DB: Facility Operations in a Digital Twin 3D Visualization Setup

• Critical facility knowledge held by a few staff, never documented
• Technicians dispatched on-site just to verify equipment or take measurements
• No visual context for cleaning and inspection teams, leading to duplicate visits
• Contractor and in-house crew coordination done without shared spatial reference

• Every asset, space, and maintenance task visible remotely before any site visit
• Precise measurements taken directly in the 3D model
• No site surveys needed
• Shared visual context eliminates duplicate visits and speeds up task coordination
• SAP PM data quality improved through visual asset validation in 3D

For Deutsche Bahn, managing facilities across thousands of sites means balancing precision with scale. From lighting replacements to cleaning schedules and maintenance inspections, every operational task depends on knowing exactly what exists, where it’s located, and how to reach it safely and efficiently.

DB Systel GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of DB AG and the driver of digitalization for all Group companies. With its holistic offering, the company drives the digitalization of business processes and rail-specific digital solutions, creating excellent customer experiences with strong customer benefits.

For years, DB Systel has been working to modernize facility operations through reality-based 3D visualization.

The goal is to make every asset, space, and maintenance task visible and actionable without ever setting foot on-site.

The Challenge: Inefficient, Fragmented Field Operations

At many stations, critical knowledge about facility conditions and asset locations exists only in the minds of a few experienced employees and is not consistently documented.

When documentation does exist, it often takes the form of paper plans, 2D drawings, or scattered files that make coordination between teams difficult.

As a result, maintenance technicians frequently travel to sites just to verify equipment types, take measurements, or assess accessibility.

Cleaning and inspection teams often lack clear visual context, leading to duplicate visits, longer task times, and difficulty coordinating contractors and in-house crews.

We used to lose hours every week just figuring out what needed to be done, where, and by whom.

— DB Systel GmbH Facility Manager, internal testing

The Solution: Reality-Based Operations at Scale

DB Systel GmbH turned to Prevu3D’s RealityPlatform™ to centralize and visualize its facility data in 3D, giving maintenance, cleaning, and safety teams the tools to plan, measure, and coordinate remotely.

Using 360° cameras and LiDAR scans, teams can now capture entire spaces in hours. The data is processed through Prevu3D’s automated Scan-to-Mesh engine, creating an immersive, navigable model accessible to anyone through a web browser.

In practice, this enables teams to:

• Locate and assess equipment remotely before dispatching technicians.
• Take precise measurements within the model; no need for on-site surveys.
• Define which equipment or setup is required for maintenance jobs (such as scaffolding or lifts) without visiting the site in person.
• Annotate and share visual context directly in the 3D environment, reducing back-and-forth communication.

Having an accurate 3D model of the facility helps our teams find the right space to clean or repair, define what equipment is needed, and understand every detail, without extra travel.

— DB Systel GmbH, Immersive Technology – Reality Capture

Results: Faster, Safer, and More Efficient Facility Operations

Since introducing 3D visualization into facility operations, DB Systel GmbH has seen measurable improvements in efficiency and coordination across its sites.

Key outcomes include:

• Significant time savings on on-site briefings and inventory data collection.
• Meaningful reduction in time spent coordinating construction-to-operations handovers.
• Significant reduction in travel for maintenance verification and pre-inspections.
• Improved data quality in SAP PM through visual validation of assets.

For many routine tasks that previously required a physical visit, such as pre-inspections, measurements, and briefings, 3D visualization has changed the equation entirely.

On-site appointments are no longer necessary thanks to 3D visualization.

— DB Systel GmbH, Facility Management Workshop (BIM to Operations Program)

By centralizing visual and operational data, DB Systel GmbH turned a complex network of facilities into a unified, interactive environment making everyday operations more efficient and empowering maintenance teams to work smarter.

Why It Works

The visual Digital Twin platform bridges the gap between field teams and facility data:

Accessibility: A web-based viewer ensures every team—from maintenance to cleaning—can use 3D data without specialized tools.

Accuracy: Every model is derived from verified scan data, ensuring visual trust and reliable measurement.

RealityConnect™ Integrations: Linking to SAP and other business systems ensures operational data stays in sync with the real world.

As DB Systel GmbH puts it, the focus is no longer on creating a 3D model of a facility; it’s about putting reality-based visualizations directly in the hands of operations teams, making everyday work faster, safer, and more transparent.