8 IIoT Applications & Use Cases for More Efficient Facility Management

When you're managing a facility, your job doesn't end when the lights go off. From equipment breakdowns to energy inefficiencies, unexpected issues are just part of the role. “The Industrial Internet of Things,” referred to as “the IIoT,” provides real value by connecting smart features at scale, and delivering sophisticated remote management. 

The IIoT delivers what smart buildings have been promising for years: One unified system that controls all the tech in your facility. 

In this article, you'll see how facility managers like you can combine IIoT with new tech like 3D digital twins to monitor assets in real-time, optimize space, and reduce energy costs. 

How is IIoT different from IoT? 

While IoT connects everyday devices like doorbells and thermostats, IIoT focuses on critical infrastructure: factory machinery, energy systems, and logistics workflows. The stakes are higher, the systems more complex, and the data more actionable. 

For foundational concepts and definitions about IIoT technology, check out our comprehensive guide on what IIoT is and why it matters.

The fundamental difference between IoT and IIoT is not the purpose (connecting devices via a central network) but the robustness of a system that can handle ‘industrial’ scale. An industrial setup simply needs more processing power, security, and reliability.  Check out the table below for a detailed comparison.

9 Real-world IIoT applications for facility managers

The examples you see below span industries—from manufacturing and logistics to commercial real estate and utilities—because the principles of IIoT are highly adaptable. 

For facility managers, these use cases aren't theoretical. They're pulled from how real teams are implementing IIoT in the field and seeing results.Keep reading to see the tangible economic benefits of implementing IIoT.

1. Predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring

An IIoT-powered facility takes your predictive maintenance strategy to the next level. Using real-time data, you can forecast when equipment is likely to fail so you can fix it before it breaks. 

Instead of servicing systems on a fixed schedule or reacting to breakdowns, you track performance indicators like temperature, vibration, and pressure continuously. Sensors installed across your facility stream live data into a central system, giving you instant awareness of equipment health. 

This data is often visualized through a digital replica of your building called a “digital twin.” It’s not just a dashboard, but a virtual facility that you can walk through from any remote location. It allows you to check performance changes (like a temperature spike or vibration anomaly) in the actual context of your facility. 

A standout example comes from SIMLAB. By creating a true “single source of truth” for building information, they’ve made it possible for owners and operators to oversee their spaces remotely with greater accuracy. One bakery owner shared, “A refrigerator door left slightly unsealed overnight would result in a loss of thousands of dollars, in addition to being unable to fulfill customers’ orders the next day.” They now have a system that addresses three critical areas of operations: training, equipment management and maintenance, and monitoring of critical systems. 

Check out this video for more details on SIMLAB’s setup:

2. Remote asset management across facilities

IIoT transforms how you manage every critical asset in your facility. Instead of relying on disconnected spreadsheets and scheduled inspections, you now have a unified digital ecosystem with real-time insights into asset performance, maintenance history, and compliance status.

Digital twin technology adds crucial spatial context to make asset management more intuitive. For example, Matterport’s Pro3 camera creates precise, dimensionally accurate scans of your complex industrial environments, providing a visual foundation for remote management. Within this digital replica, every piece of equipment can be tagged, monitored, and managed clearly.

IIoT and digital twins used together is an approach that delivers multiple benefits:

• Remote health assessments: Maintenance teams can evaluate equipment without physical presence, arriving on-site with detailed context rather than guesswork. 

• Centralized documentation: Access equipment manuals, warranty information, maintenance procedures, and compliance records directly within the digital twin with a simple click on the asset.

• Lifecycle planning: Track installation dates, monitor performance, and forecast replacements before failures occur, extending asset lifespan while reducing emergency maintenance costs.

• Regulatory compliance: Maintain visual records of inspections, repairs, and modifications to satisfy requirements, creating an audit trail that reduces compliance risks.

• Inventory optimization: Create a searchable asset database as a single source of truth, tracking inventory levels, spare parts, and vendor information in one place.

• Space planning: Visualize how assets relate to surrounding infrastructure, enabling smarter decisions about equipment placement, access routes, and operational layouts.

Real-world examples of IIoT-powered asset management deliver impressive increases in efficiency and cost savings:

• In manufacturing, this Belgian sugar producer improved uptime and realised a 12% energy saving using ABB’s monitoring service. IIoT-enabled sensors on motors, conveyors, and pumps track vibration and temperature in real time, saving €4,000 a year per fan.

• In hydropower, ENEL used GE Vernova’s IIoT-powered monitoring system to deploy predictive diagnostics across 86 large hydro plants in seven countries, totaling 18 GW of capacity.

• In warehousing, Amazon deployed Wi-Fi-connected Kiva robots to automate shelf transport, cutting operating costs by 20%. 

3. Worker safety and incident prevention

For every dollar invested in safety programs, companies saw a 42% return on investment, according to a 2024 study published in Harvard Business Review. IIoT makes those safety programs smarter by delivering real-time data from sensors placed throughout the facility.

Connected devices monitor environmental hazards like gas leaks, noise levels, heat exposure, or unsafe proximity between people and heavy machinery. That means you can respond immediately to dangerous conditions and prevent incidents before they happen. And virtual models of operational facilities can help you create another layer of safety, allowing for simulated safety drills and emergency routes. They're especially useful for training teams without introducing physical risk.

Specifically, construction sites benefit from real-time hazard detection and alert systems. In manufacturing and warehousing, IIoT data supports continuous safety improvements and reduces the need for reactive audits.

Check out this safety-focused IIoT video that explains how it works in practice:

4. Intelligent space utilization

Sensors placed throughout your facility can track foot traffic, occupancy, and usage patterns in real time and give you continuous insight into how your spaces are actually used. This data highlights underused zones, overcrowded areas, and inefficiencies that aren’t visible on floor plans alone.

JLL’s 2024 Global Occupancy Planning Benchmarking Report found that, “Utilization data is unlocking value for hybrid programs and is now the highest-ranking metric in our global survey. Workplaces are becoming more dynamic and organizations should focus on benchmarking metrics and data collection methods that can address the challenge of measuring more diverse work activities and fluctuating occupancy patterns.“

Network, presence, and facility sensors are helping companies better plan their space. Source. 

When this sensor data is visualized through a digital twin, facility managers gain the spatial context needed to make layout changes confidently and cost-effectively. For example, corporate offices can right-size shared spaces. Warehouses and data centers can optimize aisle layouts, equipment paths, and airflow to help you make every square foot count.

5. Energy management and sustainability

Energy management with IIoT starts with visibility and ends in measurable impact. By connecting your HVAC or electrical systems to IIoT sensors, you can track real-time usage, detect inefficiencies, and remotely adjust system performance. It’s not just about cutting utility bills. It’s about meeting sustainability goals, maintaining ESG compliance, and building resilience into your infrastructure.

Colgate-Palmolive put this into practice by deploying IIoT-powered flow sensors to monitor compressed air systems leading to a 15% boost in efficiency and helping them reduce waste across operations.

Pairing IIoT with a digital twin makes that insight actionable. At Amazon’s Executive Briefing Center, Matterport’s spatial model was integrated with environmental data to improve energy performance and remote oversight. “Digitizing real-world places like Amazon's Executive Briefing Center makes them more accessible, efficient and sustainable,” said Bill Lacey, former President and COO at Matterport.

Check out the digital twin here:

6. Quality assurance and compliance

Traditional construction QA/QC methods are time-consuming, prone to errors, and require repeated site visits. Manually sorting through 2D images and handwritten notes is inefficient and crucial details can be easily missed, impacting the project's budget and schedule. Digitizing your QA/QC workflow can drive efficiency throughout your design and build process while streamlining communication, reducing rework, and minimizing site visits.

Digital twins support this by giving teams a visual log of what happened, when, and where, helping to make inspections faster and more transparent. You can see exactly how an asset was performing at a given point in time, and what actions were taken to resolve an issue. Check out this eBook for more detail.

7. Streamlined inventory and logistics

Live visibility into your inventory, equipment, and workflows turns your static supply chains into responsive, data-driven systems. By embedding sensors and trackers across your facility, you can pinpoint where materials are, how fast they're moving, and what’s slowing them down.

IIoT helps you to streamline logistics with:

• Real-time tracking: Sensors monitor item location and movement, improving stock accuracy and reducing search time.

• Smarter routing: Data from IIoT devices helps optimize picking paths and minimize congestion at loading docks.

• Fewer delays: Equipment health data ensures forklifts and conveyors stay operational when they’re needed most.

• Faster fulfillment: Live alerts and usage patterns support just-in-time restocking and faster order handling.

And when IIoT is layered into a manufacturing environment with a digital twin, you can visualize those insights in context and identify layout inefficiencies or bottlenecks before they impact performance. 

8. Advanced analytics for continuous improvement

Your facility generates thousands of data points every day, and IIoT turns that into a roadmap for improvement. By analyzing real-time sensor data, teams can identify equipment failures before they happen, reduce energy waste, and smooth out operational chokepoints. When paired with a digital twin, those insights gain spatial context, making optimization efforts faster and more precise.

Much like Toyota’s “Kaizen” value of continuous small improvements, these optimizations can quickly add up and create a massive impact over a year.

9. Smart manufacturing

IIoT gives teams the ability to simulate, test, and improve systems before anything hits the floor. By connecting equipment, sensors, and simulation software, manufacturers can commission new lines virtually—catching potential issues early and adjusting layouts without physical trial-and-error.

RemSense shows what this looks like in practice. Using Matterport's digital twin technology, they build "Virtual Plants" that enhance remote training, inspection, and hazard identification. "We've overcome the barriers of time and distance by bringing the plant to the people instead of the people to the plant," explains Steve Brown, CEO of RemSense. Their clients cut training costs by 40%, with virtual site visits delivering 90% of the value of an in-person walkthrough.

For manufacturers, this means faster line changes, smoother production launches, and better-prepared teams. In energy and heavy industry, it gives operators a safer way to simulate failure scenarios and stress-test contingency plans without risking downtime.

Combining IIoT and digital twins for deeper operational insights

Most dashboards give you data points (numbers, graphs, alerts), but they don't tell the full story. 

When you integrate that data into a digital twin, you get the 'where' along with the 'what.' Instead of monitoring operations from a flat screen filled with charts, you can step into an immersive 3D environment that mirrors your actual facility.

This shift adds crucial spatial context. You're not just seeing an alert about a temperature spike—you're seeing exactly which machine is overheating and where it sits in the production line. You can explore that zone virtually, identify nearby risks or related systems, and take faster, more accurate action.

Creating a visual data ecosystem

The Pro3 camera excels at capturing complex industrial environments with its high-precision scanning capabilities. Its ability to scan up to 100 meters away in less than 20 seconds means even large facilities can be digitized quickly and accurately. This provides the essential visual foundation for your IIoT ecosystem.

Enhancing decision-making with spatial context

Your digital twin is the foundation. With it, you can tag assets, link sensor data, and see how your facility operates in real time. Matterport's 3D capture gives you the context, while AWS IoT TwinMaker feeds in the live data.

When something goes wrong, context matters. Alerts that appear inside your 3D model, not just in a chart, help you respond faster. You can also review historical data as visual heat maps, helping you spot long-term trends.

Enabling remote collaboration and expertise

Not every expert needs to be on-site. With a digital twin, you can bring in external specialists, annotate issues, and share walkthroughs to align your team without the travel time. That speeds up resolution and keeps your ops team focused.

Get connected with the IIoT and digital twins

Combining digital twins with IIoT gives you more than just data… it gives you context that’s easily actionable. With a spatial view of your facility and live sensor data at your fingertips, you can prevent downtime, make smarter decisions, and manage more sites with fewer on-site visits. This integrated approach helps you move faster, reduce risks, and optimize performance across every square foot of your operation.

Want to try Matterport? Book a demo and see how digital twins can elevate your IIoT plans.