U.S. Manufacturing IT Specialists — Since 2003
IT That Keeps the Line Moving
Manufacturers need IT that keeps the line moving, protects OT and IT networks from each other, and turns compliance requirements into something your team can actually execute. NBIT has done that for U.S. manufacturers since 2003 — from CNC shops with 30 employees to multi-plant operations with hundreds.
Manufacturing IT Has Unique Demands. Generic MSPs Miss the Mark.
Your plant floor runs 24/7. A network outage doesn’t just frustrate employees — it stops production and costs thousands per hour. Most IT providers have never set foot on a shop floor, never argued with a controls engineer about VLAN tagging on a PROFINET segment, and have no opinion on whether your Epicor server should sit on the same subnet as your CNCs.
We do. That’s the difference.
Production Uptime Is Non-Negotiable
When a switch fails on a corporate network, people refresh their inbox. When a switch fails on a plant network, presses stop, ovens cool down, batches go out of spec, and shift supervisors start shouting. Our SLAs and on-call procedures are built around production-priority response — not the standard ticket queue most MSPs run.
OT and IT Have to Coexist Without Trusting Each Other
Your PLCs, SCADA systems, robots, and HMIs were never designed for the internet. Your ERP, MES, cloud analytics, and IIoT dashboards demand it. We design the network architecture that lets data flow where it needs to go without giving ransomware a runway from a phished email straight to the line. Read more about our IT/OT convergence approach.
Compliance Is a Customer Requirement, Not a Theoretical Risk
If you sell into defense, aerospace, automotive Tier 1, or any major OEM supply chain, you’ve already received the questionnaire. Maybe several. CMMC, NIST 800-171, ITAR, ISO 27001, customer-specific security addenda — they all translate to “prove your IT is secure or lose the contract.” We translate that requirement into a practical roadmap, not a 200-page binder you’ll never read.
Legacy Equipment Doesn’t Get Patched on Patch Tuesday
The press brake from 2003, the CMM from 2008, the labeling system that runs on Windows XP because the vendor went out of business — none of them can be patched, replaced, or air-gapped in any reasonable budget. We secure them anyway, with segmentation, compensating controls, and monitoring designed for industrial reality.
What NBIT Delivers for U.S. Manufacturers
Network Infrastructure & OT/IT Segmentation
Production-grade switching, redundant firewalls, industrial-rated wireless for warehouse and shop floor, and Purdue Model segmentation that keeps control systems isolated while enabling ERP and MES data flow. Built to align with IEC 62443 zone-and-conduit principles.
ERP, MES & Line-of-Business System Support
Whether you run Epicor Kinetic, Infor CloudSuite Industrial, SAP Business One, Plex, IQMS, or a custom MES, we handle the infrastructure underneath — server health, database performance, integration between ERP and shop-floor systems, and the EDI feeds your customers depend on. We don’t do ERP customization. We make sure the ERP runs.
Cybersecurity Built for Manufacturing Threat Patterns
Manufacturing is the #1 most-attacked industry for ransomware four years running (IBM X-Force). Our security stack — EDR, identity protection, email security, OT-aware monitoring, and 24/7 SOC — is configured for how manufacturing networks actually fail. See our cybersecurity services for manufacturers.
Compliance Readiness — CMMC, NIST 800-171, ITAR, FDA
We’ve taken manufacturers through CMMC 2.0 Level 2 readiness, NIST 800-171 self-attestation, ITAR controls, and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance. We deliver the System Security Plan, the Plan of Action and Milestones, and the evidence assessors actually look at — not just policies that sit in a folder. See our IT compliance services.
24/7 Monitoring, Help Desk & Production-Priority Response
Round-the-clock monitoring for servers, networks, endpoints, and OT traffic. Help desk staffed by engineers who can read a stack trace and a wiring diagram. Production-down tickets bypass the queue and route directly to senior engineers — because the line being down at 2 a.m. is a different problem than someone needing a password reset.
Strategic IT Planning & vCIO Services
Quarterly business reviews with a fractional CIO who has lived in manufacturing IT, three-year roadmaps tied to your capital plan, technology budgeting that maps to plant expansions and equipment refreshes, and benchmarking against peer manufacturers. Less about saving money on Office licenses. More about what the IT side of the new plant in Texas looks like and how to phase it.
The Manufacturing Cybersecurity Reality
Manufacturers are targeted because attackers know two things: a stopped line costs more per hour than the ransom, and most plants are still running flat networks where a phished email on the front office can reach a control system on the back of the plant in three hops. We exist to change both of those facts for our clients.
You Have Internal IT. We Make Them Better.
Most of our manufacturing clients aren’t starting from zero. They have an IT director, maybe a sysadmin, possibly a controls engineer who got drafted into IT when the network grew. What they don’t have is bench depth — and they don’t want a vendor that elbows them out of the way.
Our co-managed IT model gives your team the 24/7 SOC, OT specialists, compliance expertise, and tooling stack you can’t justify hiring in-house, while leaving day-to-day decisions and vendor relationships in your hands. The internal team handles what they’re best at. We handle the parts that wake them up at 3 a.m.
See How Co-Managed IT Works for ManufacturersWe Know the Sub-Industries Inside Manufacturing
Discrete Manufacturing
Metal, Plastics, Electronics, Machined Parts
CNC shops, metal fabrication, injection molding, contract electronics manufacturers, and aerospace/defense suppliers. The common thread: tight tolerances, ERP-driven scheduling, and customer audits. We secure the network, harden the ERP, and prepare your environment for the supply-chain security questionnaires you’re already getting.
Process Manufacturing
Chemicals, Plastics, Rubber, Materials
Continuous-process environments where SCADA and DCS systems run the plant and a 30-second outage means hours of recovery. Network reliability and OT/IT segmentation are the priority. We design for it.
Food & Beverage Manufacturing
Cold Chain, Traceability, Regulatory Compliance
Cold-chain monitoring, batch genealogy, FSMA 204 traceability, allergen control records — IT failures here aren’t just inconvenient, they’re regulatory exposure. See Food & Beverage IT services for vertical-specific detail.
How We Engage — From First Call to Steady-State
Discovery Call (30 minutes)
We understand your plants, equipment, internal team, and compliance pressure. No pitch, no proposal yet.
Technology Risk Assessment (2–4 weeks)
On-site walk-through where appropriate, network and security review, asset inventory, gap analysis against the standards you actually need to meet. You walk away with a prioritized findings report whether or not we go further.
Roadmap & Proposal
Phased plan that respects your maintenance windows, capital budget, and customer audit timeline. Fixed-fee where we can, transparent T&M where we can’t.
Onboarding (30–90 days)
Documented, milestone-based, with weekly status. We don’t disappear after the contract is signed.
Steady-State Operations
24/7 monitoring, monthly reporting, quarterly business reviews, annual compliance reassessment. Plus the day-to-day help desk that just works.
Where We Work
NBIT serves U.S. manufacturers nationally with on-site teams headquartered in Texas (San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Frisco) and California (Modesto, Sacramento, Turlock, Ceres, Merced, Orange County). We’ve supported plants from coast to coast — if you have multiple locations, we can be the consistent IT partner across all of them.
Manufacturing IT Questions We Hear Constantly
Why do I need an MSP that specializes in manufacturing instead of a generalist?
Because the failure modes are different. A generalist MSP’s runbook for “server is unresponsive” is fine for an accounting firm. On a plant floor, the same alert might mean a SCADA historian is offline and you have 90 minutes before batch records become unrecoverable. Specialized manufacturing MSPs know the protocols (Modbus, EtherNet/IP, OPC UA), the vendors (Rockwell, Siemens, Honeywell), and the operational consequences. The cost is similar. The outcomes are not.
Can you support our existing ERP, or do we have to switch to one you prefer?
We support your existing ERP. We routinely manage the IT infrastructure underneath Epicor, Infor, SAP, Plex, IQMS, JobBOSS, Global Shop, and various custom systems. We’re not an ERP implementer — we make sure the ERP you’ve already invested in runs reliably, integrates cleanly with your shop-floor systems, and stays available when your plant is running.
We’re being asked about CMMC by a defense customer. How fast can we be ready?
For a typical small-to-mid manufacturer, CMMC 2.0 Level 2 readiness is a 6–12 month effort depending on your starting point. Level 1 (basic safeguarding) is much faster — often 60–90 days. The first step is a gap assessment against NIST 800-171 so you know exactly what’s missing and can scope the work. We’ve taken several manufacturers through this process.
Our internal IT person is great but stretched thin. Do you replace them?
No. Most of our manufacturing engagements are co-managed, meaning we work alongside your internal team — they keep their job, their relationships, and their strategic role, and we handle the parts where bench depth or 24/7 coverage matters. Replacing internal IT is rarely the right answer for a manufacturer; augmenting them almost always is.
How do you handle our equipment that runs on Windows XP, Windows 7, or a vendor-locked OS?
Carefully. Legacy equipment is a reality of manufacturing — the average industrial machine is in service 15–25 years. We isolate it through segmentation, wrap it in compensating controls (network access restrictions, virtual patching, monitoring), and document it so cyber-insurance carriers and auditors can see it’s accounted for. We do not insist you replace working equipment because the OS is out of support.
What’s the typical investment for a 100–250 employee manufacturer?
Highly dependent on plant count, current state, and compliance needs. As a rough order of magnitude: a single-site 150-employee discrete manufacturer typically invests $8K–$20K/month for fully managed IT plus security, with one-time project costs for segmentation, hardening, and tooling rollout. A two-plant operation with CMMC obligations is on a different curve. We quote based on observed scope after the assessment, not on guesses.
How is NBIT different from the larger national MSPs?
Three things. First, we focus on manufacturing, food & beverage, and logistics — not “we serve everyone.” Second, we’re large enough to staff a 24/7 SOC and OT specialists, but small enough that you’ll know your engineers by name. Third, we build co-managed engagements that respect your internal team — we’ve seen too many manufacturers chewed up by national MSPs who ran over the existing IT person and lost institutional knowledge. We don’t operate that way.
Ready to Talk to Someone Who Actually Gets Manufacturing?
Schedule a 30-minute discovery call. We will walk through your environment, identify your highest-risk gaps, and give you a clear picture of what it would take to address them. No pressure, no canned proposal — just a conversation with someone who’s been in plants like yours.
