Manufacturing
When the line stops, everything stops
Manufacturing runs on schedule commitments, and technology failures turn into missed ship dates fast. We keep the office and the floor running, secure the equipment that was never designed to be online, and help suppliers meet the security requirements their customers now demand.
The realities
What makes manufacturers different
Downtime has a direct price
An hour of stopped production is measurable in units, labor, and late shipments. That makes recovery time the number that matters most, and it is rarely the number anyone has actually tested.
Floor equipment that cannot be patched
Machine controllers, HMIs, and inspection systems often run software the manufacturer no longer updates. Replacing them is a capital project, so they stay, and they usually sit on the same flat network as everything else.
Invoice and supplier fraud
With real purchase orders and long email threads between companies, a redirected payment can look entirely ordinary until reconciliation, weeks later.
Customer security requirements
Primes and large customers push flow-down requirements to suppliers. For defense work that means CMMC, and questionnaires arrive with bid packages rather than after them.
IT built for manufacturers
A manufacturer runs two different technology worlds. The office side looks like any other business: email, ERP, quoting, accounting, engineering files. The floor is something else entirely, full of machines with controllers running software that has not been updated in a decade because the vendor stopped supporting it, or because updating means unplanned downtime nobody will authorize.
Attackers understand that combination well. Manufacturing has become one of the most attacked sectors precisely because downtime is so expensive that paying a ransom starts to look rational. The other common hit is quieter: invoice fraud, where a supplier or customer payment gets redirected in an email thread that looks completely legitimate.
On top of that, security is becoming a condition of doing business. Prime contractors and large customers push requirements down the supply chain, and for defense-related work that increasingly means CMMC. Suppliers who can demonstrate their controls keep bidding. Suppliers who cannot get filtered out.
How we help
What working with us looks like
Separate the floor from the office
We segment the network so production equipment lives in its own lane with tightly limited paths in and out. When something cannot be patched, we shrink what it can reach and what can reach it.
Recovery planned around production
Backups of servers, ERP, engineering files, and machine configurations, kept offsite and protected from tampering, with test restores and recovery targets set against what an hour of downtime actually costs you.
24/7 automated monitoring across both worlds
Automated monitoring covers office systems and the network paths around production equipment, and can contain a compromised machine overnight before it spreads to the floor. Our team responds during business hours, incidents first.
Payment fraud controls that fit purchasing
Multi-factor sign-ins, alerts on suspicious mailbox rules, outside-sender banners, and a verification step for any change to supplier bank details. Purchasing and AP get trained on the specific patterns used against manufacturers.
CMMC and customer requirements, mapped out
We assess where you stand against the controls your contracts require, prioritize the gaps by cost and difficulty, and build the documentation and evidence that assessments and customer audits ask for.
Automation for the busywork between systems
Where your ERP, quality records, and shop paperwork do not talk to each other, we can connect them or automate the manual re-entry, which removes both cost and transcription errors.
What you get
The outcomes that matter here
- Fewer unplanned stoppages, and a tested way back when one happens
- Aging floor equipment isolated instead of exposed
- Supplier payment changes verified before money leaves
- Security questionnaires and CMMC requirements answered from real evidence
Services
Where we usually start with manufacturers
All eight of our services are available to you. These are the four that tend to matter most in your line of work.
Managed IT Services
Support for the office, the network, and the systems that keep orders moving, with vendor coordination handled for you.
Service detailsBackup & Disaster Recovery
Tested recovery of ERP, engineering files, and machine configurations, measured against the cost of stopped production.
Service detailsCompliance & vCISO
Gap assessment, documentation, and evidence for CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, and customer security terms.
Service detailsAutomation & Custom Software
Connecting ERP, quality, and shop-floor paperwork so your team stops rekeying the same data.
Service detailsSee all eight services, or read about managed plans versus one-off help.
Rules and requirements
What you may need to answer for
What drives security requirements for manufacturers and suppliers.
- CMMC
- The Department of Defense standard for its supply chain. If you hold defense contracts, plan to bid, or supply a company that does, you will likely need to meet a level. The required level depends on the information you handle.
- NIST SP 800-171
- The underlying control set for protecting controlled unclassified information, and the technical backbone of CMMC. Contracts often reference it directly through DFARS clauses.
- Customer flow-down requirements
- Large customers increasingly attach security terms to purchase agreements: multi-factor authentication, incident notification windows, and the right to ask how you protect their designs and data.
- ITAR and export controls
- If you handle export-controlled technical data, where that data is stored and who can access it becomes a legal question, not just an IT preference. Cloud choices matter here.
This is a plain-English overview, not legal advice. We work alongside your counsel and auditors, and we'll tell you plainly when something is outside what we do.
FAQ
Questions we hear from manufacturers
What is CMMC, and does my business need it?
CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) is the Department of Defense's cybersecurity standard for its supply chain. If you hold defense contracts, plan to bid on them, or supply a company that does, you will likely need to meet a CMMC level. Which level depends on the type of information you handle. We help manufacturers figure out where they stand today and close the gaps in a sensible order.
Our machines run old software the vendor will not update. What can we do?
Accept that they will not be patched and change the risk around them instead. We segment the network so those systems live in their own lane, limit exactly what they can reach and what can reach them, remove unnecessary internet access, and monitor the paths in and out. That is a normal, accepted approach for equipment that cannot be modernized on your schedule.
Can you support both our office IT and the factory floor?
Yes, with a clear line. We fully manage office IT, networks, servers, and cloud. On the floor we secure the environment around production equipment (segmentation, access, monitoring, backups of configurations) and coordinate with your equipment vendors on anything that touches their controllers directly, since those are usually under their support terms.
How fast could we recover from ransomware?
That depends on decisions made before the attack, which is exactly the point of planning it now. Automated protection can isolate an infected machine within moments, including overnight, which limits the spread. Recovery speed then comes down to whether your backups are current, protected from tampering, and actually tested. We set concrete recovery targets with you and verify them with test restores rather than assuming.
Do you work with smaller shops, not just large plants?
Yes. Much of our work is with small and mid-sized manufacturers who have no internal IT staff, or a single person handling everything. You can start with a flat-rate managed plan or with a specific project such as network segmentation, a CMMC gap assessment, or a backup and recovery overhaul.
Related reading
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On-site across Rock Hill, SC, the Charlotte metro, and surrounding communities. Remote worldwide, including the US, UK, and Australia.
Let's keep your line running
Book a free, no-pressure assessment. We'll review what you have, flag the risks specific to your field, and show you exactly where we can help.