The challenge
Managing signage and branded elements across hundreds of locations is a data-intensive operation. Every canopy, sign, and branded element has a type, variant, specification, and installation history. Sites have landlords, planning authorities, and supplier relationships. Field teams need to survey locations, photograph existing installations, and capture structured data about conditions and requirements.
Our client was managing all of this through a patchwork of spreadsheets and paper forms. Field teams went out with clipboards and cameras, then returned to the office to manually enter survey data. Brand element catalogues lived in Excel files that quickly became outdated. Project tracking was fragmented, and there was no way to get a unified view of what was installed where across the entire portfolio.
What we built
BIMS is a two-frontend platform designed for both office and field use:
Admin dashboard. A comprehensive Next.js application for managing the entire operation. Brand elements are organised in a four-level hierarchy — families, types, tiers, and variants — giving precise categorisation of every product in the catalogue. Sites and facilities are managed with full address details, contact relationships (landlords, suppliers, planning authorities), and installation history. Project and sales order tracking ties commercial activity to physical locations.
Mobile field app. A React Native application built with Expo for iOS and Android. Field teams conduct site surveys using structured templates, capturing data about existing installations, conditions, measurements, and requirements. Approach photography and detail shots are captured directly in the app with GPS tagging. Survey data syncs to the central system in real time when connectivity is available.
Brand element management. The hierarchical catalogue system is the heart of BIMS. A brand family (e.g., "Forecourt Canopy") contains types (e.g., "Illuminated"), which contain tiers (e.g., "Premium"), which contain variants (e.g., "6m x 4m"). This structure means every installation across every site can be precisely categorised, tracked, and reported on.
Contact relationship management. Sites have complex stakeholder networks — property landlords, planning authorities, approved suppliers, maintenance contractors. BIMS tracks these relationships centrally, so anyone in the organisation can see who to contact for any site-related matter.
Architecture
The backend follows a microservice architecture on AWS serverless infrastructure, with AppSync GraphQL APIs and DynamoDB using single-table design. The admin dashboard and mobile app share the same backend services, ensuring data consistency. Authentication uses Cognito with passwordless email OTP. File storage (survey photos, documents) uses S3 with presigned URLs.
The result
Paper surveys have been eliminated. Field teams capture data directly into the system, with photos geotagged and linked to specific sites and brand elements. The office team has real-time visibility into survey progress and findings. The brand element catalogue provides a single source of truth for what's installed where, enabling data-driven decisions about replacements, upgrades, and new installations across the entire portfolio.