Field data capture for timber harvesting
Offline-first Android app for capturing timber-harvest data in the field, syncing on demand to an on-premise system.
Client
Forestry company.
Challenge
Mobile application for specialized devices with the Android operating system for collecting data on logging and transportation of harvested timber in the field, designed to operate in an offline-first mode and capable of synchronizing data on demand. A counterpart system is hosted on-premise and no third party cloud solution is allowed.
Solution
To satisfy strict project requirements several approaches were investigated and tested. The combination of PouchDB/CouchDB was selected for the data storage and synchronization.
On the back-end side a necessary solution for data migration from legacy systems and communication to existing company ERP was implemented utilizing CouchDB and RabbitMQ.
As per request, the mobile application allows its users to collect data in the field about harvested timber, describe each piece with wood species, length, radius, quality, harvesting location, storage location, among other details. The application further facilitates volume calculations based on client-provided formulas and business standards.
As timber is approved for sales and transportation, the application enables users to generate essential administrative records for the sales department and accounting in the field. This ensures accurate documentation of the exact pieces that have been sold and transported from the field premises.
Due to the challenges of wireless communication in field conditions, users have the option to manually synchronize data at their own discretion.