How to manage operational pauses without losing data?

To avoid information loss and data fragmentation, it is essential to accurately track interruptions while maintaining the integrity of work orders even after a pause.

In this article, we analyze how a pharmaceutical company overcame this challenge thanks to the Zerynth Platform, an Industrial IoT platform designed to optimize production processes even in the presence of interruptions.

Operational context

Production cycle interruptions are common during work shifts. In these situations, the operator stops the machine and later resumes the same work order at the same workstation. If these pauses are not tracked correctly, they lead to inconsistent and difficult-to-analyze data.

Main challenge

In the pharmaceutical packaging sector, production processes are highly regulated. Each phase must ensure operational accuracy and complete data traceability.
However, during work shifts, temporary production interruptions often occur due to:

• Quality checks
• Tool replacement
• Minor maintenance interventions
• Planned operational pauses

Specifically, the company faced a critical problem: every time an operator stopped a machine, the system interpreted the interruption as the definitive closure of the work order, generating a new order upon resumption.

The main consequences were:

• Data fragmentation and inconsistent reports
• Difficulty in calculating actual downtime
• Distortion of performance metrics, negatively impacting overall efficiency

Such a misaligned management between actual activity and digital recording compromised the reliability of analyses and made it harder to continuously optimize production processes.

Adopted solution

To solve the traceability and data fragmentation issues, the company implemented the Zerynth Platform, an Industrial IoT platform directly connected to machinery and integrated with MES and ERP systems.
This solution allowed real-time monitoring of production processes even during temporary interruptions, improving production progress management and the overall reliability of collected data.

What does the Zerynth platform do?

The key element is the Work Order Management application, designed to:

• Accurately track operational pauses
• Maintain the unity of the original work order even after an interruption
• Allow operators to communicate status via the machine’s onboard HMI

During all production phases — including pauses — the Industrial IoT platform continues collecting status data. This enables building an orderly, chronological mapping of activities carried out on the line, helping to optimize production processes efficiently.

What benefits did MES and IoT & AI Platform integration bring?

The introduction of Zerynth’s Industrial IoT platform had a concrete impact on company processes:

• +18% accuracy in measuring downtime
• -22% errors in work order recording
• +15% readability and understanding of reports by staff

Want to improve your production progress too?

Contact us: the Zerynth team can help you better monitor, optimize, and increase your factory’s efficiency.

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