GeoBase in Action
FPInnovations (FERIC) Uses GeoBase Data to Optimize Forest Road Networks
FPInnovations brings together FERIC (Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada), Forintek, Paprican and the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre of Natural Resources Canada to create the world's largest not-for-profit forest research institute.
FERIC develops decision-making aids and works closely with its partners in implementing its innovative forest solutions. Together with the three research institutes, FERIC integrates research findings to develop solutions covering the vast range of the Canadian forest supply chain.
With over 100 forestry and engineering professionals, technicians, and support staff housed primarily in offices in Montreal, Quebec City and Vancouver, FERIC's goal is to improve Canadian forest operations within a framework of sustainable development. FERIC's research program was developed in cooperation with its members, and is centred around three core elements: minimizing wood costs, maximizing fiber recovery and value and minimizing environmental impacts. Studies focus on all the components of the logistical supply chain, from the forest to the mill.
Forestry transportation accounts for 25% of heavy hauling in Canada. There are over 12,500 forestry trucks on the road and over 1 million litres of fuel being consumed annually. Transportation is the most significant factor in the cost of wood, accounting for 30%. For those reasons, the Canadian forest industry is seeking to reduce its transportation costs. To that end, FERIC has developed a software suite to model transportation of wood substances between various sawmills, paper mills, et cetera, to reduce the distances trucks travel while empty. A solution called MaxTour uses resources such as the GeoBase National Road Network (NRN) and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) as framework geospatial data, with standards and content that are uniform across the country.
FPInnovations also uses GeoBase data for one-time projects. For a waterway mapping project, for example, FERIC combined its LiDAR data with various information available on GeoBase (photos and NRN). When entered into the field teams' navigation system, the data enabled the teams to complete these land surveys in just a few days.
What is MaxTour?
MaxTour is a tool that identifies which routes are best so that transportation managers are able to lower their fleet's overall fuel consumption. It has the following benefits:
- about 5% overall reduction in transportation costs;
- about 10% reduction in distances travelled;
- reduces fuel consumption; and
- enables transportation managers to evaluate the economic impact of their supply strategies.
MaxTour determines efficient haul routes by combining loads available during the same transportation period in a given region. Using the regional forestry map, it optimizes the transportation of forest products with the help of Interface Map, a software developed by FERIC to calculate a forest company's supply costs. Once the analysis is complete, the most cost-effective and efficient routes are presented in a detailed report.
Always seeking to improve its products, FERIC is proposing that it complete the road network featured in its software by adding forest road networks that are on public property and connecting them to the GeoBase NRN.