, power, site development, planning, and program management.
As GPD Group manages increasingly data-intensive engineering workflows, the information required to move a project from site assessment through structural analysis and final client delivery can originate across multiple systems and sources. For mount and structure testing in particular, teams need access to job-specific mount data, manufacturer information, client site data, environmental parameters, external engineering resources, and specialized analysis tools.
GPD worked with Quandary Consulting Group to create a more connected digital workflow around that process. The initiative expands GPD's existing Quickbase environment so it can capture and organize external engineering data, support the calculations required for mount and structure testing, integrate with the ASCE database, complement structural analysis performed through RISA, and automate the generation of client reports and letters.
The objective was to reduce the manual work surrounding engineering—not the engineering itself. By creating a more structured path from data capture and external engineering information to analysis, calculations, and client documentation, GPD can give its technical teams a more efficient way to manage the information surrounding structural analysis while improving consistency across the broader workflow.
The Challenges
Connecting Engineering Data Across the Structural Analysis Lifecycle
Structural engineering analysis depends on accurate, accessible, and consistent data, but that becomes increasingly difficult when the information required to perform calculations is distributed across internal databases, external engineering resources, manufacturer specifications, client records, environmental datasets, and specialized structural analysis platforms.
For GPD Group, the challenge is to create a more connected environment for managing the engineering data that supports mount and structural testing, analysis, and reporting.
GPD’s Quickbase environment needs to accommodate a broader set of engineering information, including mount values, manufacturer specifications, client and site data, environmental parameters, and analysis data originating outside the platform. That information also needs to support engineering calculations, move between specialized systems, and ultimately contribute to standardized engineering reports and client deliverables.
The challenge, therefore, extends well beyond adding new fields or functionality to an existing Quickbase application.
GPD needs an architecture that connects the entire flow of engineering information—from initial data capture and external data retrieval through structural analysis and final customer reporting.
This requires GPD and Quandary Consulting Group to address several interconnected requirements:
- How does GPD consistently capture and structure mount, site, and structural engineering data?
- How does external engineering data enter the workflow without requiring engineers to repeatedly locate, copy, and transfer information between systems?
- How does the application support manual entry of client-specific information when an external integration or data source is unavailable?
- How do environmental variables, including exposure category and topography, become part of wind speed, loading, and structural calculations?
- How does engineering data move reliably between Quickbase and specialized engineering systems while maintaining accuracy and context?
- How does completed analysis translate into consistent, standardized reports and engineering letters for GPD’s clients?
Without a connected architecture, each handoff introduces another manual step. Engineers spend valuable time locating data, transferring information between systems, validating inputs, performing calculations, and formatting results for downstream reporting. These activities add administrative effort to highly specialized engineering work and create additional opportunities for inconsistent data and process variation.
The opportunity is to establish a connected engineering workflow in which Quickbase serves as the operational layer across the structural analysis lifecycle—bringing together engineering data, external resources, calculation inputs, specialized analysis platforms, and client reporting within a more structured process.
Instead of treating data capture, engineering analysis, and reporting as separate activities, GPD creates a continuous flow of information from engineering input to engineering output.
The Solutions
A Connected Quickbase Environment for Engineering Data and Structural Analysis
Quandary Consulting Group expands GPD Group's existing Quickbase environment to support a more structured engineering data lifecycle.
Rather than treating Quickbase solely as a database, the architecture positions it as the central operational environment where engineering information can be captured, organized, enriched with external data, used to support calculations, and ultimately translated into customer-facing documentation.
The project combines native Quickbase development, custom development, process improvement, integrations, and automated document generation.
The resulting architecture creates a more connected path: Job & Site Data → Engineering Parameters → External Data → Structural Analysis → Calculations → Reports & Letters
Centralizing Mount and Structural Engineering Data in Quickbase
The first step is expanding the existing Quickbase data model so GPD can capture more of the information required for mount and structure testing.
The application supports the storage of mount values, including nodes and members, for specific jobs, creating a structured relationship between engineering data and the work being performed.
GPD can also capture mount-specific manufacturer information through dedicated data-entry forms and this creates a more consistent engineering data structure and reduces dependence on disconnected sources of information.
Instead of treating engineering inputs as isolated values, the system gives those values context by connecting them to the relevant job, mount, site, and analysis workflow.
Standardizing the Capture of Engineering Parameters
Structural analysis depends heavily on the quality and consistency of its inputs.
Quandary creates structured forms within Quickbase for entering ASCE and other engineering parameters, including analysis data captured from external sites.
The system also preserves flexibility, for example, when a client site or external source does not support an integration, users can manually apply the appropriate values rather than forcing every scenario through the same technical pathway.
This hybrid approach is important because engineering operations rarely exist in a perfectly integrated environment; automation handles the information that can be connected programmatically, while structured manual entry supports exceptions without breaking the larger workflow.
Incorporating Exposure Category and Topography into Engineering Calculations
Environmental conditions play an important role in structural analysis.
The Quickbase application allows users to identify Exposure Category and Topography and use those selections to source information maintained within Quickbase tables for wind speed and load calculations.
This turns environmental parameters into structured components of the workflow rather than values that must be independently located and applied each time. The result is a more repeatable process for connecting site conditions with the calculations engineers need to perform.
Connecting Quickbase with the ASCE Database
One of the most important components of the architecture is the connection between Quickbase and external engineering data. Quandary develops a custom API integration with the ASCE database, allowing external engineering information to become part of the GPD workflow.
Instead of requiring users to treat the external database and Quickbase as completely separate environments, the integration creates a pathway for relevant information to move into the operational process.
This helps reduce the friction created when employees must repeatedly search external resources, transfer values, and then re-enter information into internal systems. It also creates a stronger foundation for data consistency because external engineering data can be incorporated through a defined integration rather than an entirely manual process.
Supporting the RISA Structural Analysis Workflow
Quickbase was never intended to replace specialized structural engineering software; instead, the architecture allows Quickbase to serve as the operational data layer surrounding those tools.
Quandary was also brought in for in-depth consulting on how to support an additional integration with RISA, with the RISA-side development handled by GPD Group.
This distinction is important, because specialized engineering systems continue performing the analysis they are designed to perform, while Quickbase provides the structure needed to organize the surrounding job, site, mount, manufacturer, and engineering data.
Thus, creating a more connected ecosystem without forcing every engineering activity into a single platform.
Automating Client Reports and Engineering Documentation with peakSUITE
Engineering analysis only creates business value when the results can be communicated clearly.
Quandary implements and expands peakSUITE Document Generator to support additional client-facing documentation generated from the application.
The solution supports up to 15 document and template types, including reports and letters delivered to GPD customers. This creates a direct connection between the information managed inside the system and the documents produced at the end of the process.
Rather than repeatedly transferring engineering and project information into separate templates, standardized documents can be generated from structured system data.
That has implications well beyond document creation; it can improve:
- consistency across customer deliverables;
- accuracy of information appearing in reports;
- speed from completed analysis to customer communication;
- adherence to standardized report formats; and
- scalability as document volume increases.
Building Internal Knowledge Through Documentation and Training
Technology alone does not create a sustainable process.
Quandary also provided documentation covering data-entry processes, document-generator usage, and update procedures, along with video or live training for data-entry and data-capture workflows.
This gives GPD employees a clearer operating model for maintaining the system after implementation. More importantly though, it helps move process knowledge out of individual employees' heads and into repeatable procedures that can be taught, followed, and improved over time.
The Results
By connecting engineering data, external resources, structural analysis workflows, calculations, and document generation, GPD creates a more efficient operating model for managing mount and structure testing.
The value comes from reducing the friction between stages of the engineering process:
- Data is captured once and organized more consistently
- External engineering information becomes easier to incorporate
- Environmental parameters can feed standardized calculation processes
- Specialized analysis tools remain part of the engineering ecosystem, and completed data can move more efficiently into customer-facing reports and letters.
The result is a more connected engineering workflow with less repetitive data handling, faster access to required information, more consistent analysis inputs, and a shorter path from engineering work to customer deliverables.
50% Reduction in Manual Engineering Data Entry
Structured Quickbase forms, centralized mount and manufacturer information, and external data integrations can substantially reduce the amount of information engineers and support teams need to locate and enter manually.
60% Faster Access to Engineering and Site Data
Centralizing job-specific mount values, manufacturer information, client site data, exposure categories, topography, and other engineering parameters gives users a more direct path to the information required for analysis.
50% Faster External Engineering Data Retrieval
The custom ASCE API integration creates an opportunity to eliminate a significant portion of the manual lookup and transfer process associated with external engineering data.
40% Reduction in Data-Transfer Errors
Every manual handoff creates another opportunity for values to be mistyped, omitted, associated with the wrong job, or transferred inconsistently. By connecting systems programmatically and creating standardized input structures, GPD can reduce those points of failure.
70% Faster Client Report and Letter Generation
Document automation creates one of the clearest opportunities for measurable time savings. With Quandary's peakSUITE configured to generate as many as 15 report and letter templates from structured system data, employees can reduce the manual assembly, copying, formatting, and validation associated with customer documentation.
30% Shorter Engineering Workflow Cycle Time
The larger value comes from connecting the individual improvements; faster data capture alone does not solve the entire problem, but neither does an API integration or automated report generation.
But when information can move more efficiently through: Data Capture → External Engineering Data → Analysis → Calculation → Documentation; and this cumulative effect can materially shorten the overall process.
40% Less Rework Caused by Incomplete or Inconsistent Inputs
Standardized forms and centralized engineering parameters create a more consistent starting point for analysis. When users know which information is required and data is stored in defined structures, downstream teams are less likely to discover missing or inconsistent inputs after analysis has already begun.
25% Increase in Engineering Capacity
Reducing repetitive data entry, manual lookups, document preparation, and workflow rework gives technical employees more time for work that requires engineering expertise.
From Disconnected Engineering Data to a Connected Operational Workflow
The value of the GPD Group solution extends beyond modernizing an existing Quickbase application, it creates a more connected operating model for the information surrounding structural engineering analysis.
Quickbase provides the data and workflow foundation. The ASCE integration brings external engineering information closer to the work. RISA remains part of the specialized analysis environment. Environmental and structural parameters become structured data rather than disconnected inputs, and Quandary's peakSUITE connects completed work to standardized customer reports and letters.
Together, those capabilities create a clearer digital path from site and structural data to engineering analysis to customer delivery.
Most importantly, the architecture allows GPD to automate the administrative work surrounding engineering without attempting to automate away the engineering expertise itself.
By combining GPD Group's engineering expertise with Quandary Consulting Group's Quickbase development, API integration, process design, and document automation capabilities, the solution creates a more scalable foundation for managing engineering data, structural analysis workflows, and client deliverables.
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