Tech for manufacturers

You separate it rather than pretend it's fine or rip out a working line. The realistic danger isn't someone attacking a machine controller directly, it's a compromised office laptop being able to reach one. So we put the production network behind a boundary, control exactly what can cross it, and monitor that boundary. The unsupported software stays where it is and does its job, but it stops being the way into the rest of the business.

Usually. MYOB Advanced, Katana, Fishbowl, Odoo, Unleashed and the bigger ERP platforms all have ways in, and the win is normally in stopping double entry rather than in anything clever. Where a system is too closed to connect properly we'll say so, and we'll tell you what living with the gap costs versus changing the system, because that's a business decision rather than an IT one.

You should know the answer to that before it happens, and most manufacturers we meet don't. Part of the first review is establishing how long you can actually be down and how much data you could afford to lose, then building a backup and restore that meets it and testing that the restore works. A backup nobody has ever restored from is a hope, not a plan.

It can take the mechanical half. It reads the drawing and materials list, prices against your own current rates and what similar past jobs actually cost, and produces a first-draft quote in minutes. What it doesn't do is replace the judgement about which jobs are worth taking or where a customer will push. Your estimator still checks and signs it. The value is that the firm stops being one person's availability away from being able to quote.

Often, and it's a common reason equipment keeps failing. Dust, vibration, heat and power that isn't clean will kill office-grade hardware fast. We spec for the environment, industrial-rated where it's needed, sealed enclosures, proper power protection and WiFi designed around metal and machinery rather than around an open plan office. It costs more up front and much less over three years.

Managed IT is a fixed monthly fee per person covering helpdesk, monitoring, maintenance, backups and the security baseline. Network and hardware work on a production site is quoted separately because sites vary so much. Automation is quoted per build against a fixed scope. Any number on a website would be made up, so the review costs nothing and you'll have real pricing before you decide.