Aspects of the present invention provide methods, systems, and/or the like for: (1) receiving current thermal imaging data for a portion of a paper web in the paper manufacturing process; (2) determining force data for the portion of the paper web; (3) processing, to produce a first data analysis result, current thermal imaging data, the force data, and paper profile data using a machine-learning model trained with respective historical thermal imaging data, respective historical force data, and respective paper profile data for each respective prior paper breakage event in a set of prior paper breakage events; (4) generating, based on the first data analysis result, a prediction as to an occurrence of the paper break on the portion of the paper web; (5) identifying a preventative action based on the prediction; and (6) facilitating performance of the preventative action.