To help industrial clients around the world keep their businesses running smoothly and sustainably, Quant teamed up with IBM® and AFRY to deploy intelligent asset management, monitoring and predictive maintenance capabilities from IBM® Maximo® Application Suite. With the new solution, Quant can deliver even more efficient and effective asset management services to its global clients—and through its partnership with IBM and AFRY, the company is laying the foundation for future sustainability innovation.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Quant is a global maintenance service company with operations across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Employing over 3,000 people, the company helps its clients achieve maximum availability for their assets through smart, efficient maintenance processes.
At the heart of the company’s approach is the Quant Smart Maintenance Model: a methodology that combines employee knowledge, industry best practices, world-class safety stewardship and a cutting-edge asset management platform.
Emil Bergdahl, Digital Product Area Manager at Quant, explains: “Although we service many different sectors, all our clients share a common goal: to gain the maximum business value from their assets. To help our clients realize this vision in an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective way, we are always looking for ways to enhance their asset management capabilities.”
For Quant, the highest tier of the Smart Maintenance Model is predictive maintenance, powered by machine-learning intelligence and real-time asset condition data. For more than 20 years, the company has used IBM Maximo software to underpin its digital asset management capabilities.
With demand for data-driven capabilities on the rise, Quant saw an opportunity to further enhance its approach by moving to the latest generation of the IBM solution: IBM Maximo Application Suite.
Bergdahl elaborates: “We saw that Maximo Application Suite would enable us to unify our asset management data on a single, integrated platform. As well as providing a comprehensive view of all assets at our client sites, the new IBM solution offers AI-powered monitoring—enabling our teams to act on potential issues before they occur.”
Unifying asset management data enables on-site teams to work more effectively
IoT devices and embedded sensors enable real-time asset condition monitoring
Quant achieved a seamless migration to IBM Maximo Application Suite
To streamline and accelerate its transition to Maximo Application Suite, Quant engaged its trusted partners AFRY and IBM.
“We have been working with AFRY for more than four years, and in that time they have become one of our most valued strategic partners,” comments Bergdahl. “AFRY acts as our service integrator for Maximo solutions, supporting us with everything from configuration, maintenance and operations to technical support, development and proof-of-concept projects. We have a lean digital team, so augmenting our capabilities with a trusted partner like AFRY is major advantage. The different perspectives in our partnership—including Quant bringing its maintenance industry know-how—made a strong contribution to our success.”
To build on the new partnership, a joint project team from Quant, AFRY and IBM visited the IBM Innovation Studio in Munich, Germany. Collaborating closely with IBM Industry 4.0 experts at the Innovation Studio, the project team mapped out Quant’s transformation journey.
“Getting together with stakeholders from Quant, AFRY and IBM at the earliest stage of the project was extremely valuable,” recalls Bergdahl. “At the IBM Innovation Studio, we explored the challenges and opportunities of the project from many angles: including practical, on-site considerations, industry best practices, technology possibilities and more. By bringing the overlapping competencies of Quant, AFRY and IBM together, we co-created value-driven use cases for Maximo Application Suite.”
Following a series of successful proof-of-concept exercises with IBM and AFRY, Quant implemented Maximo Application Suite. Delivered as a managed service by IBM, the new solution offers an integrated platform to manage and analyze asset management data.
“Most modern industrial assets come equipped with sensors from the original equipment manufacturer, but many of our clients also have legacy equipment that requires monitoring,” Bergdahl elaborates.
“So, we equip legacy assets with internet-of-things [IoT] devices to allow us to collect asset condition data. At the moment, we run our own IoT management platform. By moving this capability to IBM Maximo Health, part of Maximo Application Suite, we’ll not only gain easier access to data from our 2,000 IoT devices, we’ll also be able to decommission our existing IoT management infrastructure—saving time and reducing costs.”
After a global rollout, all existing Maximo users made a smooth transition to Maximo Application Suite.
“During the implementation, we invested a great deal of time in training our teams on the latest functionalities of the IBM solution,” confirms Bergdahl. “The strong commitment from Quant, AFRY and IBM paid off. The one-team approach and close collaboration contributed to our successful transition to IBM Maximo Application Suite.”
He adds: “During the implementation project, all parties learnt a great deal. These cross-organizational learnings will continue going forward, as Quant has been selected to join the IBM Early Adopter Program for several of the new modules within Maximo Application Suite.”
While its journey with IBM Maximo Application Suite is just beginning, Quant is already using the solution to manage more than 105,000 assets across 40 client sites around the world. The company is now beginning to roll out new capabilities to its technicians—including Maximo Mobile, a next-generation platform that delivers instant access to operational data.
“Our technicians are very excited to start using Maximo Mobile,” comments Bergdahl. “Because the solution is infused with AI, it can help teams to troubleshoot issues faster by answering questions in real time, directly from the app. Maximo Mobile also makes it much faster and easier to capture and record information on asset inspections. Eventually, this will eliminate the need for our technicians to use paper—saving time and furthering our sustainability objectives.”
By moving from spreadsheet-based planning to Maximo Scheduler, Quant will enable its global teams to optimize its resource allocation using intelligent, rules-based automation.
“With Maximo Scheduler, our planners will be able to work much more efficiently because scheduling and work order management will happen in one integrated platform,” says Bergdahl. “Crucially, Maximo Scheduler will empower us to be more transparent with our customers and better communicate the value we are bringing to their asset management operations.”
By consolidating all asset data into a single, shared platform, Quant will equip its teams to make data-driven maintenance decisions—enabling more clients to unlock the value of the Quant Smart Maintenance Model.
“To provide the best value to our clients, we want to be at the forefront of the industry-wide shift to predictive maintenance,” adds Bergdahl. “Through our partnership with IBM and AFRY, combined with Quant’s long-term experience of industrial maintenance, we are confident that we can deliver higher asset availability and greater value for our clients’ maintenance spend.”
Looking ahead, Quant plans to strengthen its partnership with AFRY and IBM. Opportunities for future collaboration include a joint go-to-market strategy, as well as innovations around sustainability.
Maja Robertsson, Chief Digital Officer at Quant, concludes: “With IBM Maximo Application Suite as our foundation, we are ready to explore opportunities to embed environmental intelligence capabilities and environmental, social and governance reporting into our service portfolio. In AFRY and IBM, we have found partners that share our future vision—and we look forward to deepening our collaboration in the years ahead.”
For over 30 years, Quant (link resides outside of ibm.com) has been a market leader in industrial maintenance, maintaining and improving the safety, production and equipment performance for over 400 facilities around the world. Quant is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and is a leading provider of professional industrial maintenance services around the world.
Based in Stockholm, Sweden, AFRY (link resides outside of ibm.com) is a European leader in engineering, design and advisory services, with a global reach. Aiming to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable society, AFRY employs 19,000 devoted experts in infrastructure, industry, energy and digitalization, creating sustainable solutions for generations to come.
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