WHAT'S NEW IN MAXIMO 7.6.1 ?

This week we bring you an in-depth view of the Maximo 7.6.1 release - the world’s leading enterprise asset management solution.
Version 7.6.1 is a significant update that changes the entire user experience, along with the core functionality of Maximo.
But it also comes with a new set of features that we're going to go over in detail.

Installation and Integration

Speaking of installation, here is the thing : the upgrade to Maximo 7.6.1 (from 7.6) is less complex than some of the historical upgrade paths, but it is still more than just applying a feature Pack. 
IBM has updated the installation process to be java 8 (JDK 1.8) compatible (with java 7 retro-compatibility). An installation in a separate location on the administrative workstation is recommended - the 7.6.1 release files will replace all existing core files.

Developers may have noticed that this release comes with a new set of configuration and command tools to create bundles that can easily be deployed into a websphere application server Liberty environment.

But the most instant eye-catching improvement remains the user interface. The new skin, called IoT18, offers a completely different approach to the classic development tools previously used. Being re-architected with HTML5 and web component technology, the EAM interface is now fully responsive. Depending on the size of your screen, fields will dynamically adjust, columns will expand and the text will get larger to use as much real estate on the screen as possible.

The new skin improves both usability and legibility by increasing spacing in the user interface views. A fresh new look designed to align with Work Centres, new KPI colours (green, blue, purple) and new icons.

Here is a look at Maximo 7.6.1 start centre dashboard :

Introduction to the new Work Centres

Generally speaking, the new work centre’s functionnality provide an enhanced and configurable role-based workflow view.

Within Maximo 7.6.1, IBM has published enhancements to five work centres consisting of new functions and improvements in user-friendliness. A nice feature of 7.6.1 is the usability switch within the work centre allows the user to toggle between the card view and a list view. The list view looks similar to previous versions work order view, but you also now have the ability to create follow-up work and add in related records.

Work Management

> The Work Technician module offers the ability to work on assignments and reports actuals with ease : report failures, report downtime, enter meter readings, create follow-up work orders and a new added related records section to the details tab for work orders among other things.

> The Work Supervisor module giving as always a quick handview of the planning and assigning work. It has been added a new SR review page. For instance, supervisors can expand the work progress page to full screen mode to monitor the status of a work order (from approve to close) or its assignments (owner, lead)

Inspections

> It’s now possible to associate a form with multiple assets or locations at the same time, to apply multiple inspections to a route, report multiple inspection results in bulk, and respond to inspection form questions with date and time information.

> Users can have hands free voice guided inspections (using Watson Services). The Equipment Maintenance Assistant – leveraging the power of Watson and AI – promises to let your technician’s hands to fix repairs right the first time.

Service Requests (SR)

The Data Lookup and access to Asset and Location information are easier and more accurate. It’s now possible to designate a location for a new SR by scanning a QR ocode (or a barcode)

But there is even more :

IBM introduced the entitlement of the latest version of Cognos Analytics with Maximo 7.6.1. Cognos 11 allows to transpose, find, visualize and share Maximo content by using its dasboards, and reports.

Last but not least, Maximo 7.6.1 has been enhanced by a personal data management utility for GDPR compliancy (mainly with EU) in the people application. This gives the manager the ability to secure or remove personal information from people records.

In conclusion, the series of updates involves the same reliability, but enhanced usability with productivity improvements in mind. Those new features and capabilities will help organizations achieve greater asset management efficiency through improvements in usability, integration, installation, and business intelligence.

For the records, here is a sneak preview of the new features that comes with the following update 7.6.1.1 :

If you are thinking of upgrading to 7.6.1, then why not enhancing your best EAM with these solutions :

> Monitor and share real-time information from the field and take instant action with MAXapps. Anytime. Anywhere.

> MAXLS let you use the limitless power of Excel comined with Maximo. Extract, analyze, organize and update data with directly from & within Maximo

> Optimize your organization maintenance work with MAXVS. The visual scheduler let you assign resources & track works within a graphical interface using a simple drag & drop functionality.

At iMAXeam, we focus on creating great add-ons for IBM Maximo