Aviation: Building Bridges Between Teams

At Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), every department speaks a different language, engineering in systems, operations in uptime, finance in budgets, and sustainability in efficiency. Through collaboration with PHL, Arora’s Geospatial Team developed the Gate Tool, a GIS-powered platform that brings those conversations together in one shared map.

With just a few clicks, airport staff can view the condition of passenger boarding bridges, PC Air units, and other assets in real time. This single source of truth connects every stakeholder, from planners to technicians around the same visual data.

Like the boarding bridges on the ramp, GIS helps everyone meet in the middle, turning information into insight and teamwork into tangible results.

Water Predictive Modeling for Safer Communities

GIS isn’t just about mapping what we can see, it’s about uncovering what we can’t. In the “Get the Lead Out” initiative, Arora’s Geospatial Team used predictive modeling and machine learning to identify where lead service lines are most likely to exist, without digging up a single yard.

By analyzing neighborhood data, housing age, and installation records, GIS helps pinpoint high-risk areas and prioritize field inspections. This data-driven approach empowers utilities and municipalities to protect public health more efficiently and cost-effectively.

It’s a smarter, faster, and safer way to make our communities healthier.

Facilities & Public Safety: Pre-Incident Planning for Readiness

When seconds matter, information saves lives. Arora’s GIS-based Pre-Incident Planning solution helps fire departments and safety agencies prepare before an emergency even begins.

By digitizing site data, floor plans, and hazard information, the solution enables first responders to assess risks, plan access routes, and understand building layouts, all in one centralized map.

The result: faster coordination, safer crews, and stronger protection for people, property, and the environment. It’s GIS at its most powerful, turning preparation into prevention.

Mapping the Future

From airports to utilities to public safety agencies, GIS technology is redefining how organizations see, share, and act on their data.

At Arora Engineers, we believe GIS is more than a tool, it’s a bridge between disciplines, helping teams work smarter, collaborate faster, and build a safer, more connected world.

This GIS Day, we celebrate the innovators who transform data into decisions, and the maps that help us all find common ground.

Visit our Geospatial Services page to explore how Arora Engineers is advancing digital transformation through GIS and smart infrastructure.

The post From Data to Discovery: Celebrating GIS Day 2025 appeared first on Arora Engineers.

The report emphasizes the growing importance of data governance in aviation, particularly as airports increasingly rely on GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and spatial technologies to drive planning, operations, safety, and infrastructure management. With geospatial data playing a pivotal role in everything from runway layout optimization to emergency response planning, establishing strong governance policies is critical.

Tom Tiner, GISP, Geospatial Discipline Lead, stated “I was thrilled to contribute a small part to this large-scale research initiative. The collaborative nature of this project enabled deep learning and knowledge-sharing across disciplines, and the resulting report serves as a vital tool for industry professionals.”

Arora has long been a leader in developing and integrating geospatial solutions for major airports. Our real-world experience helped ground the research behind ACRP Report 278 in practical, implementable strategies. Through our work, we support organizations in defining governance policies, ownership roles, and operational processes that ensure long-term data sustainability goals that align directly with the core objectives of this report.

Why This Matters:

• Improved Decision-Making: Clear data governance ensures that geospatial data is accurate, consistent, and trustworthy enabling better planning and operational decisions.

• Enhanced Collaboration: With standardized procedures, cross-departmental teams can access and use geospatial data seamlessly.

• Regulatory Compliance & Risk Reduction: Strong governance supports compliance with FAA standards and reduces operational risks.

• Future-Proofing Infrastructure: As technologies evolve, airports with robust data governance systems will be better positioned to adapt and innovate.

What’s Inside the Report:

• A structured framework for creating and implementing geospatial data governance.

• Policy templates and best practices for managing data ownership, access, quality control, and metadata.

• Case studies from airports implementing successful governance strategies.

• Recommendations tailored for airports of all sizes.

This report is a must-read for airport executives, planners, GIS professionals, and IT leaders seeking to elevate their data practices in a rapidly transforming digital aviation landscape.

You can access the full ACRP Report 278 via the Transportation Research Board (TRB) website.

The post New Guidance Released on Aviation Geospatial Data Governance appeared first on Arora Engineers.

At Arora, our Geospatial Practice is committed to offering a comprehensive suite of products and services that empower our clients to harness the potential of geospatial data and cutting-edge technologies. Our goal is to help our clients reduce costs and optimize the efficiency of their planning, design, operations, and maintenance endeavors.

From program planning and architectural design to data collection, application design, and support, our solutions are designed to assist our clients in boosting revenue, ensuring safety, achieving overall operational excellence, and staying compliant with regulatory requirements. Our team boasts expertise in BIM/CAD/GIS data development, application configuration, and seamless integration with third-party information systems. These capabilities result in solutions that encompass lease management, airspace analysis, asset management, utility locating, interior wayfinding, and FAA 18B data compliance.

Our dedicated team offers on-site and virtual consultation services to guide clients in envisioning their geospatial programs, leveraging existing data, IT infrastructure, and data management workflows, all aligned with predefined objectives and in collaboration with stakeholders. The outcomes are meticulously documented in a Geospatial Roadmap, categorizing tasks related to data, systems, and organizational governance. To gain further insights, we caught up with some of our GIS team members to understand what National GIS Day signifies to them:

How did you get into GIS?

Benjamin Smith McRobie, GIS Specialist: “Knowing I wanted to work within the built environment I started my education as an architecture major. After taking a GIS elective course I fell in love with the ability to understand not only what happens on a site but also the surroundings in great detail. Shortly after I changed my major to a BS of Architectural Studies and continued with a Masters in GeoDesign. Every day I work on projects that help clients visualize and query their assets by creating intuitive and interactive maps and dashboards. One of my favorite GIS projects was a redesign of center city Philadelphia with environmental sustainability being a large part of the project. Using GIS software and skills, we were able to make reports including energy consumption and environmental impact. I’m continually blown away by how I see GIS appearing in more and more fields outside of Architecture/Engineering/Construction.”

Matthew Baker, GISP, GIS Specialist: “I found mapping of the environment to be amazing and very eye opening as to the damage that we are doing to the planet. I thought that it was so powerful to be able to show such large amounts of data in a meaningful way. You can take very complex situations and information and make them easy to understand for anyone. That to me is so powerful.”

What has been your favorite or most memorable GIS project?

Tim Lesser, GISP, Sr. GIS Specialist: “There are many memorable projects, although most recently the Indoors project with FLL. Data with z-value elevations, such as floor plans of all the terminals, navigation pathways, transitions between floors, and points of interest (POIs) locations and content were developed for public wayfinding and informational access. We developed a mobile application for FLL that included the mapping of public facing floor plans with the POI locations, shop/dine concession content, and flight and parking information.”

Katherine Iles, Sr. GIS Specialist: “Working on the ArcGIS Indoors project for Atlanta Airport has been an exciting experience where I have had the opportunity to dive deep into developing the Indoors Information Model and create a suite of Indoors applications. These applications aid in the interior navigation, asset management and office assignment for the airport. This has been a monumental project in developing my skills.”

Share a lesser-known fact about GIS that you find intriguing.

Nelson Ahrens, GIS Analyst: “Back in the day when I used physical (paper) maps, it seemed intuitive to me that the only way an image from a spherical surface (e.g., globe) could be displayed on a flat surface, such as a paper map, distortion was inevitable. Like an inflated balloon with an image on it, once the balloon was deflated and laid flat the image would be distorted (stretched). However, as I started using electronic maps, I just assumed that the computer could negate any distortion. Once I started studying GIS, I was surprised to learn that there is still distortion, but GIS can lessen (distribute) the distortion.

Map distortion occurs in four ways: area, shape, distance, and direction and is directly proportional to the size of the mapped area (e.g., distortion for map of North America would be much greater than a map of North Carolina). GIS (electronic) maps utilize what are called projections to minimize distortion. Also, GIS can adjust distortion for specific purposes. For example, in a map needed for navigation (e.g., vehicular GPS, and aviation flight routing), GIS would heighten the precision of the direction and distance components (most critical for navigation) at the loss of precision (more distortion) in the shape and area components.

I imagine most people don’t appreciate how GIS provides precise maps (as accurate as possible). I still take all this for granted each time I get to my destination thanks to Waze.”

Thomas Crossman, Sr. GIS Analyst: “Fundamentally, “GIS” does not mean a high-tech system that only a highly-trained, aloof professional can understand and operate. A GIS can be relevant to and creatable by anyone; think maps.

Let’s say you have a simple paper map of soils in your town, consisting of an area divided by lines into a bunch of subareas, each subarea filled in with a color indicating the type of soil in that subarea. The map demonstrates that soil types vary over space, a fundamental property on which a GIS operates. So is the map a GIS? No, not in itself. It’s cartography (a powerful field of pursuit in its own right). Now, suppose you also have a paper map of the same area with several dots representing the known locations, coming from a few anecdotal reports from the public, of a particularly nasty invasive plant of great concern to your town. Someone looking at the plant map may observe: “OK, so these invasives are growing at these locations, but is that the only place they are? Probably not, but how can we be sure? We can’t go out and walk every square inch of the town looking for this thing. How do we know where to look?”

Another person may then have an idea—pointing at the map: “Well, why is the plant growing where it is? Does it prefer some particular habitat?” Then, “Wait a minute. Maybe it only grows in a particular type of soil … and we have a soil map right here. Let’s compare the maps.” After looking back and forth for a while, that person, not being able quite to make sense of the comparison, puts the plant map on top of the soil map … then frowns. The soil map isn’t visible: “What we need is a big light table, but we don’t have one here.” Then, she grabs both maps and runs to a big window. She tapes the soil map on the window and then tapes the plant map over it. Voila! Both maps are visible. Someone else observes: “The dots for the plants are only in these two soil colors. Maybe we only have to look in areas with these two soil types.” Now do we have a GIS? Yes, indeed. The superimposed maps have revealed a pattern, and the map users have a working solution … all accomplished with two pieces of paper, a window, and some tape.

A GIS is fundamentally any system that layers different kinds of information by literally lining them up in space. This natural spatial correspondence can reveal patterns that can be both fascinating and informative to problem solving.”

What aspects of your work with GIS do you find most fulfilling?

Marco Viola, Vice President, Global Business Development, Enterprise Solutions: “One of the most fulfilling aspects of my work with GIS is witnessing the transformative realization among individuals at the organizations we collaborate with. Many come with little to no knowledge of GIS, often viewing data in traditional, tabular formats. However, once they experience the power of GIS, there’s an undeniable shift. They become captivated by this ‘new’ way of visualizing data, seeing patterns and connections that were previously hidden. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how GIS not only enhances their understanding but often ignites a newfound passion for data-driven decision-making.”

Katherine Iles, Sr. GIS Specialist: “I love when I put together a web mapping application that the customer both loves and finds useful. I very much enjoy the marriage of data and cartography that GIS employs. Putting together maps that both display information in a thoughtful way and look appealing is something I really love to do.”

Nelson Ahrens, GIS Analyst: “I love automating GIS and CAD processes. I get great satisfaction in discovering ways to programmatically perform tasks. I use Python, and AutoLSP programming languages to automate tasks. I also enjoy using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) software to automate the conversion of AutoCAD drawings to GIS data.”

What is the personal importance of GIS to you?

Matthew Baker, GISP, GIS Specialist: “I love the information and help that GIS can provide to airports and airport personnel.  It can help with anything from tracking flights to helping improve safety on an airfield.

Tim Lesser, GISP, Sr. GIS Specialist: “To gain knowledge and access to information for people to conceptualize and have different options for the development of better decisions and solutions. The increase of spatial awareness for a better understanding that several aspects of society are interrelated. Geospatial technology can be applied to many different domains across society.”

Marco Viola, Vice President, Global Business Development, Enterprise Solutions: “GIS provides a dynamic lens to visualize and interpret our surroundings, laying the foundation for organizations that thrive on efficiency and innovation. It’s pivotal in streamlining maintenance and operations, ensuring that systems function seamlessly. As an indispensable component of mission-critical systems, GIS helps in making informed decisions, optimizing resources, and enhancing the overall quality of life. Essentially, it’s the backbone that connects data with real-world scenarios, driving progress and sustainability.”

From your day-to-day perspective, how is GIS helping to build a better more connected world?

Thomas Crossman, Sr. GIS Analyst: “Currently, my work involves developing planimetric and infrastructure data for a major airport that will be part of a new airport system that interconnects and inter-informs the activities of all the business units: air operations, construction, passenger management, transportation, safety and security, marketing, information technology, and others. Such interoperation is a natural and powerful use of GIS technology and is increasing quickly throughout the world, so others like me are working every day to create the connectedness. Although my own day-to-day efforts in building connectedness may be comparatively small in scale, I do believe that I am contributing meaningfully to the sure shifting of people worldwide to the crucial and enlightening geospatial perspective in their worldview. I believe that people can better understand the world and the effects of how they participate in it from a geospatial perspective, and my work helps, if only in small ways.”

The post Arora Celebrates National GIS Day appeared first on Arora Engineers.

The Airport’s campus spreads across 2,598 acres and encompasses over 3.25 million square feet of terminal space, with an additional 449,761 square feet of cargo space. The sheer volume of staff and square footage at PHL means that tracking, maintaining, and operating their critical assets can be a daunting task.

In an effort to enhance their asset management and lease management efforts, PHL partnered with Arora Engineers to pilot Indoor GIS, a complete geospatial system that will allow them to create, manage, analyze, and map indoor data to enable shared awareness of their facility operations to deliver greater efficiency.

Steps Toward Success

Arora, an approved Esri ArcGIS Indoors Specialty partner, provided expert GIS services to develop Indoor GIS data and applications for the 1st and 2nd floor of Terminal E at PHL.

Arora began by reviewing and enhancing PHL’s provided Space Allocation Plan (SAP) AutoCAD dwg files to facilitate conversion into Esri ArcGIS Indoors Information Model (AIIM) format, then used ArcGIS Indoors tools within ArcGIS Pro to convert SAP files into the following associated AIIM feature classes:

• Facility: Building footprint polygon of Terminal E.
• Levels: Polygons representing Level 1 and 2
• Units: Rooms (attributed as City or tenant leased) within Terminal E.
• Details: Architectural details contained within the SAP files (examples can include doors, walls, stairs, furniture, MEP, etc.)

Then, Arora collaborated with PHL to determine sample Points of Interest (POI) to develop which create the foundation for Indoors navigation functionality to allow users to select and navigate to defined internal property management POIs defined in collaboration with PHL (i.e. mechanical, telecom, elevator, escalator, moving walkway, etc.).

In order to create pathways and transitions, Arora created the required geometry and attribution of pathways and transitions between floors (i.e. elevators, escalators) which were subsequently used to build the routing network.

PHL will realize the following benefits by implementing Indoor GIS:

Streamlined Lease Management through ArcGIS Indoors and PropWorks Integration

The integration of ArcGIS Indoors and a lease management system like PropWorks brings tremendous advantages to airports in terms of space and lease management. With Indoor GIS, PHL gains invaluable insights into its indoor infrastructure, enabling efficient allocation and utilization of space. The combination of these platforms allows for the seamless synchronization of data, ensuring up-to-date insights for effective decision-making.

The integration of ArcGIS Indoors and PropWorks offers a comprehensive solution for lease management. PropWorks facilitates efficient management of lease agreements, including tracking lease terms and generating invoices. By integrating with ArcGIS Indoors, PropWorks gains access to real-time data on space availability, tenant occupancy, and other relevant information, ensuring seamless data synchronization for effective decision-making.

Real-time data provided by Indoor GIS enables PHL to monitor and analyze space occupancy, foot traffic patterns, and lease agreements. By identifying underutilized areas, PHL can maximize revenue by leasing out spaces and optimizing space utilization.

The combined solution provides benefits such as enhanced space utilization, streamlined lease management processes, and optimal tenant placement. It enables PHL to identify and capitalize on potential lease opportunities, optimize rental rates, and maximize revenue generation from indoor spaces. Moreover, this integration offers a robust analytical platform for data-driven decision-making, improves the overall customer experience within the airport, and enhances operational efficiency through cost savings and optimized resource allocation.

Enhanced Asset Management

ArcGIS Indoors plays a vital role in supporting PHL with interior asset management. ArcGIS Indoors enables efficient data collection and visualization of buildings by providing a comprehensive framework for mapping and organizing interior assets. Arora ensured accurate and insightful representation of buildings by color-coding areas to distinguish between public and private spaces.

Furthermore, ArcGIS Indoors facilitates effective asset management by integrating workorder wayfinding capabilities. The integration of workorder wayfinding capabilities within ArcGIS Indoors empowers PHL staff to navigate the airport seamlessly, locate assets, and address maintenance and repair tasks efficiently. This feature streamlines asset management processes, improves maintenance workflows, and ensures optimal utilization of interior spaces.

With ArcGIS Indoors, PHL can proactively monitor asset conditions, schedule preventive maintenance, and identify potential issues before they escalate. This predictive approach helps minimize downtime, improve operational reliability, and enhance passenger safety and satisfaction. By leveraging the power of Indoor GIS, airports like PHL can optimize resource allocation, reduce costs associated with reactive maintenance, and achieve higher overall asset performance.

Driving Efficiency and Innovation

The implementation of Indoor GIS at PHL heralds a new era of efficiency and innovation at PHL. By leveraging advanced spatial data analysis and visualization, PHL can uncover valuable insights into passenger flow patterns, identify bottlenecks, and optimize terminal layouts to streamline operations.

PHL can harness the routing network built using ArcGIS Indoors tools to create intuitive navigation functionalities for staff and maintenance workers. Users can easily select and navigate to defined internal points of interest, such as mechanical rooms, telecom areas, elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. This integration of spatial data with navigation capabilities enhances the overall passenger experience, reduces confusion, and ensures seamless wayfinding throughout the airport.

Furthermore, the availability of real-time data empowers PHL to make data-driven decisions, respond promptly to changing circumstances, and proactively manage resources. From optimizing staff allocation to monitoring energy consumption, Indoor GIS provides a holistic view of the airport’s operations, fostering continuous improvement and innovation.

By leveraging ArcGIS Indoors and collaborating closely with PHL’s Geospatial, Lease Management, Operations, Arora Engineers has enabled the airport to revolutionize their approach lease management, optimize asset utilization, and drive operational efficiency in Terminal E. The integration of ArcGIS Indoors with PropWorks empowers PHL with real-time insights into space occupancy, streamlines lease management processes, and maximizes revenue generation from indoor spaces. Additionally, ArcGIS Indoors enhances asset management by facilitating efficient data collection, visualizing interior assets, and enabling optimized maintenance workflows. This cutting-edge technology empowers PHL to provide an exceptional passenger experience, promote innovation, and position itself as a leader in the airport industry.

The post Revolutionizing Airport Operations: Arora’s Pilot Implementation of Indoor GIS at Philadelphia International Airport appeared first on Arora Engineers.

Furthermore, facility managers can significantly enhance the efficiency of their efforts by choosing a mobile solution that integrates with ArcGIS Indoors.

By combining these powerful tools, facility managers can unlock a range of benefits that improve facility visualization, asset tracking, space management, work order efficiency, indoor navigation, and more. Facility managers who integrate Indoor GIS capabilities with their mobile EAM solution can save both time and costs while improving overall facility management outcomes.

Below, we outline five compelling reasons why investing in a mobile EAM solution that integrates with Indoor GIS will be a game-changer for your facility management operations.

1. Comprehensive Asset Management

Utilizing a mobile solution that integrates with ArcGIS Indoors enables facility managers to seamlessly manage both outdoor and indoor assets. By integrating asset data and location services, facility managers can achieve real-time asset tracking, monitoring, and maintenance. This integration eliminates the need for manual record-keeping and enables facility managers to access critical asset information on the go.

Facility managers can track asset movement, monitor maintenance schedules, and ensure timely repairs. By optimizing asset management processes, facility managers can minimize downtime, increase asset utilization, and reduce maintenance costs.

2. Enhanced Spatial Understanding

ArcGIS Indoors’ detailed indoor mapping and spatial analytics capabilities provide facility managers with enhanced spatial understanding. By integrating this indoor GIS with a mobile solution, facility managers can utilize the detailed and interactive indoor mapping capabilities to visualize their buildings and facilities accurately and gain insights into asset locations, movement patterns, and spatial relationships. These insights improve decision-making, operational efficiency, and resource allocation.

Facility managers can visualize assets in their exact locations, understand spatial constraints, and identify optimal asset placement. By utilizing spatial analytics, they can identify patterns of asset usage, identify potential bottlenecks, and optimize workflows. This integration empowers facility managers to make data-driven decisions, streamline operations, and enhance productivity.

3. Indoor Navigation

An EAM mobile solution that integrates with ArcGIS Indoors offers intuitive and interactive indoor navigation capabilities. The integration provides users with turn-by-turn directions and wayfinding assistance within complex indoor environments. This ensures efficient navigation to desired destinations within buildings, reducing time wastage and enhancing user experience.

Facility managers can easily guide maintenance personnel or visitors to specific areas, assets, or facilities. This integration simplifies navigation within large buildings, multi-building complexes, or campuses, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing confusion.

4. Streamlined Work Order Management

Integrating an EAM mobile solution with ArcGIS Indoors significantly enhances work order management. Facility managers can view and assign work orders directly on their mobile devices, leveraging the spatial information provided by Indoor Maps.

With a clear visualization of maintenance tasks’ exact locations, facility managers can assign technicians promptly, track work order progress in real time, and ensure timely resolution of issues.

This integration streamlines the work order lifecycle, leading to improved response times, increased productivity, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

5. Multi-Floor Navigation & Point of Interest Guidance

Integrating ArcGIS Indoors with an EAM mobile solution enables facility managers to assist users in locating specific points of interest and seamlessly navigate between different floors or levels within multi-level buildings. Users can easily find rooms, departments, amenities, or facility features by following step-by-step directions provided by the mobile solution.

The solution highlights optimal paths with instructions on floor transitions, staircases, escalators, or elevators, ensuring smooth vertical navigation and reducing time spent searching for specific locations.

This feature is particularly beneficial for new employees, visitors, or maintenance personnel who may be unfamiliar with the building layout. By providing accurate and efficient guidance, facility managers can enhance user experience, improve productivity, and streamline operations.

Facility managers can guide maintenance personnel to specific floors or assets efficiently, reducing time wastage and optimizing resource allocation. By enabling users to navigate indoor environments with ease, facility managers improve operational efficiency and overall productivity.

Integrating an EAM mobile solution with ArcGIS Indoors offers numerous advantages for facility managers seeking to optimize their operations. From comprehensive facility visualization and real-time asset tracking to enhanced space management, streamlined work order processes, and improved indoor navigation, this integration empowers facility managers to make data-driven decisions, increase operational efficiency, and deliver better facility experiences.

By harnessing the power of these integrated solutions, facility managers can elevate their facility management practices to new heights, ensuring optimal resource utilization, improved maintenance outcomes, and enhanced occupant satisfaction.

To learn more about how you can streamline and enhance your facility management, check out ATLAS Indoor Maps.

The post Five Reasons You Need a Maximo Mobile Solution that Integrates with Indoor GIS appeared first on Arora Engineers.

Check out our infographic below:

The post Infographic: Integrating ArcGIS Indoors with Maximo® using Arora ATLAS® appeared first on Arora Engineers.

Arora ATLAS®, an enterprise-level suite of mobile products that integrates with IBM’s Maximo® Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software, has taken a significant leap forward by introducing innovative new functionality. Now seamlessly integrated with ESRI’s Indoor GIS, ATLAS Indoor Maps is a powerful solution to simplify asset management and revolutionize facility maintenance workflows.

The integration enables organizations to effectively manage both outdoor and indoor assets while providing users with intuitive wayfinding and turn-by-turn navigation within complex indoor environments. The solution enhances operational efficiency, improves asset utilization, and facilitates informed decision-making.

Users will benefit from features like interactive indoor navigation, point of interest guidance, accessibility support, location-based services, and multi-floor navigation. This integrated solution streamlines workflows, optimizes facilities management, and empowers organizations with valuable insights for continuous improvement.

Indoor Navigation

Arora ATLAS Indoor Maps revolutionizes indoor navigation by providing users with interactive and intuitive wayfinding solutions within complex indoor environments.

Leveraging the power of indoor mapping and location-based services, users can seamlessly navigate through buildings, finding the most efficient routes to their desired destinations.

Facility managers can empower employees, visitors, and technicians with turn-by-turn navigation, ensuring they can easily locate rooms, departments, amenities, or facility features. This not only saves time but enhances the overall experience within the facility.

Comprehensive Asset Management

ATLAS Indoor Maps empowers facility managers to seamlessly manage both outdoor and indoor assets by integrating asset data and location services.

With real-time tracking, monitoring, and maintenance capabilities, facility managers can efficiently oversee their asset inventory, identify asset locations, and proactively schedule maintenance activities.

By centralizing asset management and providing a holistic view of asset performance, this integrated solution enhances operational efficiency and reduces costly downtime.

Enhanced Spatial Understanding

The integration of Arora ATLAS and ESRI’s ArcGIS Indoors brings detailed indoor mapping and spatial analytics capabilities to facility managers and technicians.

With advanced tools and visualizations, ATLAS Indoor Maps will allow your organization to gain valuable insights into asset locations, movement patterns, and spatial relationships. This enhanced spatial understanding enables informed decision-making, improves operational efficiency, and optimizes resource allocation.

By leveraging these insights, facility managers can identify areas for improvement, streamline workflows, and enhance the overall efficiency of their operations.

Point of Interest Guidance

Locating specific points of interest within large buildings can often be a challenging task.

Arora ATLAS Indoor Maps addresses this issue by offering users step-by-step directions and highlighting optimal paths to their desired points of interest.

Whether it’s finding a specific room, department, or amenity, users can rely on the integrated solution to guide them efficiently. This feature improves productivity, reduces confusion, and enables users to make the most of their time within the facility.

Multi-Floor Navigation

For multi-level buildings, knowing exactly what level the asset or workorder is located in and allowing for seamless navigation between different floors is essential to understanding the best way to locate said asset/workorder. Arora ATLAS Indoor Maps simplifies multi-modal floor-aware turn-by-turn navigation through places like staircases, escalators, or elevators.

Users can effortlessly move between floors, ensuring smooth vertical navigation. This functionality is particularly valuable in large office buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, and other complex facilities. By eliminating navigation barriers, facility managers can enhance accessibility, improve operational efficiency, and provide a seamless experience to users.

ATLAS Indoor Maps: A Comprehensive Asset Management Solution

ATLAS Indoor Maps, the result of the seamless integration of Arora ATLAS with ESRI’s Indoor GIS, revolutionizes asset management and indoor navigation for facility managers. By harnessing the power of comprehensive asset management, enhanced spatial understanding, intuitive indoor navigation, point of interest guidance, and multi-floor navigation, ATLAS Indoor Maps streamlines workflows, optimizes facilities management, and empowers organizations with valuable insights for continuous improvement.

The result is improved operational efficiency, optimized facilities management, and valuable insights for continuous improvement. Facility managers who implement Arora ATLAS Indoor Maps can expect substantial time and cost savings while elevating the overall experience within their facilities. Embrace the power of Arora ATLAS Indoor Maps and revolutionize your asset management and indoor navigation practices today.

Contact our team today to learn more!

The post Streamlining Asset Management and Indoor Navigation with Arora ATLAS® Indoor Maps appeared first on Arora Engineers.

The integration of Indoor GIS with IBM Maximo® is an excellent example of how technology can be used to clarify and improve decision-making. Indoor GIS is a powerful tool that allows organizations to map and manage indoor spaces. It provides organizations with a single map that shows all the indoor spaces and assets, including equipment, furniture, and other physical objects. This map can then be integrated with Maximo, which is a powerful enterprise asset management (EAM) system that enables organizations to manage their physical assets, including maintenance, repairs, and other critical tasks.

Integration between IBM Maximo and ArcGIS Indoors can be achieved through various methods, such as:

Data synchronization: Organizations can establish a bidirectional data synchronization process between Maximo and ArcGIS Indoors, ensuring that asset information is kept up to date in both systems. This can be done using API’s, middleware, or custom scripts.

Web mapping services: Maximo can consume web mapping services provided by ArcGIS Indoors to visualize indoor maps and asset locations within the Maximo user interface. This requires configuration and mapping of Maximo’s asset attributes to corresponding features in ArcGIS Indoors.

Custom development: For more complex integration scenarios, organizations can develop custom applications or plugins that facilitate data exchange and functionality between Maximo and ArcGIS Indoors.

By combining the capabilities of Indoor GIS with Maximo, organizations can unlock a range of benefits, including a unified view of workplace information, enhanced location awareness, streamlined operations, actionable insights, and improved mobile applications.

Improving Location Awareness and Indoor Navigation

One of the significant benefits of integrating Indoor GIS with Maximo is the ability to provide wayfinding and navigation services.

With an Indoor GIS, employees and visitors can easily orient themselves within the facility and navigate to specific people, assets, and places in real-time. This navigation system provides step-by-step instructions so anyone can quickly find their way to their destination.

This feature is particularly useful for large organizations, where it is easy to get lost in a maze of corridors and rooms. This level of real-time location tracking and navigation greatly improves operational efficiency, ensuring that individuals can easily find their destination. With this wayfinding and navigation system, occupants can quickly find their way around, reducing frustration and increasing productivity.

Streamlining Operations

Efficient indoor operations, such as maintenance work, rely heavily on effective coordination and workforce management. Indoor GIS integrated with Maximo allows facility managers to enable indoor tracking and location sharing for employees and workers. This feature facilitates collaboration, transparency, and visibility within the organization. With real-time location data, facility managers can monitor operations, track resource utilization, and dispatch the right personnel to the right locations within the building.

The integration of Indoor GIS and Maximo gives organizations a common operational view of their workplace. This common operational view provides decision-makers with a comprehensive overview of their indoor spaces, assets, and operations. They can use this view to identify areas that need improvement, enhance operations, and reduce costs. For example, decision-makers can use this view to identify areas where equipment is being underutilized or where there is a need for additional equipment. They can also use this view to identify areas where maintenance is required to reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency.

Enhancing Mobile Applications

Organizations can activate the indoor ‘blue dot’ within their Indoor GIS mobile app or integrate the IPS into custom mobile applications using ArcGIS Runtime SDKs.

Employees and facility managers can navigate the facility using their smart devices with ease, locate specific points of interest, and optimize their interactions with the built environment. This enhancement brings convenience, efficiency, and improved productivity to the fingertips of facility managers and employees alike.

Gaining Actionable Insights

The integration of Indoor GIS with Maximo empowers facility managers to extract valuable insights from indoor activities within their organization’s facilities.

Visualizing different types of insights, such as asset health and space information, on a dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of indoor operations. Armed with these data-driven insights, facility managers can make informed decisions to optimize operations, improve space efficiency, and enhance overall productivity. The integration of Indoor GIS with Maximo transforms facility management from reactive to proactive, enabling facility managers to identify potential bottlenecks, allocate resources effectively, and enhance the overall performance of the workplace.

Indoor GIS integrates with Maximo to revolutionize facility management by enabling facility managers to boost indoor location awareness, streamline operations, gain actionable insights, and enhance mobile applications. By leveraging the power of Indoor GIS and integrating it with Maximo, organizations can achieve greater operational efficiency, improve resource allocation, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. The seamless transition of the blue dot on the map, coupled with location sharing capabilities, empowers employees and workers to collaborate effectively and optimize their movements within the facility. Embracing Indoor GIS Integration with Maximo is a transformative step towards maximizing facility management efficiency and ensuring a seamless and productive workplace environment.

The post From Chaos to Clarity: Managing Workplace Information with Indoor GIS and Maximo appeared first on Arora Engineers.

Paine Field Airport’s (PAE) engineering and planning division recently introduced the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) at the airport. Working as the Prime Consultant, the Arora team completed a strategic plan for an integrated data management solution for the airport. As a result of this plan, Arora provided services that included several aspects of data management and application development. Arora also organized all the airport’s spatial data into a GIS database.

The type of data that goes into a GIS database is most anything you would see on a map such as airfield lights, gate locations, lease areas, utility lines, and more. Developing a GIS offers a multitude of benefits including better data security, improved data quality control, better organization, configurable web applications, and spatial analysis tools available through GIS software.

Staff members throughout PAE have contributed to the GIS development as well as taken advantage of the GIS mapping capabilities. PAE hopes to develop more web applications as well as provide publicly available data soon.

To learn more about Arora’s scope of work on this project, click here.

To read the full article, click here.

The post Visualizing Data Has Never Been Easier with the New Airport Geographic Information System appeared first on Arora Engineers.

Unlike a traditional outdoor Global Positioning System (GPS), Indoor navigation relies on an indoor positioning system (IPS) which detects real-time locations to accurately determine the coordinates of assets or people inside a facility.

What is an Indoor Positioning System (IPS)?
An IPS is a network of devices used to locate people or objects where GPS and other satellite technologies lack precision or fail entirely, such as inside multistory buildings, airports, alleys, parking garages, and underground locations. There are a variety of indoor positioning technologies that can be used, including beacons, smartphones, and/or Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas. The location data is then collected and processed, allowing for real-time analytics.

IPS allows for accurate tracking of indoor locations and provides valuable insights into the movements of people and assets within a facility. By utilizing IPS, facility managers can streamline their operations, gain actionable insights into their operations, and enhance customer experience.

By tracking the movement of people and assets, facility managers can identify areas where inefficiencies exist and work to address them. For example, if a particular area of a facility is consistently congested, IPS data can be used to identify the root cause and develop solutions to alleviate the congestion. With an IPS, facility managers are also able to identify which areas of the facility are most frequently used, which areas are underutilized, and which areas may be causing bottlenecks or inefficiencies.

The IPS Gold Standard
ESRI’s ArcGIS IPS is a powerful tool that allows facility managers to track the location of people and assets within a building in real-time. Similar to GPS, it puts a blue dot on indoor maps and uses location services to help you navigate to any point of interest or destination. Real-time indoor navigation, location sharing, and location tracking empower customers, visitors, and contractors. Indoor data collection provides a smooth workflow for mobile workers and analytics that can help your organization increase efficiency and improve customer service.

What components does ArcGIS IPS include?
ESRI’s mobile solutions include the ArcGIS IPS Setup app which allows users to plan and perform survey recordings inside facilities to collect the location data needed to enable IPS. According to Esri, the ArcGIS IPS Setup includes the following components:

Map list— View map details, set favorites, open maps, and access the recordings list and profile menu.

Map mode— Visualize floor plans, switch between floors in a facility, and access Survey and Test modes.

Survey mode— Collect radio reference data at an indoor site to build a record of trajectories, survey points, and locations, along with their corresponding geocoordinates during survey or quality recordings. Before conducting a survey, you can plan the survey path in one of the following ways:

• Create a survey path in IPS Setup using Plan mode—Sketch paths and add survey points to build a survey route before recording.
• Create a survey path in ArcGIS Pro and include it in the web map—Use existing paths to run planned or surveyed recording paths.

Test mode—Test a positioning file after processing survey data with the Generate Indoor Positioning File tool in ArcGIS Pro.

Why does your organization need an IPS?

• Boost Indoor Location Awareness
  • Use ArcGIS IPS to allow employees, contractors, and visitors to better orient themselves inside their facilities and navigate to people, assets, and places in real time. Empower mobile workers with tools to continue doing their job effectively as they switch from the field to an indoor environment. The blue dot transitions seamlessly on the map as the user enters or exits the building or switches between floor levels.
  • With real-time data on the location of people and assets within a building, facility managers can easily track the movement of staff and equipment, improving overall visibility and control. This can be particularly useful in large or complex buildings, such as hospitals or airports, where the ability to quickly locate people and assets can be critical.
• Streamline Operations
  • Indoor operations such as maintenance work require excellent coordination and workforce management. Enable indoor location sharing and tracking for your employees and mobile workers to facilitate collaboration and monitor operations with complete transparency and visibility.
  • By tracking the movement of people and assets within a building, facility managers can identify potential bottlenecks or inefficiencies in their operations. Effectively coordinate and dispatch the right resources to do the right job at the right place inside the building.

• Get Actionable Insights
  • By tracking the movement of customers within a building, facility managers can identify areas where customers are spending the most time or experiencing the most congestion. This information can then be used to optimize the layout of the building or the placement of products or services, improving overall customer satisfaction.
  • Get insights into activities inside your organization’s facility by analyzing foot traffic patterns, dwell times, and frequencies and visualizing them on a dashboard. Make better-informed, data-driven decisions to optimize indoor operations and space utilization.
• Enhance Custom Apps
  • ArcGIS IPS is available with ArcGIS Indoors, ArcGIS Maps SDKs, and ArcGIS Field Maps. Activate the indoor blue dot inside your ArcGIS Indoors or ArcGIS Field Maps mobile app or add the indoor positioning system to your custom-built mobile app via ArcGIS Maps SDKs for native apps (such as, Arora ATLAS®).

To get the most out of ESRI’s IPS, it is essential to work with a trusted partner with the expertise and experience needed to implement the system effectively. With the right partner, facility managers can maximize the value of their investment in ESRI’s IPS, enhancing their operations and improving overall efficiency and productivity.

Arora’s Geospatial Practice provides a full range of products and services to help our clients leverage geospatial data and technologies to lower the cost and maximize the effectiveness of their planning, design, operations, and maintenance activities. As an approved Esri ArcGIS Indoors Specialty partner, Arora Engineers has the expertise and capacity to quickly transform your indoor floor plans into a digital format that is then used to create configurable map services that fuel web map and mobile solutions that can be distributed via a kiosk, through desktop computers, and/or iOS or Android device. Learn more today!

The post What is an Indoor Positioning System and Why Do You Need One? appeared first on Arora Engineers.