Success case: major Brazilian aviation company reduces downtime by 40% with intelligent monitoring

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In aeronautical manufacturing, every minute of downtime represents enormous losses. One of Brazil’s largest companies in the sector, with units in São Paulo’s interior, faced the daily challenge of protecting high-cost machines and ensuring the integrity of sensitive processes like aircraft drying without sacrificing productivity. The path to transforming this scenario began at a fair in Germany and served as an example of how industrial innovation takes off when it finds the right partnerships.  

The Challenge 

In aeronautical manufacturing environments, equipment like laser engraving machines and CNC machining centers operate with micrometric tolerances. Temperature variations can cause thermal expansion in components, affecting operational precision and leading to unscheduled shutdowns. Moreover, in aircraft drying cabins, uncontrolled humidity compromises the process quality, while in material warehouses, it can damage sensitive components like composites and metal alloys. 

The company already used NOVUS solutions in its units but needed a more connected, predictive, and integrated system to: 

  • Monitor in real-time environmental conditions in critical areas. 
  • Avoid unscheduled shutdowns, which generate high costs due to equipment value and production chain impact
  • Ensure quality of drying and storage processes. 
  • Centralize data on a single platform for data-driven decision-making. 

The Solution 

The solution was built around two main NOVUS products: 

  • Climate Air+: Advanced temperature and humidity monitoring with MQTT communication, ideal for continuous monitoring in industrial environments. 
  • DigiRail IoT: Gateway that collects data from sensors (including devices from other brands) and transmits it to corporate systems via MQTT, Modbus TCP, or OPC UA. 

During Hannover Messe 2025, the company’s engineering team learned about Climate Air+ right at its launch. The ease of configuration, measurement precision, and ability to integrate with Industrial IoT platforms caught their attention, leading to the decision to implement the solution in their units. 

Solution Architecture 

The implementation was structured in a modular and scalable architecture, composed of: 

a)SensorLayer 

  • Climate Air+ was installed at strategic points: 
  • Laser engraving and CNC machines: Temperature monitoring to prevent overheating and ensure dimensional precision. 
  • Aircraft drying cabins: Strict humidity control to ensure coating and composite curing process quality. 
  • Material warehouses: Humidity monitoring to prevent oxidation and degradation of sensitive components. 
  • Third-party sensors: In areas requiring integration of measurement equipment already acquired by the company, DigiRail IoT acts as the main gateway to capture all field variables and unify data.

b)ConnectivityLayer 

  • DigiRail IoT acted as the “brain” of connectivity, collecting data from sensors (including Climate Air+) and transmitting it via MQTT to the corporate platform. 
  • The adoption of the MQTT protocol was strategic not only for its recognized efficiency, low latency, and ability to operate optimally in limited bandwidth networks — vital characteristics for industrial infrastructure — but fundamentally to enable on-premise data consumption. Unlike many manufacturers that impose mandatory cloud-sending architectures and dependence on external APIs, the choice of the NOVUS solution ensured that all information was processed and accessed entirely within the plant environment, securing data sovereignty and robust mitigation of cybersecurity risks in high-criticality operations. 
  • Each gateway was configured to: 
  • Aggregate data from multiple sensors. 
  • Filter and pre-process information, reducing transmitted data volume. 
  • Ensure redundancy, guaranteeing data delivery even in case of network instability. 

c)IntegrationLayer 

  • Collected data was integrated into the Insights Hub platform (Industrial IoT solution), where: 
  • Business rules were configured to generate real-time alerts in case of temperature or humidity deviations. 
  • Predictive models were applied to identify failure trends before they occurred. 
  • Automatic service orders were triggered for the maintenance team when critical thresholds were reached. 
  • The platform also fed Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards, allowing managers to visualize the status of all monitored environments in one place. 

d)Expansionto Other Units 

The solution was initially implemented in São José dos Campos (SP), with subsequent expansion to Gavião Peixoto (SP). The modular architecture allowed the company to replicate the model in other plants with minimal configuration effort, ensuring data and operational consistency. 

Currently, the company operates with: 

  • 10 Climate Air+ sensors. 
  • 3 DigiRail IoT gateways. 
  • Expected expansion to 40 sensors in the coming months. 

How the Solution Solved the Downtime Problem 

The implementation of Climate Air+ and DigiRail IoT brought tangible benefits to the operation: 

a) Reduction of Unscheduled Downtime 

  • Continuous temperature monitoring on laser and CNC machines allowed identifying overheating patterns before they caused failures. 
  • Real-time alerts enabled quick interventions, preventing equipment damage and production stoppages. 
  • Result: 40% reduction in critical equipment downtime. 

b) Optimization of Drying Processes 

  • In drying cabins, precise humidity control ensured coating and composite curing processes occurred within specifications, avoiding rework and material waste. 
  • Automatic alerts were triggered when humidity exceeded pre-defined limits, allowing immediate adjustments. 

c) Protection of Sensitive Inventories 

  • Humidity monitoring in material warehouses prevented degradation of critical components, such as metal alloys and composites, which could be damaged by inadequate conditions. 

d)Data-DrivenPredictive Maintenance 

  • Integration with an external platform already used by the client allowed the company to adopt a predictive approach to maintenance: 
  • Trend analysis identified patterns preceding failures, allowing interventions before problems occurred. 
  • Automatic service orders reduced maintenance team response time. 
  • BI dashboards provided real-time visibility into the status of all monitored environments, facilitating decision-making. 

e) Ease of Configuration and Use 

  • The company’s team reported that device configuration was simple and intuitive, reducing implementation time
  • Integration via MQTT facilitated connection to the corporate platform, eliminating the need for custom interface development.

Results 

The implementation of the solution generated significant impacts: 

  • 40% reduction in downtime of critical equipment. 
  • 25% increase in operational efficiency, thanks to predictive maintenance. 
  • Return on investment (ROI) in 8 months, due to reduced losses and stoppages. 
  • Expansion of the solution to 40 sensors, with replication of the model in other units. 
  • Data centralization on a single platform, enabling data-driven decisions. 

Count on NOVUS 

This case demonstrates how the right technology, combined with a scalable and integrated architecture, can transform operational challenges into optimization opportunities.

For the Brazilian Aviation Giant, the combination of Climate Air+ and DigiRail IoT not only solved the downtime problem but also established a new standard of efficiency, reliability, and intelligence in its production processes.

In a sector where every detail makes a difference, monitoring with precision is the first step to take off toward operational excellence. And NOVUS is ready to fly alongside those who seek innovation without complication. 

Learn more about Climate Air+ and DigiRail IoT. 

If you prefer, speak with one of our specialists and implement the best solution for your industry.