IT that does not stop the line
Production sites where office IT sits next to machinery and older control systems that cannot simply be patched. We separate those two worlds properly on the network, keep the traffic between them under management, and plan work around the production line.
Two rhythms on one site
In the office a restart is an interruption. On the line it is downtime with a start and an end time somebody has to account for.
In a manufacturing business two environments sit side by side that pay no attention to each other until something goes wrong. On one side the office: mail, ERP, planning, purchasing. On the other side the shop floor: control systems, measuring equipment, machines with a computer inside supplied by the manufacturer and sometimes ten years old already. That last part is not neglect but a consequence of the machine’s own service life: you do not write it off because a new version of an operating system came out.
The result is that on the shop floor side you cannot patch at the rhythm you keep on the office side. Try it anyway and you stop a machine nobody had planned for. Do the opposite — leave the shop floor alone and stop looking at it — and you are left with an environment that is connected to the office network without the same protection around it.
Separate, and manage the connection
The answer is neither “everything apart” nor “everything joined up”. Data has to move from the line into planning and reporting, and remote access is needed for maintenance. So we record which zones exist, which connections run between them and who comes in by which route. IEC 62443 describes exactly that structure of zones and conduits; we use that division as the starting point and keep it current, so no connection quietly appears because a project was in a hurry.
Remote access by machine suppliers gets the same treatment as access by your own people: per person, per session, with multi-factor authentication and a trail afterwards. That is not distrust, it is the only way to say what happened after an incident.
Maintenance around production
When work may be done is not a detail here but the core of the agreement. We record per system which window a change may fall in, what happens if a change runs longer than planned, and who decides to fall back. If production runs in shifts, cover outside office hours belongs with it; that goes into the SLA rather than being a loose promise.
What the regulation asks
NIS2 names part of manufacturing specifically, including the manufacture of medical devices, computers and electronics, electrical equipment, machinery and vehicles. If you fall under it, documented risk management, a duty to report serious incidents and demonstrable attention to your supply chain apply. If you do not, the GDPR and your own continuity remain — and here those two are usually reason enough. Our own processes are covered by ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 14001 and Kiwa NEN 4400-1.
What we handle in a manufacturing environment
You choose what you need. It all sits under one contract, one report and one point of contact.
- A network divided into zonesOffice, production and guests kept apart, with connections that are named and do not quietly grow because a project was in a hurry.
- Machine supplier accessRemote maintenance runs per person and per session, with multi-factor authentication and a trail that can be read afterwards.
- Patching in two rhythmsThe usual rhythm on the office side, and on the shop floor a window that moves with the machine and the schedule.
- Maintenance around the lineChanges inside a window agreed in advance, with an agreed fallback and somebody who decides when it runs long.
- Equipment that suits the environmentWorkstations, scanners and screens that cope with dust, vibration and gloves, with management and replacement set up for that.
- Cover on shift hoursIf production runs outside office hours, support runs with it, with response times written into the SLA per system.
How we take over a manufacturing environment
In this order, because here a surprise during the transition is not an inconvenience but downtime.
Walking the floor
Not just the office. An hour at the line shows which connections actually exist, and which of them nobody has on a drawing any more.
Mapping zones and connections
Which networks exist, what runs between them, which supplier comes in from outside and where. That picture is almost never complete and almost always the starting point.
Setting windows and fallbacks
When work may be done, what the fallback is and who decides. That goes into an SLA in plain language, with shift-hour cover where it is needed.
Steering on what we measure
The reporting shows volumes, lead times and recurring causes, per site or per line. That tells you where the next intervention pays off most.
The services that come up most here
These building blocks come up most often in a manufacturing environment.
Looking further
Recognise the picture but work in another industry? Have a look at the other sectors.
Tell us when the line is allowed to stop
Name the machines on the network, the suppliers watching from a distance and the moments when work may be done. We build the separation, the window and the cover around those.