OneFortyOne New Zealand Ltd is a plantation forestry company that manages pine forest across Nelson, the Marlborough Sounds and Tasman regions at the top of the South Island. With roughly 80,000 hectares of forest, 80-plus resource and building consents, hundreds of archaeological sites along with access agreements on a mix of Iwi-owned and freehold land, managing compliance is a complex job with many moving parts.
Five years ago, the business was managing all this information with spreadsheets. Keeping track of expiry dates or agreement details was challenging and administratively inefficient.
Enter: CSVUE. The New Zealand compliance software platform made it simple for OneFortyOne to keep track of crucial details, strengthen relationships with neighbours and landowners and minimise deskwork.
Manual tracking and missing details
OneFortyOne’s Environment Manager, Jo Field, explains that the company’s old systems weren’t set up for efficient forest management – particularly over such a large area. The business operates across three regional councils, each with its own resource consent rules, and leases land from multiple local Iwi.
“We had resource consents that were actually listed in a spreadsheet,” explains Jo. “We had access agreements that also had expiry dates, but you didn’t know when they were due to expire. There were no notifications, no nothing.”
Agreements with neighbours could include access, fee and insurance details – but there was no clear way to see these details or follow up as needed. This meant agreement terms could be breached, or resource consents could expire, leaving OneFortyOne at risk.
Domain knowledge was another issue. Field staff were responsible for managing their own blocks of forest, which meant consent and agreement information could disappear if they left the business – or even went on holiday.
From missed details to centralised records
When Jo joined the business, shifting away from clunky spreadsheets was one of her first major projects. Having used CSVUE in a previous business, she knew it could make a profound impact.
As she puts it: “I saw there was such an opportunity to utilise CSVUE.”
To pitch it to the business, she outlined the scattered domain knowledge, the lack of a way to check dates or agreements, and the risk that came with it.
“They recognised the risk of having someone leave and all their knowledge going with them,” says Jo.
After a smooth implementation process – CSVUE helped upload existing documents to create a cohesive record for each forest block in the system – the new platform was up and running.
New platform, new processes
For OneFortyOne, CSVUE is a way to centralise data and open up access to its entire 500+ person team. Records that were once stored in spreadsheets and other documents are now accessible on the CSVUE platform. Everyone can see the resource consents and agreements associated with each forestry block.
This gives Jo and her team a single source of truth for all information and means that important details aren’t stored in staff members’ brains.
“You take a block and assign it to a new owner, so the information isn’t lost, the history is there,” says Jo.
More time, fewer missed deadlines
Since CSVUE entered the frame, the OneFortyOne team is spending less time admin, which means more time out in the field.
“Foresters, they don’t like to spend a lot of time in front of the computer,” laughs Jo.
The team no longer needs to check spreadsheets, scroll through resource consent expiry dates, or remember details about a land-use agreement. Instead, the platform sends a notification and the team takes action.
One example is the archaeological sites scattered across the forest.
“I have archaeological sites on there that need to be inspected every five years and maintained so we comply with the law,” explains Jo.
When these sites come up for inspection, the team gets a notification, they check the site and complete any maintenance work needed.
Similarly, bridges on OneFortyOne land have to meet council codes of compliance. If the council orders an inspection, it’s put into CSVUE so staff can take action – this way, the team knows they won’t miss a key compliance task.
Good systems make good neighbours
Complex agreements can be uploaded to CSVUE, along with triggers to notify staff in certain situations.
This has simplified relationships with neighbouring landowners. With access agreements available on the platform, it’s easier for the OneFortyOne team to check details and communicate with neighbours, preserving relationships and avoiding issues.
“From an operational perspective, our team can jump into CSVUE and see if there’s an access agreement over the land,” explains Jo. “Then we can do those little things, like gravel their road or give them some wood, that actually mean a lot to our neighbours.”
Simple, flexible, accessible
The OneFortyOne team is made up of foresters and field workers who don’t necessarily spend a lot of time with technology. While Jo thought that the team might struggle with the shift to CSVUE, the transition turned out to be relatively straightforward.
“The Environmental Forester took to it like a duck to water,” she says. “He’s not an IT person, he’s a field person, but he just found it incredibly easy”.
The simplest details have made the biggest difference to the team. The tagging system and robust search functionality, for example, mean forestry teams can easily find the right block.
“They might not know the name, or how it’s been inputted into the system, but they only need to start putting it in and it’ll bring everything up. So it’s very simple and easy. ”
She’s also enthusiastic about CSVUE’s flexibility and responsiveness. Because it’s a Kiwi company, it’s easy for Jo’s team to seek support and offer feedback.
“And what I really do like is, they take on board the users’ advice. Can we make it different? Can we make it better?”
She explains that when she asked CSVUE for a ‘drag-and-drop’ function, they made it happen.
“That made it so much easier! And you know, the simpler it is, the better it is.”
Self-served information, reduced headcount
That simplicity and functionality has had real impact on the company’s bottom line. Operational teams self-serve access to information, rather than going through Jo, while automated reminders have cut paperwork. Combined, those efficiencies have seen a readjustment in how the company manages compliance. Once a team of two and a half FTEs, the work is now shared across Jo and a colleague. Both using CSVUE, the smaller team now handles a greater scope of work.
“The database now holds our 350-plus archaeological sites, access agreements and business consents, for example.”
What’s next for OneFortyOne?
CSVUE has been a gamechanger for OneFortyOne, helping it shift away from time-consuming manual processes and manage its complex compliance requirements. It now has a clear record for all documentation, and a simpler way to keep up with expiry dates and varied access agreements. It’s saving time for the team, preventing compliance lapses, and strengthening relationships with other stakeholders.
Next steps? Jo explains that the business is thinking of moving its legal contracts to CSVUE as well, so more teams can take advantage of the platform.
“At the end of the day, CSVUE is only limited by your imagination.”
See how CSVUE could minimise admin while strengthening your compliance position – book a demo now.
