[CANUFNET] Tree Information/Management Programs UsedBy Municipalities

[Croy, Owen]

The following is an overview of our system used by the City of Surrey, Parks Division, as prepared by Neal Aven (Asset Management Technician):

 

We use an enterprise asset management software system called Maximo (IBM) to manage our inventory of specimen trees (73,000+ trees) and forested areas (1,460+ hectares).  Maximo is more than flexible enough to allow us to manage work for all of our assets (everything from trees to forests to playgrounds to sport fields to structures to buildings, and on and on).  So, Maximo is ‘canned’ in the sense that it has loads of built-in functionality and not ‘canned’ since many aspects of the database can be defined as needed. 

 

Maximo’s built-in functionality includes:

-          Asset inventory

-          Work order tracking

-          Preventive maintenance

-          Condition monitoring

-          Failure analysis

-          Purchasing

-          Automated workflow

-          Much more...

 

Our version of Maximo does not have graphical displays for planning, budgeting, forest health, etc... but it is fair to say that, in terms of analysis, we are really only limited by the amount of data we are able to collect and record against each tree or forest area.  For example, we are able to produce reports that allow us to analyse all aspects of our asset inventory and work management such as:

-          Which species have high mortality rates?

-          What age experiences the highest mortality rate?

-          Which geographical area has unusually high mortality rates?

-          How many trees are planted in any given year?

-          What is the average number of trees planted over the last ‘x’ years?

-          What is the pruning history for tree ‘x’?

-          Develop unit costs that are used for budgeting.

-          Forecast the number of trees that are scheduled for pruning next year, the year after...

 

It is worth noting that we are currently running a very old version of Maximo (v4.1.1) and we will likely be faced with a decision within the next couple of years as to whether or not we continue with Maximo or move to another system such as CityWorks that is used by our Engineering Operations Division.  One of the key reasons that our Engineering Operations chose CityWorks is that CityWorks can be very tightly integrated with our GIS system (ArcGIS).  The latest of version of Maximo is greatly improved in this regard.

 

From my perspective, Maximo is a very good tool for managing a wide variety of municipal assets.  Maximo can be integrated to GIS data, if desired.  Maximo has a mobile work manager tool that enables field staff to be connected electronically, rather than swamped in paper and tied to the office.  If you are looking for a single tool that can be implemented across the enterprise (park assets, engineering assets, IT assets, Fleet assets, etc...), Maximo is worth a look.

 

Please contact me if you have any additional questions about our use of Maximo.

 

Regards,


Neal Aven

Asset Management Technician

City of Surrey, Parks Division

604.501.5590

nwaven at surrey.ca

 

 

From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of JMCNEIL at oakville.ca
Sent: June-23-09 1:46 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Tree Information/Management Programs UsedBy Municipalities

 

Ivan:
Town of Oalkville started using CityWorks last year.......based on recommendations from several SMA users such as City of New York.
We are pleased so far.
Contact is Barry Kelly from ESRI Canada.
I would say that some customization is inevitable.
Main "useful function"?      ( we lost from our previous system) is the capability to "grow" the urban forest ( age, height, diameter) based on local algorithms so your data is kept current.
Good luck.
Ps garbage is garbage out.....avoid the "buck a tree" consultants for any inventory work.

________________________________

  From: "Listar, Ivan" [ilistar at london.ca]
  Sent: 06/22/2009 04:23 PM AST
  To: <canufnet at list.web.net>
  Subject: [CANUFNET] Tree Information/Management Programs Used By Municipalities





Hello everyone, the City of London is currently reviewing our Forestry tree information/management program with the objective of making it more applicable for other activities/operations than just inventory and tree work order management purposes.

We would like to revise the current computer capability to allow for planning and budgeting for future maintenance, planting, and tracking of forest health infestations.

What programs do other municipalities use for this type of management?  Do you use custom, in-house programs or “canned” programs?  

If you use canned programs, which ones do you use and are they meeting your needs? 

·       Did you have to modify them to meet your needs? 

·       Are there any programs you would recommend for this type of information and program management?

What main functions do the programs you use fulfill and what functions do think are important to add?

Thanks   

 

Ivan Listar, R.P.F.

Urban Forester, City of London

A.J. Tyler Operations Centre

663 Bathurst St.

London, Ont.  N5Z 1P8

Phone: 519-661-2500 ext. 4977 

mailto:ilistar at london.ca 

fax: 519-661-2352

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