Manufacturing Blog / Technology & Business Continuity
· Core Alliance Group
The short answer
Map the dependencies production needs, assign recovery decisions and walk through a controlled tabletop exercise. A backup of office files does not by itself prove that the plant can resume its work.
Begin with the next production decision
Ask what a supervisor would need if normal systems became unavailable: current work instructions, order priorities, material status, quality records, authorized contacts and safe operating procedures. The answers should come from the people responsible for the operation.
Include third-party support and the systems needed to contact them. Separate a temporary manual procedure from a supported recovery method. Never infer that a machine can run safely without a system merely because it still has power.
Respect the difference between IT and OT
NIST's operational technology security guidance addresses environments with distinct safety, reliability and performance needs. A change that is routine on an office laptop can require much more planning on production equipment.
Use a tabletop discussion or a supported nonproduction test. Do not disconnect control systems, disable protections or install updates on running equipment to prove a point. Bring the operating, engineering, safety and technology owners into any later technical test.
Follow a realistic scenario
Choose a bounded scenario such as loss of access to the scheduling system. Ask who declares the incident, which customer promises are at risk, who authorizes an operating workaround and what information must be verified before restarting normal work.
Supply chain should explain material and supplier dependencies; operations should explain production and quality decisions; finance should establish how impact is recorded; technology should describe supported restoration and access requirements. List unanswered questions instead of assuming another department has them covered.
Turn uncertainty into recovery work
Record the data, access, documentation and vendor support each recovery step requires. Check whether backup procedures include the relevant configurations and whether an authorized person has tested restoration in a suitable environment.
This week's assignment: conduct a short tabletop with one production scenario and produce three owned actions. Set review dates and keep recovery secrets appropriately controlled. The deliverable is a clearer recovery path, not a claim that the business is resilient because a meeting took place.
Common question
Should we shut down a production system to test this plan?
Start with a tabletop or approved nonproduction test. Any production exercise requires the responsible operating and safety owners and a supported procedure.
Source and application
NIST: Guide to Operational Technology Security. Sources reviewed October 29, 2026. The leadership checklist and weekly assignment are Core Alliance Group guidance; examples are illustrative and do not describe client results.
Connect the next decision
Bring Supply Chain, Operations, Finance and Technology into the same conversation. Core Alliance Group coordinates independent executive expertise around the business priority; an engagement identifies the responsible providers.
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