American Forest Management, Inc. (AFM), one of the largest forest consulting and real estate brokerage firms in the United States, manages over 4.5-million acres of private timberland and has sold over $956 million in real estate since 2005. AFM is a long-time user of Remsoft technology and an early adopter of Remsoft Collaborative Analytics.

In addition to using Remsoft’s Spatial Planning System for harvest scheduling and spatial analysis, AFM utilizes Remsoft to create accurate and accountable land valuations and appraisals. Utilizing the technology’s robust modeling capabilities, AFM is able to include land sales in its long-term timber cash flows, model potential short-term uses beyond timberland and consider what similar lands have sold for in valuations.

For example, in one recently completed pilot project, AFM was able to reduce the time required to edit and review plans by 30-50%, resulting in faster turnaround, a higher value to clients and an increase in overall productivity. In another instance, AFM helped a landowner change harvesting practices to improve their rate of return by 35 basis points. By analyzing their land and providing more information to operations, the Remsoft Spatial Planning System allows personnel to simply change which stands to harvest, resulting in net value increases.

AFM utilizes Remsoft Software for acquisition analysis, timberland appraisal cash flows, and forest planning. The combined asset value of these activities exceeds four billion dollars in an average year.

“We’re confident that AFM is receiving more than a million dollars in value from working with Remsoft,” said Andy Ferguson, AFM Senior Vice President, Appraisal Services. “As we use Remsoft’s new analytics capability with an increasing amount of projects, we expect to see that number increase even more.”

Remsoft technology is the centerpiece of the New Brunswick Department of Transportation’s (NBDoT) award-winning Asset Management System (AMS), which it developed and launched in 2005. NBDoT manages one of the oldest and largest per-capita transportation networks in Canada.

Remsoft has been used to more effectively and sustainably manage the province’s extensive transportation. Already the government agency has saved nearly $70-million annually, all while significantly improving the quality of its transportation network.

“By utilizing Remsoft technology, the New Brunswick Department of Transportation was able to prove the infeasibility of its old approach and arrest the deterioration of road quality province-wide,” said Kim Mathisen, chair of the Taskforce on Asset Management, New Brunswick Department of Transportation. “We ‘removed the politics from paving’ and increased the quality of more than 1,200 kilometers of road. We project that by 2020, we will have saved a minimum of $1.4 billion by using Remsoft solutions.”

The department has estimated an 8% increase in NPV and a 28% increase in spotted owl habitat.

Remsoft’s technology enables optimized planning of this complex set of assets, requirements and demands. The proposal earned more money in the short-term and created more suitable northern spotted owl habitat in the long-term without a significant decrease in the long-term sustainable harvest.

Since 1970, DNR’s trust lands have generated revenue to support public schools, state universities, institutions, and county services. Additionally, the agency plays an important role in the conservation of habitat for listed, threatened and endangered plant and animal species under the Endangered Species Act.

"Since we implemented Remsoft's solutions, we can optimize assets that were once managed in various spreadsheets. As a result, we have greater alignment and communication between divisions and our productivity gains have reached 5 to 10%."

Suzano is Brazil’s Largest Pulp and Paper Company and has since improved its complex supply chain and increased its production.

The Westervelt Company was able to use Remsoft to factor variables such as how the land was currently being used and what was more profitable. After running an analysis of the cost of harvesting every four years, they discovered the cost of operating was high, and that harvesting on a more regular schedule could improve ROI by $1 million without disrupting the hunting use of the land.

"Remsoft was everything we were looking for; we've been able to add more and more variables into the solution and easily maintain the sustainability of our land throughout our continued growth."

The Westervelt Company is a U.S.-Based Land Resource Management Company which has seen an improvement in its production, profit and overall sustainability, including a $5 Million benefit from optimizing its smallest acreages.