Manufacturing
IT Support for Manufacturers
The machine controller running Windows 7 is not a mistake anyone made. It is what the equipment vendor supports, and it will outlive three IT strategies.
What Does IT Support for Manufacturers Involve?
Manufacturing IT spans two different worlds: the office network and the operational technology on the shop floor that runs production. Support covers the and business system availability, segmentation between office and production networks, protecting design and process intellectual property, and isolating equipment that cannot be patched or replaced on an IT schedule.
Netlogic supports manufacturers across New Hampshire and Massachusetts, including those carrying defense supply chain obligations.
The problem
The Realities of a Production Environment
Downtime Is Measured in Output
An hour of ERP unavailability is an hour of production planning, shipping, and invoicing that does not happen, and it compounds down the line.
Equipment Outlives Its Operating System
CNC controllers and test rigs run whatever the manufacturer certified, often for fifteen years. Patching is frequently prohibited by the support contract.
Intellectual Property Is the Target
Designs, tooling data and process knowledge are worth more to a competitor than customer records are to a criminal.
Requirements Flow Down the Supply Chain
Prime contractors pass security obligations to their suppliers, and failing them removes you from the bid list.
Requirements
The Frameworks We Work To
- NIST 800-171Protection of controlled unclassified information, required through defense and federal supply chain contracts.
- CMMCAssessment of those controls, flowing down through defense contracts to suppliers of every size.
- ITAR and export controlAccess restrictions on technical data where products or designs are export-controlled.
- Customer security requirementsPrime contractors and large customers increasingly audit their suppliers directly.
Environment
Systems in a Typical Manufacturing Environment
These are the platforms a manufacturing environment typically runs on. We support the network, servers, endpoints, identity, and backup underneath them, and we coordinate with the software vendor when a problem turns out to be theirs. We do not administer the applications themselves.
- ERP and MRP platforms
- MES and production scheduling
- CAD, PLM, and design data
- Shop-floor OT segmentation
- Legacy machine controllers
- Industrial wireless and scanning
- Quality and traceability systems
- Backup for design and production data
Where we start
The Services That Matter Most Here
Every engagement begins with an assessment, but in this sector the work usually concentrates in these areas.
Common questions
Manufacturing IT Questions
How do you secure machines that cannot be patched?
We isolate them rather than pretend they can be updated. Legacy controllers go on a segmented network with strictly controlled traffic, no direct internet route, monitored access, and compensating controls around them. The unpatched vulnerability stays, but nothing can reach it. This is also the approach NIST 800-171 assessors expect to see documented.
Can you help us meet NIST 800-171 or CMMC requirements?
Yes. We assess your environment against the control set, produce the system security plan and plan of action, implement the technical controls and assemble the evidence. The work usually splits about evenly between technical change and documentation, and the documentation is the part most manufacturers underestimate.
Do you understand OT as well as office IT?
We treat them as separate domains with a deliberate boundary, which is the important part. We do not program PLCs. We design and maintain the network, segmentation, monitoring, and backup around production systems, and work with your equipment vendors on anything that touches the controllers themselves.
Where we deliver this
Manufacturing IT Support Across New Hampshire and Massachusetts
On-site from our Nashua office, with day-to-day support delivered remotely because it resolves most issues faster than a visit would.
Talk to Someone Who Has Worked in Manufacturing
Start with a free IT assessment. We review where you stand against the requirements above, explain the risks in plain English, and give you a written roadmap to keep, whether or not you engage us.