Production-Ready IT.ERP. Shop Floor. Segmented.
Veteran-owned managed IT built for Oregon small manufacturers. ERP support tuned to your stack, shop-floor mobile that holds up in a brutal RF environment, OT/IT segmentation that keeps a compromised office endpoint away from your CNC, and BEC defense during PO and vendor-payment cycles.
No commitment. No upsell. Month-to-month if we work together.
Aligned with the frameworks your industry expects
In Plain English
Most of the cybersecurity threats that hit a small manufacturer come through the office, not the shop floor. An employee gets a convincing email about a vendor invoice and the next week's payment goes to the wrong account. Or a ransomware infection encrypts the database that holds your work-order schedule, and the floor stops because the schedule is gone. Both scenarios are addressable. Both require a real backup, a real email security stack, and a network that keeps the office systems and the production equipment from sharing the same playground.
We have built that posture for small manufacturers before. We know the major business-software platforms (the ERP, the inventory and design tools), the shop-floor mobile devices, and the network design that keeps a compromised office laptop away from a production controller. We bring a 60-minute call, a one-page report on where you stand, and a recommendation that names the next three things to fix in priority order.
The point of working with us is that you stop worrying about IT. You hire one team to handle the helpdesk, the business-software support, the production-floor connectivity, the wire-fraud defense, and the cyber-insurance renewal. You spend your time making product. We handle the rest.
What We Cover for 5-50 Employee Industrial Operations
The vertical-specific work, included by default, not as upsells.
ERP Support
Sage 100, Sage 300, NetSuite, Acumatica, Epicor Kinetic, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, SYSPRO. Database administration, user provisioning, integration to accounting and shipping, upgrade and patch cycle.
OT/IT Segmentation
Production equipment on one network, office systems on another, with controlled paths only where they need to talk. Default credentials rotated where vendor agreements allow. Vintage firmware behind a firewall.
Shop-Floor Mobile and MDM
Honeywell, Zebra, Panasonic Toughbook hardware. Wireless infrastructure designed for the shop-floor RF environment. Field-friendly support process for production technicians.
BEC During PO and Vendor Payments
Same wire-fraud pattern that hits construction. Out-of-band verification, impersonation-protection email security, multi-step approval for wires above threshold.
Design and IP Protection
SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Inventor, Fusion 360, Rhino. Access controls aligned to job function, exit-process discipline that revokes access before the last day, data-loss prevention for design exfiltration.
Backup of ERP and Design
A backup that an attacker who compromises the primary database server cannot delete. Documented restore tests. Three days of production down should be a billing question, not a survival question.
Common Questions
Does the FTC Safeguards Rule apply to my small manufacturer?
Often no, but check the edges. The Rule applies to "financial institutions" handling nonpublic personal financial information of consumers. Most small manufacturers do not qualify. However, if your business offers consumer financing on equipment or finished goods, runs an in-house lending program, or handles consumer credit applications, you may fall in scope. PCI DSS applies separately if you take card payments. Oregon Consumer Information Protection Act (OCIPA) applies regardless of FTC scope when a breach affects Oregon-resident personal information.
What ERP systems are common for small manufacturers in 2026?
For small US manufacturers in 2026 the dominant ERP options are Sage 100 and Sage 300, NetSuite, Acumatica, Epicor Kinetic, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and SYSPRO. The right choice depends on production type (discrete vs. process), inventory complexity, e-commerce integration, and whether you have multi-site or international operations. The MSP role is the database backup, the user provisioning, the integration to other tools (payroll, e-commerce, shipping), and the upgrade and patch cycle.
What is the difference between OT and IT in a manufacturing environment?
IT (information technology) covers the office computing environment: laptops, servers, email, ERP, file servers. OT (operational technology) covers the production equipment that controls physical processes: CNC machines, programmable logic controllers, CAM systems, finishing equipment, conveyors, sensors. The two have historically been managed separately and have different security profiles. OT systems often run old firmware that cannot be patched on a normal cadence and are designed for availability over confidentiality. The "convergence" of OT and IT in modern manufacturing means they increasingly need to talk to each other (production-data feeding ERP, design files going from CAD to CNC), which is exactly when segmentation becomes critical.
What is the most common cybersecurity threat to small manufacturers?
Two patterns. First: business email compromise during purchase-order or vendor-payment cycles. The same wire-fraud pattern that hits construction is endemic in manufacturing. Second: ransomware that encrypts the ERP database and any production-scheduling system, halting the shop floor until restore or ransom. Both are addressable with MFA, email impersonation protection, EDR with isolation, and tested separated backups.
Should small manufacturers have separate networks for production and office?
Yes, in nearly every case. The shop floor (CNC, PLCs, finishing equipment, scanners, label printers) and the office (laptops, ERP, email) should live on segmented networks with controlled communication paths between them. The reasons: production equipment often runs vintage firmware that is unpatchable, default credentials are common, and a compromised office endpoint should not be able to talk directly to a production controller. The segmentation does not need to be elaborate (a managed switch, a couple of VLANs, and firewall rules between them is usually sufficient at small scale), but it does need to exist and be documented.
Ready for a 60-Minute Assessment?
Bring your current setup, your concerns, and your renewal timeline. We will return a one-page gap analysis. No commitment, no upsell.
Get a Manufacturing IT Assessment