Forestry software solutions
When yesterday’s forester went to perform a stocktake in his forest he was likely to be armed with a compass and tape measure. Today’s forester is more likely to be armed with a mobile computer equipped with GPS, in fact he can complete half the job in his office by running tree recognition software over satellite imagery.
New Zealand is recognised internationally as a leader in plantation forestry and Scion has provided the underpinning science that helped develop that reputation. It has played a pivotal role in effecting the changing nature of forestry, taking it from a hunch-based decision making approach to a scientific process. Business decisions such as what genotypes to plant, the optimal time to prune or harvest, and the likely value of the harvest are based on reliable data and proven models that take into account the natural variation that occurs in forest growth.
In 2002 Scion gathered all its software developers into a single business unit, branded as ATLAS Technology. Their aim was to develop a new generation of software tools, within an integrated architecture so that products relating to different stages in the forestry value chain were able to communicate with one another.
The new suite of ATLAS products has been widely adopted throughout New Zealand and Australia, generating nearly $8 million in commercial sales over the past five years. It has provided better efficiency for clients, because as the products communicate together better, so too do the people using them.
A classical example is that forest growers and harvesting groups are now sharing a common system, and those divisions that historically worked independently are now much more aware of the activities of the other group. This increases the value of the data they collect, and reduces the incidence of errors because both groups have better information. In the Alphametrik review, industry estimated that the value of improved efficiencies is worth approximately $7 million p/a.
New Zealand is recognised internationally as a leader in plantation forestry and Scion has provided the underpinning science that helped develop that reputation. It has played a pivotal role in effecting the changing nature of forestry, taking it from a hunch-based decision making approach to a scientific process. Business decisions such as what genotypes to plant, the optimal time to prune or harvest, and the likely value of the harvest are based on reliable data and proven models that take into account the natural variation that occurs in forest growth.
In 2002 Scion gathered all its software developers into a single business unit, branded as ATLAS Technology. Their aim was to develop a new generation of software tools, within an integrated architecture so that products relating to different stages in the forestry value chain were able to communicate with one another.
The new suite of ATLAS products has been widely adopted throughout New Zealand and Australia, generating nearly $8 million in commercial sales over the past five years. It has provided better efficiency for clients, because as the products communicate together better, so too do the people using them.
A classical example is that forest growers and harvesting groups are now sharing a common system, and those divisions that historically worked independently are now much more aware of the activities of the other group. This increases the value of the data they collect, and reduces the incidence of errors because both groups have better information. In the Alphametrik review, industry estimated that the value of improved efficiencies is worth approximately $7 million p/a.