Jan 2017 to Dec 2020
Devinium created a series of fundamental upgrades to our client’s unique and highly specialised national tree management software. ArborPlan is sold as a service where the client’s expert arborists populate specific tree data, and then facility managers and their suppliers access the populated system for risk management actions and reporting.
The Brief.
- Improve the productivity and accuracy of our client’s expert field assessors in populating data into their proprietary tree management software.
- Improve the productivity of our client’s administrative staff in creating and deploying client sites and generating reports for their customers.
- Improve the user experience for our client’s facility manager user base by allowing them to switch between their sites seamlessly and generate a suite of management reports based on customisable criteria.
- White label the system to facilitate our client fully fledging their price-fighting brand, ArborSite.
The Objective.
- Improve the tree assessment module (assessment wizard) of the client’s ArborPlan software to improve the time and motion of their in-field assessors.
- Improvements and enhancements to flow from time and motion analysis by the client supplied to Devinium’s project team.
- Key areas of improvement in the assessment wizard to include more intuitive population and selection of data options, predictive population, faster upload and download times and enhancements to on-line and off-line caching and synchronisation as well as improved software stability and security.
- Allow for live collaboration with other assessors on the same site or with same tree species/issues to discuss and harmonise assessments.
- Improve the systems management console for the client’s admin staff to set up new sites, update imagery or base coordinates, and group individual sites into accounts to improve end user experience.
- Create white label properties within the system to allow for further market expansion of the client’s price fighting brand into multiple sites.
The Challenges.
- Data synchronisation and security: Improve aerial imagery and site data upload/download synchronisation times, while also enhancing security protocols to ensure data integrity and privacy.
- Offline and online modes: Improve offline/online switching options and full functionality for workers in remote locations. This involved local caching of high-resolution imagery and large data volumes, including new data and revisions entered in offline mode.
- Geospatial accuracy: Improve GIS positioning for click-and-deploy icons with sub-5m accuracy at any zoom magnification, which was crucial for large-scale sites. This also involved improving aerial imagery quality and redraw speed, enabling smooth panning across massive sites up to hundreds of square kilometres.
- Custom data layers: Allow for custom layers, such as cadastral data showing property addresses and boundaries, to be layered above aerial imagery, enhancing site management.
- Predictive population & error checking: Enhance the assessment wizard’s predictive population features to prompt users to correct invalid data entries and populate missing fields automatically.
- Collaborative sync: Allow multiple assessors on the same sites to synchronise large volumes of data changes quickly and accurately, ensuring only the latest change data overwrites existing entries, while flagging any missing data sets.
- Tree assessment completeness: Display un-assessed trees on large sites to ensure the full tree inventory is reviewed, particularly when multiple assessors are working on-site.
The Solution.
Devinium worked closely with the client to deploy groups of revisions to their software in logical work blocks, prioritised by business impact, and provided fixed timeframes, milestones, and costs for each block.
.Net Framework enhancements: We examined the existing .Net Framework architecture and applied necessary upgrades to support the new features. This involved optimising performance for large datasets while maintaining backwards compatibility with the client’s vast database.
DWebG and Synch systems integration: Devinium’s proprietary DWebG and Synch systems were used to create satellite and embedded code/programmes. These systems facilitated new features interacting seamlessly with the existing database without disrupting the large volume of legacy data.
Optimised caching and synchronisation: Significant improvements were made to online/offline switching and data caching mechanisms to support assessors working in remote locations. High-resolution geospatial imagery could now be cached locally and used offline, with all data changes and site imagery updates syncing seamlessly once a connection was re-established.
GIS and geospatial tools: We enhanced the precision of GIS positioning tools, achieving sub-5m accuracy for map-based features like tree icons, even at extreme zoom levels. This was crucial for large, complex sites, particularly when handling custom data layers.
Assessment wizard improvements: We redesigned the assessment wizard for a more intuitive data entry process, incorporating predictive population, offline search functionality, and real-time error checking to ensure data quality. This reduced the time assessors spent on repetitive tasks while maintaining data integrity.


The Results.
The deployment of all the desired blocks of enhancements to the client’s software delivered significant time and motion savings across all their data input processes, improving their overall profitability.
Assessment Wizard improvements: Enhancements to the Assessment Wizard, along with data synchronisation improvements, increased job satisfaction and reduced stress for field assessors, while delivering better data quality for the end customer.
Admin productivity: The client’s administrative staff reported a marked improvement in productivity, thanks to the feature upgrades in the administration console and the significant synchronisation speed improvements.
Facility manager satisfaction: Facility managers reported higher satisfaction levels due to improved speed and the ability to generate custom reports based on flexible criteria.
White label success: The white labelling changes allowed the client to grow the multi-site customer base for their price-fighting brand, ArborSite, increasing their competitive advantage in the market.

