This paper advocates the need for broader inclusion of spatial analysis in Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, as well as presents the challenges and opportunities that face the IMS community in the wake of recent developments in the area of geomatics, including widespread use of new technologies for Earth observation. The paper discusses research issues encountered in the development of location-based tasks and services, and presents methods for representing, indexing, and modeling of multi-dimensional information for the purpose of optimization and control. Examples based on multi-band Landsat-7 imagery are provided.