What Happens When the Internet Goes Down at Your Manufacturing Plant?

By Slick Cyber Systems | Manufacturing IT Services and Business Continuity

1. What Stops Working When Your Plant Loses Internet Access?

Not every manufacturing operation depends on internet connectivity in the same way. Some plants can continue running equipment locally, while others rely heavily on cloud applications and connected business systems.

When connectivity disappears, several critical operations may be affected:

• ERP systems: Employees may lose access to production schedules, purchasing, inventory, and order information.
• Shipping: Carrier portals, labels, tracking, and customer shipping systems may become unavailable.
• Microsoft 365: Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and cloud documents may stop working.
• Remote support: IT providers and equipment vendors may be unable to connect to critical systems.
• Multiple locations: Plants, offices, and warehouses may lose access to shared applications.

A plant might continue producing finished goods while its shipping department cannot process them. Production may appear normal until employees need the next work order or inventory update.

If your facility already experiences intermittent connections or slow applications, learn more about common manufacturing network problems and their operational consequences.

2. Why Does Manufacturing Internet Connectivity Fail?

When the internet stops working, the internet service provider often receives the first call. But the provider is not always responsible.

Manufacturing connectivity can fail because of:

• Internet service provider outages
• Failed firewalls, routers, or switches
• Damaged fiber or communication cables
• Electrical interruptions affecting network equipment
• Incorrect configurations or failed updates
• Cybersecurity incidents affecting network access

These failures can produce similar symptoms. Your ERP system may appear broken even when the application itself is functioning correctly.

If ERP, email, and several cloud applications stop working simultaneously, connectivity should be among the first things investigated.

Your IT provider should identify the actual source of the interruption and coordinate with the appropriate vendors instead of leaving your employees caught between competing explanations.

3. Would Backup Internet Keep Your Manufacturing Plant Running?

Many manufacturers operate with a single internet connection. If that connection fails, critical operations may remain interrupted until service is restored.

A secondary connection can reduce this exposure, but simply purchasing another circuit does not guarantee reliable backup connectivity.

Two connections could share the same physical infrastructure. A damaged utility pole or underground cable could interrupt both services.

Before selecting backup internet, determine:

• Whether the connections use independent infrastructure
• Whether different providers or connection technologies are appropriate
• Whether the firewall supports automatic failover
• Whether backup bandwidth supports critical applications
• Whether ERP, shipping, voice, and remote access work during failover

Automatic failover can also reduce delays by allowing compatible network equipment to redirect traffic when the primary connection fails.

4. How Much Could an Internet Outage Cost Your Plant?

The financial impact depends on which systems fail, how long the interruption lasts, and whether employees can continue working.

A thirty-minute outage may cause little disruption at one facility and significant losses at another.

Start by evaluating four areas:

• Lost productivity: Employees waiting for applications or information
• Production disruption: Delayed work orders, material movements, or scheduling
• Shipping delays: Orders waiting for labels, documentation, or system access
• Recovery expenses: Overtime, outside support, and operational catch-up work

Your estimated outage cost should include these business impacts, not simply the price of repairing the connection.

More importantly, understanding the cost helps determine whether investments in backup internet, better networking equipment, and continuity planning are justified.

5. How Can Manufacturers Prepare Before the Internet Goes Down?

A reliable recovery strategy begins by identifying which business processes depend on internet connectivity and how quickly they must be restored.

Use this checklist to evaluate your readiness:

• Identify internet-dependent applications and production workflows.
• Determine which systems require immediate restoration.
• Evaluate backup connectivity and automatic failover.
• Test access to critical applications using the backup connection.
• Document temporary manual procedures for production and shipping.
• Keep provider contacts, circuit information, and escalation procedures accessible.
• Monitor connection stability, outages, and network performance.

For example, can employees continue using printed work orders? Can shipping record transactions for later processing? Can supervisors retrieve critical information without cloud access?

These questions should be answered before an interruption occurs.

The NIST Contingency Planning Guide provides guidance on evaluating operational dependencies, recovery priorities, and contingency planning.

Internet recovery should also be included in your broader business continuity planning.

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