The Problem Wasn't Maximo. It Was That Nobody Wanted to Open Maximo.

Key takeaways

• IBM Maximo (and SAP PM) hold the data — work orders, history, specs — but no visual/spatial context, so field techs avoid them.
• A 3D point cloud supplies the missing geospatial layer: where each asset physically is, on what level, what's around it.
• Maximo lets you attach URLs to asset records — so each asset links straight to its location in a point-cloud platform like NavVis IVION. No database rework.
• At Clarios in Florence, Kentucky, this drove 80 Maximo licenses into real daily use for the first time.
• The pattern repeats at any plant with an EAM that has the information but not the adoption.

IBM Maximo has everything the maintenance team needs — work orders, equipment history, technical specs, last-intervention dates. The data is there.

The problem is that nobody wants to use it. The interface is complex. Navigating a relational database with no visual context isn't intuitive for a field tech. The system exists, the licenses are paid, the data is loaded — but in practice most of the team works another way and opens Maximo only when there's no alternative.

That's exactly what the engineering team at Clarios — a battery manufacturer and recycler — ran into at its Florence, Kentucky operation.

How it started: from furnaces to as-built

Our relationship with Clarios didn't start with asset management. It started with documenting furnace wear — condition monitoring on critical equipment in the battery-recycling process. The person responsible for those furnaces saw the quality and method of the work and recommended us to the plant's global engineering team, whose need was different: document all the installations in updated as-built drawings.

The presentation covered everything scanning could deliver — the point cloud, the 360° virtual walkthrough, and the 3D as-built model the drawings would come from. With that clear, the project started.

The first stage: a team that learned to see its plant differently

The first-stage results surprised the team. They had the point cloud, could walk the plant virtually, could measure from a screen. But the initial view was narrow — they were solving the immediate drawings problem.

Training changed that. One of the department's designers got a week of training to extract and present information from the point cloud, working with Nubigon (cloud navigation and inspection) and Navisworks (coordinating the model with other disciplines and building presentations). With those tools, the designer could show the plant in ways that weren't possible before: cross-sections, views by system, isolating specific areas for analysis. Engineering started to understand they didn't have a drawing tool — they had a different way of working on their facility.

The Maximo insight: the problem wasn't the data

IBM Maximo is one of the most complete asset-management platforms on the market. It has the structure to record every piece of equipment, its history, specs and work orders. The problem isn't the information — it's the experience of using it.

Maximo is, in essence, a relational database with forms. For a field maintenance tech, navigating that structure with no visual reference isn't natural. What building is that asset in? What level? How do I get there? Questions with obvious answers when you're standing in the plant have no easy answer when you're staring at text records.

What Maximo lacks is geospatial context. And that's exactly what the point cloud supplies.

The integration: IVION and Maximo talking to each other

The unlock was technical but not obvious: Maximo lets you attach URLs to asset records. That means from an equipment profile in Maximo, you can add a link that goes straight to where that equipment lives in the 3D model. The integration came together in three steps:

1. Identify assets in IVION. With the maintenance team, we walked the 3D plant model in NavVis IVION and located the equipment registered in Maximo — exact position, level, area. For each, we generated a direct URL to that location in IVION.
2. Link in Maximo. Those URLs went in as attachments on each asset's Maximo record — no database changes, no complex development, just a link.
3. The field workflow. Now, when a tech selects an asset in Maximo, they open IVION and see that equipment in real context: the building, the level, the surrounding equipment, the access routes. And the link back to Maximo is already there.

The result: 80 Maximo licenses for maintenance staff — adoption they hadn't had before. Techs opened IVION from tablets in the plant and navigated to Maximo from there. The EAM stopped being a context-free chore and became the natural destination of a tool they already wanted to use.

What this means for any plant with an EAM

Clarios isn't specific to one industry or one piece of software. It's the pattern at any plant with an asset-management system that has the information but not the adoption: the data is in the EAM, the real geometry is in the point cloud, and connecting them doesn't require costly development or a platform change — it requires understanding how to link what already exists.

The payoff isn't just technical efficiency. It's that the maintenance team starts using its tools for real — not because they're told to, but because, for the first time, the tools make sense in the context of their daily work.

If your plant runs SAP PM, IBM Maximo or another EAM and you want to explore how 3D documentation can give your assets geospatial context, tell us. The first step is understanding how your asset data is structured and which visualization platform best fits your workflow.

We're based in Houston, ISNetworld®-compliant, and work across the U.S. Request a quote or call +1 (832) 746-1497.

Frequently asked questions

Why integrate a point cloud with IBM Maximo or SAP PM?
EAM systems hold asset data but no spatial context. Linking each record to its location in a 3D point cloud lets techs see where an asset is, what's around it and how to reach it — which dramatically improves adoption.

Does the integration require changing our Maximo database?
No. Maximo lets you attach URLs to asset records, so each asset links to its location in a platform like NavVis IVION. No schema changes or custom development required.

What platforms can host the navigable model?
NavVis IVION, FARO Sphere and Leica TruView let your team navigate the plant, measure and link asset data from a browser.

Is this only for large plants?
No. Any facility with an EAM that's underused because it lacks visual context benefits — the integration scales from a single area to a whole site.

What's a digital twin in this context?
A navigable, measurable 3D record of your facility, built from a laser scan, that your team can consult from anywhere and tie to live asset data in your EAM.