Martha Cassidy

Using ArcInfo to Compose Custom Territory Maps as a Commercial Venture

ABSTRACT

Visualizing sales territories, market penetration, and customer or competitor locations is key in today's quickly changing environment. Both private firms and public agencies gain insight to their business by using maps to display their business solutions and models. Geographic Data Technology (GDT) uses ArcInfo® to provide paper maps to a wide variety of customers to display their business decisions geographically. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a GIS system is utilized to provide custom maps as a commercial venture.


INTRODUCTION

In 1994, GDT implemented a mapping services department to support our customer base. Since then many maps have been shipped from our Lebanon, NH location. At the beginning, the effort was purely a manual process. In order to speed delivery and reduce technician time automated procedures have been implemented. Today a combination of automated and manual processes are used to provide customer maps. Our customers have deadlines and a very real business need for a map but may be uncertain exactly what they expect to see on a map. The result - producing custom maps quickly and efficiently is a challenge. With this in mind I would like to share how GDT has met this challenge.

GIS SYSTEM ELEMENTS

Data

A combination of customer and GDT data sets are used to compose a customer map.

The customer supplies data crucial to visualizing a business action. Input data examples include customer addresses, sales territory definitions, percentage of market penetration by ZIP® Code, number of loans per census tract, revenue figures per store location, or demographic data. Frequently, customer provided data sets require massaging in order to be displayed geographically within a GIS software package. For example, customer or prospect addresses may need to be geocoded first, assigning a latitude and longitude coordinate to the street address. The result is a point associated with the address to spatially represent that customer or prospect on a map. Sales, service, or trade area territories may be supplied in written form with definitions based on streets, census boundaries or other geographic features. Such a definition would need to be converted into a polygon in order to be represented visually on a map. If a customer supplies their input data with latitudes and longitudes, for example within an ArcInfo point or polygon coverage, the datum and projection of the data must be ascertained before proceeding. If needed, data is massaged to conform to the datum and projection of GDT's geographic databases to assure spatial integrity between data sets.

The geographic data to be used depends on the intended business use of the map. In some cases, companies track customers by ZIP Codes, so ZIP boundaries will be an important feature. If demographics are to be used in the map, then the geography must match what was used in the collection of demographic information (usually ZIP Codes, Carrier Routes or Census boundaries). For other business uses, streets or landmark information will be vital to allow for effective business analysis. To help in the decision making process, a list of geography suitable for each size map is available along with a set of sample maps to help a customer visualize different cartographic elements. Many customers are not experienced in the use of spatial data, so GDT's trained technicians offer advice to help them determine which geography best suits their projects. To shorten the mapmaking cycle, commonly used data sets are kept on-line for ready access by map service technicians. Five-Digit ZIPs, ADIs, Block Groups, Carrier Routes, Cities, DMAs, selected metro areas of Dynamap/2000 streets and landmarks, Highways, MCDs, MSAs, Places, States, and major water polygon data are all kept available on-line. Most of this data is maintained on a state level in an ArcInfo coverage or ArcView® shape format. Other data necessary to compose a map is loaded individually to the network.

Software

GDT uses a variety of commercial GIS packages and matches the use of these packages to customer needs and preferences. Esri software is the leader for mapping services. When GDT began this service we used ArcInfo exclusively. Currently, GDT uses ArcInfo v7.0.3 and ArcView v3.0 & extensions within the HP UX environment. ArcView v3.0 is used within the Windows95(tm) environment. Occasionally a customer will request a series of maps to be done in Atlas GIS(tm) since their input data is in that format and their user base is familiar with the Atlas map appearance.

Hardware

Mapping Services are performed in both the UNIX(tm) and Windows95 environments. An HP 9000 series 700, 715/50, with approximately 3 gigs of local space is the primary UNIX station while HP Pentium 5/166 stations are used within the Windows environment. Approximately 2.5 gigs of disk space is utilized regularly on a Novell network. The ability to store commonly used data sets on-line has greatly reduced the time spent per map order. Most of the actual plotting is performed on an Hp650C plotter with 68mb of ram. Maps are produced in any size up to 32 x 44, both on paper or mylar. The plotter has its own IT address on the server making it accessible to all individuals on GDT's network. Both a Novell queue and individual UNIX server queues (with associated Xterminals) are maintained allowing plotting activity from both the UNIX and Windows 95 environments. The plotting queues are visible only within each operating environment so a person may determine the status of their specific plot request. Mapping Services has the ability to limit plotter accessibility to assure timely delivery of customer orders. Jet Admin software would allow individuals from both operating environment sides to see a combined queue if configured correctly. GDT has not found it necessary to deploy the Jet Admin technology.

HOW ArcInfo IS UTILIZED

This example shows how ArcInfo is used to automate a series of maps for a customer. A common job is for a customer to send territory definitions for business conducted throughout the United States. The territories can be sales, service, trade or insurance rate areas; anything that is definable by geography such as streets, major features or census boundaries. If the territories require digitizing, a contractual arrangement is made to accommodate this request so Mapping Services ends up with a digital representation of the territory. GDT uses ArcInfo to digitize all territories. The output requested by the customer is a set of maps, each containing the same set of geographic elements, each for a separate territory in the USA. Customers make use of these maps in many ways. Some hang the maps on their store walls to display their trade areas. Others use maps to check that their sales regions are truly as expected, tracking revenue visually. The old adage a picture is worth a thousand words becomes true when working toward meeting sales goals. Other customers use these territory maps as a method of determining territory accuracy. This is typical of insurers who may use a map to assure the legal geography listed in a proposed definition and now before their eyes is what was expected when determining rate structures.

The first step in the mapping process is to construct a set of AMLs to automate the process as much as possible, reducing the cost to the customer and greatly shortening the production time frame. A master set of AMLs is often adjusted to the specifics of each customer order. With these revised AMLs, GDT can often accomplish 60 to 80 percent of the work through automation processes. For this example I'll discuss a request to construct a map depicting all territories within one state. First one AML, called "pulldata", was written to pull together all the data sets necessary to the map. Pulldata gathers the customer territories, county boundaries, major water features, interstates and US and state highways for the state. This process can take up to four hours to run depending on the state requested. Another AML was written to buffer line widths and other variables to provide a set of cartographically pleasing elements for the map size requested. This process can take up to one hour to run. The next step is to properly annotate the territories and the geographic elements. Prior to starting the job, annotation types were agreed upon with the customer. So now another aml is run to perform a relatively quick automatic annotation step. This will also need to be worked manually to assure that all annotation is visible. Since the data is in separate layers, it is possible that the automatic annotation step caused annotation on top of others. We now move to the manual phase of map production. However automated the process, the value of a trained technician adjusting the map to become cartographically pleasing can not be overlooked. The technician will move annotation slightly or delete excessive annotation to clarify the map display. Additionally the technician will look for areas within a state where density causes too much congestion on the map. The area will be clipped for an inset map. Many of the same amls can be run on inset data, after all it is the same problem set. The end product is plotted out on the Hp650C, the average plot time for such a map is approximately 20 minutes. Now the map is checked visually for errors, passed through quality control and then shipped to the customer.

A SAMPLER OF ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

The chart below identifies some of the key issues GDT has faced as we began implementing our mapping services department.


Item                     Issue                     Solution                 
                                                                       

Drivetime based map.     Processing intensive and  Currently evaluating     
For example - a trade    therefore costly.         options and automation   
area map based on                                  within both ArcInfo     
drivetime.                                         and ArcView.             
                                                   Particularly with large  
                                                   datasets.                

Final Map is too busy    Often businesses new to   Work upfront with the    
                         mapping overestimate how  client to help choose    
                         much data can be clearly  the extent of the        
                         represented at the        geography set. Sample    
                         requested scale and       maps help people         
                         paper size.               visualize choices.       

Plots hung and didn't    Very large files          Increased plotter ram    
print                    required more memory      from 20mb to 68mb.       
                         than available, causing   Secondary benefit,       
                         a drive to run out of     faster plotting.         
                         space, an inconvenience                            
                         to all.                                            

Plotting                 Difficulty plotting from  Reconfigured the         
                         ArcInfo originally.      default menu in ArcPLOT  
                                                   toolbox to meet GDT      
                                                   hardware                 
                                                   specifications.          

Plotting                 4 to 6  feet of extra     Queue redirected by      
                         paper fed through the     means of an aml which    
                         plotter when plotting     added 4 lines at the     
                         using ArcView v3 on UNIX  beginning of the plot    
                         side only.                file eliminating the     
                                                   extra paper feed.  Info  
                                                   on Esri web site very    
                                                   helpful in solving this  
                                                   issue.                   


Acknowledgements
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Product Manager

Martha Cassidy

Geographic Data Technology, Inc.

11 Lafayette Street, Lebanon, NH 03766-1445

Telephone (603) 643-0330 / FAX (603) 643-6808

Email: marthac@gdt1.com / info@gdt1.com