Importantly, users can quickly create an extensive range of reports and export scheme data out of the system at any time – this might be creating design shapefiles for contractors for example or providing a breakdown of scheme investment in different wards across an authority.
Efficient, transparent and secure
This centralised and integrated oversight is extremely powerful.
It transforms efficiency by eliminating the need to run multiple systems or spreadsheets which can very quickly become outdated and be cumbersome to manage.
It increases transparency by becoming a one-stop-shop so that, if something goes wrong or if there is a query about a scheme, the answers can be found quickly.
It improves the integrity, accuracy and security of data by reducing the need for manual intervention which has traditionally opened up potential for errors as data is copied across manually from one spreadsheet or system to the other.
Teams can also be much more responsive to changes in circumstances, quickly identifying the impact of changing the timing of – or investment in – a particular scheme.
With clear budget tracking and visualisation of all scheme costs, managers are empowered with clarity and detail about the schemes on their network.
This demanded an intelligent and innovative design process to ensure that all potential attributes of a scheme were identified and could be easily captured within Scheme Assembler.
At the same time, the team had to allow for a variety of scheme input methods, including:
With a wide variety of potential schemes, document types and input methods the development team faced a real challenge around holding and displaying information consistently.
In order to allow data to be useful across different types of schemes and assets they had to think hard about what is the minimum that needs to be compulsory to allow one scheme to be spatially referenced and compared against another.
Through rigorous testing the team identified the most intelligent ways to structure and hold data.
Environmental benefits
Scheme Assembler was designed to provide a simple approach to scheme management in one place within an intelligent asset management platform.
With the click of a button users can combine, view, update and compare schemes using a wide variety of attributes.
This brings incredible efficiencies to the way that local authority teams can work.
Part of this efficiency comes from the ability to quickly and easily spot opportunities to merge schemes that might have originally been planned to take place in different years.
By merging schemes local authorities can unlock financial gains and there are linked environmental benefits too as site movements can be minimised, heavy equipment is only required on one project and traffic management can be kept to a minimum – so a reduction in emissions from vehicles that are sat still at traffic lights for example.
Moreover, the development roadmap for Scheme Assembler also includes building in an ability to track carbon content for specific treatments and schemes.
Just as the current module allows local authority teams to cost schemes, the plan is that, with the click of a button, users will be able to visualise and prioritise lists of schemes by their carbon usage, therefore creating a scheme list that minimises carbon expenditure, allowing road maintenance to contribute actively to a local authority’s carbon action plan.
Empowering quicker and smarter decisions
In summary, Scheme Assembler is an innovative asset management tool that centralises the building, updating and tracking of schemes – seamlessly linking a live programme of works to wider network and asset data on one digital platform.
This allows engineers to keep track of current maintenance as well as view the data and decisions that were driving the scheme in the first place.
Currently tracking 6,625 schemes across 10 local authorities, it enables dramatic improvements in efficiency, transparency and accountability in local authorities – creating opportunities for quicker and smarter decision making.
The second phase of a landmark project to build a new tramline to link Edinburgh airport with the city which began in 2008 is set to be completed by Spring 2023.
The Government is being urged to ensure guidelines for future Mobility as a Service solutions have standardised approaches to collaboration, avoid being prescriptive on modes and insist on mandatory data sharing.
Details of how to apply to be a qualifying innovator at this year's Innovation Festival have been released by the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG).