Managing land and infrastructure across a nationwide utility network requires more than accurate records. It depends on coordinated field operations, reliable reporting, and clear visibility across geographically distributed assets.
At Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the Land Management Unit (LMU) is transforming how land health assessments are conducted across Malaysia by improving inspection coordination, streamlining field workflows, and enhancing operational visibility across critical utility infrastructure and land assets.
Operating under the Property Services Department within Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the LMU is responsible for managing and administering land that supports TNB’s nationwide operations, including substations, transmission corridors, offices, and other operational facilities.
Managing land assessments at scale
One of the LMU’s key responsibilities is conducting Land Health Assessments (LHA) - field-based inspections used to verify asset availability, monitor land utilisation, assess land conditions, and identify potential risks or unauthorised activity on TNB-owned land.
These assessments play a critical role in supporting asset protection, governance, and regulatory compliance across TNB’s operations. However, managing inspections across thousands of sites nationwide created significant coordination challenges for both field and office teams.
The previous workflow relied heavily on manual reporting and paper-based processes. Site inspections, report preparation, and dashboard updates required extensive coordination, while large volumes of printed documentation added complexity to records management and audit activities.
On average, each assessment required approximately five hours to complete, with existing workflows supporting around 2,500 sites annually. Based on the total number of sites managed nationwide, completing assessments across all sites using the previous approach would have taken an estimated nine years. Each assessment also required an average of 30 to 35 printed pages.
To improve visibility across inspection activities and create a more connected workflow between field and office operations, the LMU explored a more integrated, digital, GIS-enabled approach to managing land assessment activities.
Creating a more connected field workflow
To support this effort, the LMU developed LMU-MoWA, a connected mobile and web-based workflow designed to improve inspection coordination, reporting visibility, and collaboration across land assessment activities nationwide.
The initiative focused on creating a more standardised and efficient assessment process while improving visibility between field and office teams.
The web application supports work package planning, dashboard monitoring, reporting, quality assurance, and audit workflows. Meanwhile, the mobile application enables field crews to complete inspections digitally using:
- Standardised forms
- Geo-tagged submissions
- Navigation support
- Real-time data synchronisation capabilities
Field data collected during inspections is synchronised directly into TNB’s existing GIS environment, improving access to up-to-date operational information and supporting more consistent reporting across teams. For crews working across remote substations, hydro sites, and transmission corridors, the mobile workflow also supports offline data collection in areas with limited connectivity.
“Our focus was to improve visibility and coordination across land assessment activities while creating a more efficient and standardised workflow for field operations,” said Muhammad Syafi’i Gampang, Lead of Land Management Unit, Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
Improving efficiency, governance and reporting visibility
Since implementation, the LMU has recorded measurable improvements across its Land Health Assessment activities.
The end-to-end assessment process has been reduced by 83 per cent overall, reducing average processing time from 4.9 hours to 0.84 hours. Assessment activities can now be completed approximately 2.5 times faster compared to previous manual workflows.
Beyond efficiency gains, the initiative has strengthened governance and operational transparency through digital workflows, geo-tagged records, live dashboards, and audit trails, improving accountability and reporting consistency across inspection activities.
The move to a fully digital workflow has also supported broader sustainability goals. Since August 2024, LMU-MoWA has enabled a zero-paper policy for Land Health Assessment activities, reducing paper usage by more than 296,000 pages across FY2024 and FY2025.
As TNB continues to strengthen its land and infrastructure management capabilities, the LMU-MoWA initiative demonstrates how connected field operations and improved reporting visibility can support more scalable, efficient, and accountable land management practices across nationwide utility operations.
Discover more geospatial insights and real-world examples of GIS in action on the Esri Malaysia blog.