Remsoft is a Canadian provider of asset management and asset optimization solutions for forestry, natural resource and infrastructure assets. As a decision-support tool Remsoft technology enables companies to weigh all alternatives and produce actionable and defensible plans that better meet their business goals.  With Remsoft companies can evaluate numerous alternatives to identify the best use of their resources and assets. Companies can take specific actions knowing their plans are backed by rigorous analysis.

JSC Latvia’s State Forests has been cooperating with Remsoft since 2011 and has developed various software solutions for forest management and planning support for the company’s and our client needs.For more information about Remsoft visit company’s website http://www.remsoft.com

For strategic modeling various optimization goals can be set, but most commonly the task of maximizing discounted future earnings while providing even felling volumes for a certain period of time is set (for example for the following 120 years). According to specific needs and requirements of the client various scenarios can be modelled and compared.

The parameters of the strategic model can be customized to the client needs. Capital value of company properties over time and long-term cash flow can be determined based on the data generated by the model. Changes and risks are also modelled depending on planned actions and decisions. The model provides projection of a period of up to 100 years. If necessary different discount rates can be applied to assess potential influence of these rates to the economic activity of the company.

The result of strategic modeling can provide information for a certain period of time about following indicators:

• overall revenue from timber sales
• fixed costs
• variable costs
• profit
• silviculture costs
• production costs
• area breakdown for felling restrictions and dominant species
• tree specie and assortment outcome
• clear-cut volumes by dominant species
• thinning volumes by dominant species
• felling volumes by fell types
• forest renewal volumes by time
• forest stand volume increment
• forest age structure by species
• etc.

In the process of spatial optimization various spatial parameters can be applied to the data and algorithms enabling spatial restrictions (for example fell sizes and emplacement principles) to be set to the modeling outcomes and results. This optimization allows to develop more realistic and therefore more precise tactical models and their results as well as to determine location of felling sites.

Spatial optimization supports these parameters:

• maximal size of the fell
• minimal size of the fell
• prefered size of the fell
• maximal distance between forest compartments that can be combined in a single fell
• minimal distance between fells
• value to be maximized while creating fells, for example maximize yield of softwood sawlogs
• etc.

Tactical modeling can be carried out after the development of a strategic model, providing long-term planning result transfer to a shorter-term planning. To provide more precise and realistic results the strategic modeling is followed by spatial optimization before development of the tactical model. The tactical model and spatial optimization supports operation planning in the shorter term while maintaining a link with the strategic plan. Precise operational plans are most commonly created over periods of one, five or ten years.

For tactical modeling various optimization goals can be set as well, but most commonly the task of maximizing profit is set (optimizing logging and transportation costs). In the tactical model certain forest management setup has to be chosen. Most common forest management setup for the tactical model is:

• clear-cut by age
• thinning in accordance with the period set in the strategic model

The result of tactical modeling can provide information about following indicators:

• overall revenue of the timber sales
• logging costs
• profit
• clear-cut volumes sorted by the dominant species
• thinning volumes sorted by the dominant species
• clear-cut and thinning volumes sorted by the logging foremans
• etc.