SD-WAN and SASE for Manufacturing
Traditional WAN architectures cannot meet manufacturing's demands for real-time production control, operational technology connectivity and IT/OT convergence, however SD-WAN and SASE solutions provide the answer through the likes of application-aware routing, centralised management and integrated security for regulatory compliance.
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Harry Yelland
Robert Sturt
- UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill impact on manufacturing
- Netify SD-WAN and SASE Manufacturing Pillar UK & North America
- Modern Manufacturing Connectivity and Network Performance Drivers
- IT/OT Convergence Challenges in Industrial Networks
- Enterprise vs Mid-Market Manufacturing Network Requirements
- Security Drivers for Manufacturing and Production Systems
- Netify Intelligent RFP Builder for Manufacturing
Modern Manufacturing Connectivity
Modern manufacturing depends on network connectivity to synchronise production lines, coordinate supply chains and maintain visibility across distributed operations - for example, production facilities generate vast amounts of real-time data from SCADA systems monitoring equipment performance, MES platforms coordinating manufacturing workflows and IoT sensors tracking quality metrics.
Each of these require reliable, low-latency connectivity to prevent production disruptions that can lead to missed delivery commitments and wasted materials. And, when network performance degrades or fails entirely, manufacturers face immediate impacts to operations: production lines halt awaiting control signals, quality inspection data cannot reach decision-makers in time and inventory synchronisation between facilities breaks down, creating costly delays and can negatively affect customer relationships.
Traditional MPLS-centric architectures struggle to meet these operational demands whilst imposing substantial cost and flexibility constraints - deploying dedicated circuits to many of production facilities represents significant capital expenditure, particularly when manufacturers need to quickly bring new sites online, expand production capacity or reconfigure operations in response to supply chain changes.
This is further emphasised through the architectural limitations of these outdated systems, where backhauling all traffic through central data centres introduces latency that degrades time-sensitive applications (such as SCADA communications and predictive maintenance platforms), creating single points of failure that threaten continuous operations. Meanwhile, IoT sensors, automated material handling systems and quality management applications all compete for bandwidth during peak production periods, which can often lead to production-critical traffic being hindered when network capacity matters most.
Finally, these traditional approaches also create operational technology security concerns, as previously air-gapped industrial control systems now require connectivity, and without adequate segmentation from enterprise IT networks, these systems become vulnerable.
Critical Industry Context
- Ransomware Surge: Manufacturing ransomware attacks surged 61% in 2025 (rising to 838 incidents), making it the most targeted critical infrastructure sector.
- Economic Impact: The Jaguar Land Rover cyberattack in September 2025 cost £196 million directly, with wholesale volumes declining 43.3% - demonstrating the catastrophic impact of cyber incidents on production.
- Regulatory Risk: The UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (introduced 12 November 2025) carries fines up to £17 million or 4% of global turnover.
Independent industry validation
The operational and security challenges outlined above are reflected in independent research and guidance from government bodies, cyber-intelligence organisations and industrial security standards authorities. Organisations such as the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) , NIST and IEC highlight manufacturing as a high-risk sector due to operational technology exposure, sensitivity to downtime together with the expanding attack surface created by IT/OT convergence.
SD-WAN and SASE architectures directly address these manufacturing-specific challenges through capabilities designed for distributed industrial operations. Application-aware routing ensures SCADA systems, production control signals and quality management traffic receive priority over administrative applications, maintaining operational continuity during network congestion.
Multi-transport support enables manufacturers to combine fibre, broadband and 4G/5G connectivity for resilience without the cost constraints of MPLS, whilst centralised management allows IT teams to deploy, monitor and troubleshoot sites remotely without requiring on-site networking expertise at every production facility.
Perhaps most critically for manufacturing, these solutions provide granular network segmentation that isolates operational technology environments from enterprise IT systems, protecting production infrastructure whilst enabling the connectivity that Industry 4.0 operations demand.
For manufacturers navigating IT/OT convergence, regulatory compliance requirements and distributed site management, SD-WAN and SASE offer comprehensive solutions to the constraints imposed by traditional WAN architectures.
How does the manufacturing operating environment impact connectivity requirements?
Although there are often many common themes and demands across the manufacturing industry, it's easy to forget that not all manufacturers' needs are the same - operating across different site types, each with distinct connectivity requirements and tolerance for failure. Understanding these operational differences is essential when evaluating SD-WAN and SASE solutions, as the consequences of network failure vary dramatically depending on location type and the systems that depend on connectivity.
Depend on continuous connectivity for manufacturing execution systems (MES), programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and SCADA systems that monitor and control production processes. Even brief network outages can halt production lines, as equipment awaits control signals and operators lose visibility into process status. Extended outages create financial losses from idle machinery, wasted materials (particularly in continuous process manufacturing) and missed production targets that cascade through customer delivery schedules.
Introduce more complex performance requirements - production control remains critical, however with facilities now running real-time quality management systems, automated material handling coordinating hundreds of concurrent movements and predictive maintenance platforms monitoring equipment health, integrated plants have never relied on their network more. And whilst the effect of some issues can often be absorbed by larger operations for the betterment of production continuity (such as delayed predictive maintenance alerts creating uncertainty about equipment status), other effects can be more harmful. For example, slow SCADA performance can prevent operators from responding to process deviations in time, potentially causing quality defects or safety incidents. Furthermore, more direct effects on integrated plants can come from delayed production data that prevents accurate scheduling or inventory planning - either causing overtime costs or under-utilisation of capacity.
Unlike both production facilities and integrated plants, warehouses and distribution centres represent everything non-production-facing. Within these, network downtime can affect warehouse management systems (WMS) that coordinate storage locations, picking operations, shipping documentation and inventory tracking. These systems are often latency-sensitive, therefore when a distribution centre network fails, the impact can have a large-scale effect on the manufacturer as a whole (and not just singular facilities) - orders cannot be fulfilled, inventory visibility is lost across the supply chain and delivery commitments cannot be met, damaging customer relationships.
What are the network performance expectations for modern manufacturing operations?
Performance expectations and requirements significantly vary based on both the type of manufacturing network and variables such as production schedules.
Facilities can often experience predictable spikes during peak production periods such as shift changes, production ramp-ups following maintenance windows and quality inspection periods that generate substantial data traffic.
During these peaks, production systems push control signals to equipment, quality management systems process inspection results, IoT sensors stream data for predictive maintenance and logistics platforms coordinate material movements - all of which utilise manufacturer networks.
Whilst facilities can run entirely smoothly during off-peak times, preparing for these peak production periods can be essential to prevent production delays or quality issues.
What are the primary network performance and management challenges for manufacturers?
As with most industries, latency tolerance for manufacturing applications differs by type:
- SCADA and production control systems require responsive performance as control signals must reach equipment within milliseconds for product quality and safety - these systems are highly sensitive to both latency and downtime.
- Real-time inventory and quality synchronisation between production facilities, warehouses and ERP systems operates on tighter margins. When customers place orders, inventory must be reserved immediately to prevent overselling. Higher latency creates timing issues where multiple systems may attempt to reserve the same stock or where quality holds are not communicated in time.
Given this, poor network design that causes issues with manufacturer's applications and networked systems manifests as operational problems that manufacturers sometimes misattribute to other causes. For example, manufacturing execution systems that are running slowly are often suffering from network congestion rather than application issues.
When multiple production systems compete for bandwidth without proper quality of service policies, control commands can take noticeably longer, however do not offer a clear tangible reason as to why. On the other hand, inventory discrepancies between production and warehousing often trace back to synchronisation delays caused by network latency or packet loss. These, alongside delayed sensor readings or equipment alerts, lead to operational experiences for production staff that feel unresponsive and can degrade both productivity and safety.
Another challenge that manufacturers often face is that production networks must operate without dedicated on-site IT support at every facility, where plant managers or production supervisors aren't network engineers.
If network equipment fails, they may be able to restart devices, but they can't diagnose routing issues or analyse traffic policies - which becomes all the more complicated when the networked systems are running slowly but the overall network appears to still be working. Given this, traditional networks cannot be set up or serviced efficiently in-house, often requiring external expertise to be leveraged.
With SD-WAN and SASE, manufacturers can move to a centrally managed approach, allowing professionals to deploy and oversee all sites from one place. With tools such as zero-touch provisioning, these IT teams can configure, monitor and troubleshoot remotely. When a facility opens, equipment can then arrive pre-configured and connect automatically, whilst when a facility closes, disconnecting devices should be the only action required from site staff.
These systems are ideal for SD-WAN and SASE's routing capabilities, such as Quality of Service (QoS), Application Aware Routing (AAR), link aggregation and dynamic path selection, all of which utilise a variety of network underlays and enable manufacturers to ensure SCADA, MES and production control systems are prioritised and routed over the best performing link at any given time.
These capabilities align with established industrial security standards. IEC 62443 defines network segmentation using zones and conduits to protect industrial control systems. NIST SP 800-82 guidance for industrial control system security stresses availability, integrity and prioritisation of production-critical traffic in converged IT/OT environments.
What are the key security and compliance drivers for manufacturing networks?
With manufacturing organisations often handling operational technology systems, employee records, supplier data and increasingly IoT-generated data across distributed networks, security and regulatory compliance are non-negotiable operational requirements.
How do UK GDPR and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) impact manufacturing data protection?
Manufacturers collect and process substantial personal data through employee monitoring systems, access control, supplier databases and customer order management.
The UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Data Use and Access Act 2025 (DUAA - which received Royal Assent on 19 June 2025) impose legal obligations on how this data is collected, processed, stored and transmitted.
IoT devices and connected factory systems that process personal data (such as biometric access controls or workforce monitoring) must comply with these requirements, with potential fines reaching up to £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover.
The data residency requirements add complexity for manufacturers operating across multiple countries as UK GDPR restricts transfers of personal data outside the UK unless adequate safeguards are in place.
Unlike traditional WAN methods, with SD-WAN and SASE solutions, manufacturers can dynamically route traffic to appropriate regional data centres to adhere to data sovereignty criteria.
On top of this, these solutions can offer breach notifications (which assist with UK GDPR compliance), speeding up detection of security incidents and helping to understand and minimise the scope of an attack, alongside the aforementioned reporting capabilities that can be useful when reporting a breach.
What are the most common cyber threats facing the manufacturing sector today?
According to KELA's 2025 research, ransomware attacks against manufacturing surged 61% year-on-year (rising from 520 incidents to 838) between January and September 2025 as attackers have recognised that disruption to production operations creates immediate pressure to pay ransoms, as every hour of downtime represents lost output, wasted materials and missed customer commitments.
The September 2025 cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover demonstrates the potential impact of these types of incidents, the attack forced a complete shutdown of production across all UK manufacturing plants for five weeks.
JLR reported direct cyber-related costs of £196 million for the quarter, with wholesale volumes declining 43.3% year-on-year.
This was then further estimated by The Cyber Monitoring Centre to have a total economic impact of £1.9 billion, affecting over 5,000 organisations across JLR's supply chain and making it the most economically damaging cyberattack in UK history (and subsequently prompting government intervention with a £1.5 billion loan guarantee).
However, ransomware isn’t the only threat manufacturers are facing, with these threats also becoming all too common:
- OT-specific malware Designed to target industrial control systems, such as FrostyGoop which targeted Modbus TCP protocol, a communication standard used by over 46,000 internet-exposed ICS devices worldwide or PIPEDREAM, the first cross-industry ICS malware capable of affecting multiple sectors and equipment types.
- Supply chain vulnerabilities Where connected suppliers, logistics providers and maintenance contractors create multiple entry points during routine activities that inadvertently provide access for attackers to reach production systems.
- IT/OT convergence risks Where previously air-gapped industrial control systems are now connected to corporate networks and the internet, expanding the attack surface and enabling lateral movement from compromised IT systems into operational technology environments.
These threats require security capabilities integrated into network infrastructure rather than bolted on afterwards.
SASE architectures that combine SD-WAN with integrated security functions (NGFW, CASB, intrusion prevention and malware detection) are all designed to provide widespread protection with the network segmentation capabilities essential for preventing lateral movement between IT and OT environments.
What specific capabilities do manufacturing organisations need from SD-WAN and SASE solutions?
As we've highlighted above, many of the manufacturing sector's network pain-points come from distributed facility architectures, varied location types, limited on-site IT expertise, IT/OT convergence challenges and the need to support both production-critical and administrative applications reliably. [cite: 110]
Given this, manufacturers should consider the following capabilities that SD-WAN and SASE have to offer that are essential for meeting their needs: [cite: 111]
How can application-aware routing prioritise production-critical manufacturing traffic?
Manufacturing networks must prioritise traffic based on operational impact rather than treating all applications equally, which is where SD-WAN's Application-Aware Routing comes into play. [cite: 113]
SCADA communications, production control signals, quality management data and equipment monitoring should always receive priority over administrative browsing, email and non-critical updates, and with application-aware routing capabilities, SD-WAN can identify traffic types and apply appropriate quality of service policies automatically - with all traffic prioritisation policies defined centrally and enforced consistently across all locations. [cite: 114]
This means that, when manufacturer's networks face congestion during peak production periods, the system should protect production-critical applications (such as SCADA and MES) without requiring manual intervention. [cite: 115]
Why is zero-touch deployment essential for centrally managed manufacturing networks?
Facility-level deployment cannot depend on on-site technical expertise, therefore SD-WAN offers the solution through pre-configured deployments, where equipment arrives at a production facility or distribution centre and connects automatically to register with central management systems (without local intervention from plant managers or production supervisors who are managing operations). [cite: 117]
Central management must provide complete visibility into performance, security events and configuration status across all locations, allowing for audits for regulatory reasons such as GDPR and emerging cyber resilience requirements, with IT teams also able to diagnose issues, adjust policies and monitor performance remotely without relying on facility staff to provide information or execute commands. [cite: 118]
How does SD-WAN ensure multi-site resilience and automatic failover?
With SD-WAN able to support multiple transport types (including fibre, broadband and 4G/5G), with automatic failover when primary connectivity fails, manufacturers can mitigate downtime issues on their primary links. [cite: 120]
Depending on the facility type this may vary, as smaller distribution centres might only justify mobile broadband backup, meanwhile large production facilities with continuous operations might require diverse fibre paths and sub-second failover capabilities to maintain business continuity and prevent costly production interruptions. [cite: 121]
How does network segmentation improve both manufacturing security and IT/OT convergence?
To address IT/OT convergence challenges and comply with emerging cybersecurity requirements, manufacturers must consider how their network is segmented and how they minimise risks to production systems. [cite: 123]
The convergence of IT and OT - where previously air-gapped industrial control systems now connect to corporate networks - creates expanded attack surfaces that require careful management. [cite: 124]
SD-WAN can support this through granular segmentation policies that isolate different traffic types - keeping SCADA systems, PLCs and production equipment separate from general corporate traffic and administrative systems. [cite: 125]
These policies can enforce access controls based on device identity and user authentication, maintaining appropriate security boundaries between IT and OT environments across all facility types. [cite: 126]
What should manufacturers consider when beginning an SD-WAN or SASE procurement process?
With so many vendors and managed service providers offering SD-WAN and SASE that claim to solve all of manufacturing's network issues, finding the right one for your business can be difficult.
One way of deciphering the best fit is through a structured RFP, tailored to your specific network requirements, operational model and compliance obligations.
Why is a structured RFP critical for selecting the right manufacturing network vendor?
Manufacturing organisations typically operate many (or even hundreds) of locations with varying connectivity needs, making informal vendor selection processes impractical.
A structured RFP ensures that all vendors respond to the same requirements, enabling fair comparison and reducing the risk of discovering capability gaps after contract signature.
Sector-Specific Requirements Often Overlooked
When building your RFP, ensure you include these five critical manufacturing-specific requirements:
1. Production expansion and site changes
Netify recommends that manufacturing RFPs explicitly define expected rates of facility openings, production line expansions and site relocations over the contract term, with contractual obligations for rapid provisioning and clean decommissioning.
Manufacturing operations reconfigure frequently in response to demand changes, supply chain optimisation and strategic decisions, and solutions requiring lengthy lead times for circuit installation or complex decommissioning processes can delay or even prevent facility openings.
RFPs should specify maximum acceptable provisioning times for new locations and decommissioning procedures that don't leave manufacturers paying for unused circuits.
2. Differentiated resilience by site type
Manufacturers tend to specify uniform connectivity standards across all locations, leading to over-investment in distribution centres and under-investment in critical production facilities.
RFPs should define site tiers with different resilience requirements - production facilities with continuous operations require near-continuous availability with sub-second failover, whilst warehouses may tolerate brief outages with operational workarounds.
This allows vendors to propose cost-effective solutions that protect production appropriately without creating unnecessary costs.
3. Peak period performance
RFPs typically specify average bandwidth requirements without acknowledging that manufacturing networks experience predictable demand spikes during shift changes, production ramp-ups and inventory synchronisation windows.
Requirements should specify peak period bandwidth needs and define acceptable performance degradation during congestion, with vendors explaining how their solutions handle traffic prioritisation when demand exceeds capacity.
4. IT/OT convergence and segmentation requirements
RFPs should specify whether OT environments will share network infrastructure with enterprise IT and what security boundaries must exist between production systems, corporate networks and external connections.
Solutions must support secure connectivity whilst maintaining isolation between enterprise applications and industrial control systems to prevent lateral movement of malware between environments.
5. Compliance audit support and vendor assurance
RFPs should require vendors to explain how their solutions support UK GDPR compliance, emerging cyber resilience requirements and any sector-specific standards relevant to the manufacturer's operations.
This includes what logging and reporting capabilities are provided for internal processes and whether they can produce compliance evidence across all locations from central management systems.
Additionally, verify vendors' own security certifications (such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2) to ensure supply chain security.
How do network challenges differ between enterprise and mid-market manufacturers?
Whilst we've detailed many common issues experienced by the manufacturing industry as a whole, manufacturing organisations at different scales face fundamentally different network challenges and understanding these distinctions is essential for appropriate solution selection.
Specific Network Requirements
Enterprise-Scale Organisations
Enterprise manufacturers typically operate hundreds of locations with dedicated network operations centres, in-house OT security teams and complex network architectures including dedicated OT networks, enterprise security operations centres and industrial network monitoring infrastructure.
Given this, SD-WAN RFP procurement decisions will likely involve multiple stakeholders across IT, operations technology, information security and finance, with formal approval processes and multi-year strategic planning cycles.
One consideration that tends to be more specific to enterprise manufacturers is that they often run multiple production lines, business units or brands requiring differentiated service levels and potentially separate network domains. This may mean that, in the event of an SD-WAN RFP they should detail any contractual obligations to maintain relationships with multiple vendors, industrial equipment suppliers and SCADA platform providers.
Mid-Market Manufacturers
Mid-market manufacturers - including smaller production companies, contract manufacturers and specialist fabricators - operate with leaner IT teams, and network decisions are typically made by smaller teams with broader responsibilities, requiring solutions that are more simplified.
These organisations typically lack dedicated security operations centres and therefore should consider managed service provider assistance or tailoring RFPs for solutions with integrated security capabilities and outsourced security monitoring.
Simplifying Vendor Selection
How does Netify help manufacturing businesses simplify vendor selection and the RFP process?
Netify operates as a neutral SD-WAN and SASE marketplace that helps manufacturing organisations navigate vendor selection without vendor bias - providing our intelligent RFP builder tool that guides your manufacturing business through defining specific requirements, covering network topology, facility types, IT/OT convergence needs, compliance obligations, resilience expectations and operational constraints. This structured approach reduces the time taken to create an effective RFP and ensures that requirements are comprehensively specified before vendors are engaged.
Our marketplace connects manufacturers with curated SD-WAN and SASE vendors and managed service providers, who will each respond to the same structured RFP, enabling direct comparison based on consistent criteria. We support both enterprise and mid-market manufacturers, with RFP templates and guidance tailored to the full range of manufacturing-specific requirements including IT/OT segmentation capabilities, production system prioritisation and multi-site resilience.