Context
A municipal planning authority's GIS team was spending roughly three weeks each quarter manually compiling land-use change statistics across 40+ zoning districts — a repetitive, error-prone process built on manual ArcGIS Pro operations.
Approach
We built a custom ArcPy toolbox that automates the full workflow: parcel data ingestion, zoning overlay, change-statistic computation, and formatted report generation — packaged as a one-click ArcGIS Pro toolbox with a lightweight configuration file the client's own team can maintain.
Outcome
The quarterly reporting cycle dropped from roughly three weeks to two days, with the client's GIS team fully able to maintain and extend the tool after a half-day knowledge-transfer session.
Methodology
Requirements gathering with the client's GIS team; ArcPy toolbox development with a modular script structure (ingestion, overlay, statistics, reporting); automated report generation via python-docx templating; user acceptance testing across 2 full reporting cycles before handover; half-day in-person knowledge-transfer training session.
Results & Outcomes
- Reduced quarterly reporting time from ~3 weeks to 2 days
- Eliminated a recurring class of manual overlay errors
- Client's in-house team fully self-sufficient after a single training session
- Toolbox now used across all 40+ zoning districts each quarter
Challenges
Legacy parcel data had inconsistent zoning codes across districts, requiring a data-cleaning and standardization step built into the toolbox itself so future data updates don't reintroduce the same inconsistencies.
“The custom ArcPy toolbox they built cut our quarterly land-use reporting from three weeks to two days. It just works, and our team can maintain it ourselves.”
Priya Menon, GIS Manager
A Municipal Planning Authority