IT for Manufacturing
A line-down hour costs five figures. A ransomware day costs a quarter. We run the IT and OT-adjacent infrastructure for plants where the help desk needs to know the difference between a router and a PLC — and where the network-segmentation diagram is treated as a controlled document.
The five problems we fix first in manufacturing.
These are the patterns we hear in the first call, every time. The order matters — solving them in this sequence keeps the work calm and the budget predictable.
- 01
Flat networks where IT and OT share a subnet
A phished email lands on the corporate side and ends up at the engineering workstation. We segment IT from OT properly with a managed boundary, jump host, and explicit allow rules.
- 02
Vendor remote access that never expires
A robotics integrator from 2018 still has VPN access. Time-bound, MFA'd, recorded vendor access becomes the norm — and we audit it monthly.
- 03
Unpatched HMIs and engineering workstations
You can't patch the PLC during a run. Fine. But you can patch the workstation that programs it, and you can air-gap the controllers that can't be patched at all.
- 04
Backups of MES, historian, and recipes
Most plants we walk into have backups of fileserver but not of historian or recipe data. Immutable, off-domain backups for OT data, restore-tested quarterly.
- 05
No documented incident playbook for the line
When ransomware hits at 2 AM, "call IT" isn't a plan. We write you a one-page runbook with named humans, escalation paths, and the three switches to flip.
The manufacturing playbook.
- 01
Manufacturing engagements begin with a one-day plant walk-through. We map every IT/OT boundary, vendor account, and backup destination in person. The deliverable is a network diagram, an access inventory, and a ranked risk list. You keep the documents.
- 02
On the security side we install a real IT/OT boundary — a jump host between corporate IT and plant OT, explicit east-west allow rules, full session recording for vendor sessions. This single control eliminates the most common ransomware path.
- 03
We don't treat OT as off-limits. Engineering workstations, HMIs, and historians get monitored, patched on a risk-based cadence, and backed up to immutable storage. PLCs and controllers stay isolated; we focus on the IT systems that can reach them.
- 04
For multi-plant operations we standardize: the same boundary architecture, the same vendor-access policy, the same backup target. One playbook, deployed across sites, so an outage in Plant A doesn't become a learning experience for Plant B.
Aligned with the rules your auditors ask about.
NIST SP 800-82 (ICS Security)
Industrial control system security guidance applied to your plant networks: zoning, conduits, access control, and continuous monitoring.
CMMC (when DoD-adjacent)
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification readiness for plants in the defense supply chain. Levels 1 and 2 are common; we've helped plants assemble the SSP and POAM.
CIS Controls (IG2/IG3)
Practical, prioritized controls for mid-market manufacturers — implemented in priority order, evidenced quarterly.
IEC 62443
Industrial security framework applied to the OT side. Asset inventories, security zones, and conduit protection.
Tools we know inside out.
We bring vendor relationships and deployment muscle for the platforms that run manufacturing every day.
Services that fit manufacturing.
Mid-market food processor, 4 plants, 540 staff
Replaced a flat L2 network shared between corporate IT and plant OT with a properly zoned architecture in two phases over six weeks. Deployed time-bound, recorded vendor access for 18 external integrators. Built a one-page incident playbook tested in a tabletop with the GM. Six months later, a phishing event landed on a corporate laptop; the attack stopped at the boundary and never reached MES.
Tell us about your manufacturing environmentCommon manufacturing questions.
Don’t see yours? Drop us a note — we answer every email personally, usually within the hour.
Will you touch the PLCs?
No. We don't make changes to PLCs, controllers, or safety-rated systems — that's your controls integrator's domain. We secure the IT systems that can reach them, and we coordinate with your integrator when it's time to update controller firmware.
Can you reach our plant after-hours?
Yes. Our 24/7 helpdesk has documented escalation paths to plant-side engineers, and we keep written runbooks with the named humans on each shift. We don't cold-page operations at 3 AM unless the playbook says we should.
How do you handle vendor remote access?
Time-bound, MFA-required, source-IP-restricted, and full session recording. Vendors get a calendar-bounded session — three weeks means three weeks. Sessions are audited monthly.
Can you support our existing OT vendors?
We work with Rockwell, Siemens, Schneider, Mitsubishi, and most other major OT vendors. We don't replace your integrator — we coordinate with them on the IT side of their deployments.
What about CMMC?
For defense-adjacent plants we help assemble the SSP, POAM, and evidence pack for CMMC Level 1 or 2 assessment. We don't certify you — that's a CMMC C3PAO's job — but we get you ready and stand alongside during the assessment.
Leading IT
Solutions.
Tell us about your stack, your bottlenecks, your wishlist. We’ll send back a written plan inside 48 hours — no pitch deck, no pressure, no contract talk until you ask for it.