Manufacturing

IT support and cyber security for manufacturing

Specialist IT support for UK manufacturers. We understand the gap between OT and IT, we support the ERPs that run your business, and we deliver the Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 controls your customers are starting to demand. We keep your line running and your data safe.

Book your free OT/IT security gap review

Free, around 45 minutes, no obligation. You keep the findings whether you work with us or not.

When the line stops, money stops

A ransomware attack on your ERP, a network outage between the office and the shop floor, a PC that will not talk to CNC. Every minute is measurable financial loss with a number you can put on a whiteboard. Manufacturing IT is not like office IT, and most providers do not understand the difference until something breaks production.

We work across both sides of the divide, from the SCADA network on the shop floor to the ERP that runs the business, and we plan for the days they fail.

We understand the shop floor, not just the server room

Operational technology (OT)

PLCs, SCADA, HMIs, robotic cells, CNC controllers, machine tools and vision systems. Often legacy and unpatched. We segregate them properly, monitor them safely and protect them without breaking production.

ERP systems

SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and F&O, Sage X3, Epicor (Kinetic), IFS, Syspro, NetSuite, Infor and Made4net. We support the infrastructure, integrations and user experience around your core platform.

Engineering and design

SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Inventor, Fusion 360, Creo and Catia, plus PLM tools like Windchill and Teamcenter. Large file management, version control and secure collaboration with your supply chain.

MES, quality and traceability

Manufacturing Execution Systems, CMM data capture, barcode and RFID scanning, and batch traceability. The systems that prove what you made, when, and to what spec.

What we do for manufacturers

OT/IT cyber security

We segment networks properly so a compromised laptop in accounts cannot reach a PLC on the line, deploy monitoring that watches OT traffic without interfering with it, and protect what cannot be patched.

ERP resilience, backup and recovery

We manage the infrastructure around SAP, Dynamics, Sage X3 or Epicor and monitor it around the clock, with immutable backups and tested recovery, so ERP downtime is measured in hours, not weeks.

Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001

Your customers are pushing security down the supply chain. We deliver the technical controls, document the evidence, and prepare you for the audit, so you pass first time and retain certification cleanly.

Legacy system protection

Almost every manufacturer has a Windows 10 or older PC running critical production kit. We isolate these systems, harden access, monitor for compromise and document the risk, so it is managed instead of ignored.

Shop floor connectivity and WiFi

Steel frames, machinery interference and signal-killing roofs make industrial WiFi hard. We design and install WiFi that actually works on the shop floor, for scanners, MES tablets, AGVs and IIoT sensors.

Multi-site and Microsoft 365

Resilient site-to-site networking, secure remote access for engineers and centralised identity across plants. We also deploy Teams Phone, SharePoint, Intune and Defender properly, replacing several legacy tools at lower cost.

Why this matters right now

Attacks are at record highs

Ransomware groups actively target manufacturing because firms pay quickly to restore production. Recent UK incidents at JLR and KP Snacks made it a board-level conversation, and insurers now demand evidence of MFA, EDR and immutable backups.

Security is pushed down the chain

Cyber Essentials Plus is increasingly mandatory for tendering with the MoD, large automotive groups and tier-one buyers. ISO 27001 is moving from nice to have to table stakes. If you cannot evidence security, you do not make the shortlist.

OT is more exposed than you think

The shop floor was never designed to be on the internet. Now it often is, by accident, through remote support links, IIoT sensors and vendor connections. The attack surface has grown faster than the security has kept up.

What manufacturing leaders ask us

Do you understand OT, or just IT?

Both, and we understand the difference. OT is fundamentally different to IT: availability outweighs confidentiality, change windows are measured in months not days, and patching a controller can break a production cell. We do not try to apply office IT thinking to a SCADA network. We segregate, monitor and harden in ways that work for manufacturing reality.

We have Windows 10 (or older) machines running production kit. Is that a problem?

It is a risk, but a manageable one, and almost every manufacturer has the same situation. The answer is not to rip it out, it is network segmentation so the legacy machine can only talk to what it absolutely needs to, strict access control, monitoring for unusual traffic, and documented acceptance of residual risk. We have done this many times. We make the risk known and controlled instead of unknown and ignored.

Do you support our ERP (SAP, Dynamics, Sage X3, Epicor, IFS, Syspro, Infor)?

Yes. We support the infrastructure, integrations, identity, backups, security and user devices around all the major UK manufacturing ERPs. The application itself is supplied by your ERP vendor or implementation partner, but the environment it runs in is where we add value. We work alongside ERP vendors, not against them.

Can you help us achieve Cyber Essentials Plus or ISO 27001?

Yes. We deliver the technical controls and the evidence pack for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, and we provide the IT components of ISO 27001 (access control, change management, backups, logging, incident response, asset management). For full ISO 27001 you will also need a management system covering policies, training and governance. We will tell you what we can do and where you will need a separate ISMS consultant.

A customer is asking us to evidence specific security controls. Can you help respond?

Yes, we do this regularly. Customer security questionnaires (especially from automotive, defence, aerospace and large retail) ask for specific evidence: MFA enforcement, endpoint protection, backup architecture, incident response, vulnerability management. We help you complete them accurately, and we make sure the underlying controls actually exist before we tick the box.

How do you handle remote access for engineers and machinery vendors?

With proper Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), not legacy VPNs that give third parties broad network access. Each vendor connection is scoped to the specific machine or system they need, time-limited, logged, and revocable in seconds. This is one of the highest-risk areas in manufacturing IT and it is almost always under-controlled.

What does this cost?

Per-user or per-device pricing, transparent and published. Use our pricing calculator for a guide, or book a review and we will quote against your actual environment, OT footprint and ERP setup.

Manufacturers we support

Supere works with manufacturers across engineering, fabrication, packaging, plastics, electronics and industrial equipment. Headquartered in Nottingham, we support production facilities across the UK and Channel Islands, from single-site SMEs to multi-plant groups.

Ready to keep the line running?

Book a free OT/IT gap review. We’ll walk through your production network, ERP, backups, remote access and security controls, and give you a written summary of the gaps that would cost you money in an outage, a breach or a customer audit.

Book your free review

Or call us on 0333 034 7560.