By Jeff Reiter, CEO, RWK IT Services
You ever try “Dry January”? Cut the booze, clear the head, and reset a habit that’s not doing you any favors.
Manufacturing has its own version. Only it’s not bourbon or beer, it’s the little IT shortcuts that feel harmless… until they punch you in the schedule.
If you’re running a plant in the Chicagoland area, especially along the I-80 / Southland corridor (Frankfort, New Lenox, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Joliet, Mokena, and nearby) - you already know the reality:
- Production deadlines don’t care about “IT projects.”
- Legacy ERP/MES systems don’t like being touched.
- IT and OT are glued together with good intentions and limited time.
- Downtime is expensive, stressful, and publicly embarrassing.
I walk into a lot of shops where the technology works… until it doesn’t. And when it fails, it’s never a convenient failure. It’s a Monday morning line stoppage, a missed shipment, or a scramble to rebuild a workstation while the floor waits.
Here are six IT habits manufacturers should quit cold turkey in 2026, before they cost you real production time.
Habit #1: Clicking “Remind Me Later” on Updates
That patch you postponed last week might be the exact one that closes the hole attackers are actively scanning for.
And manufacturing is a favorite target because attackers know one thing: you can’t “wait it out” when production is down. That pressure turns into ransom payments, emergency rebuilds, and days of missed output.
What to do instead (without wrecking uptime):
- Schedule updates during planned downtime or off-shifts
- Use managed patching so updates roll out quietly
- Separate and control updates for OT-adjacent systems so you’re not gambling with the line
If you’ve got ISO / ITAR / NIST requirements, or you’re defense-adjacent and hearing CMMC more often, patch discipline isn’t “nice to have.” It’s part of staying audit-ready.
Habit #2: Reusing One Password Across Everything
If the same “go-to” password works for email, ERP/MES, and a supplier portal you barely remember… you’ve made the attacker’s job simple.
Credential stuffing is brutal: one breach somewhere else, and attackers try those same credentials everywhere. It’s not Hollywood hacking, it’s automation.
Fix it fast:
- Use a password manager for the whole team
- One strong master password + MFA
- Unique passwords everywhere else (no exceptions)
This is one of the fastest ways to reduce real risk without slowing production.
Habit #3: Sending Passwords Over Email or Slack
“Hey can you send me the login for the control panel?”
That password now lives in:
- Someone’s inbox
- Someone’s Slack history
- Backups
- Searchable archives
And attackers love searching messages for words like “password,” “login,” “VPN,” “admin,” and “invoice.”
Do it right:
- Share credentials through your password manager’s secure sharing
- Set access by role
- Revoke instantly when someone changes roles or exits
It’s cleaner, safer, and it stops the “who has the password?” chaos.
Habit #4: Making Everyone an Admin “Just in Case”
It starts with good intentions:
“Bill needs to install a driver.”
“Jen needs access to run a report.”
“This workstation’s weird, just make them admin.”
Next thing you know, half the plant has keys to everything, from payroll to engineering workstations to systems that touch production.
Here’s the ugly truth: admin rights aren’t a convenience, they’re a blast radius.
Here’s your move:
- Apply Least Privilege: people get what they need, nothing more
- Create controlled “elevation” when needed (temporary admin, approvals, logging)
- Separate IT and OT access so a phished email account doesn’t turn into a plant-wide incident
This single change cuts off a huge percentage of “one click becomes a catastrophe” attacks.
Habit #5: Letting “Temporary” Fixes Become Permanent SOP
You found a workaround for a system glitch in 2020. It worked. Everyone learned it. Now it’s how things run.
That’s how “quick fixes” become:
- tribal knowledge
- training nightmares
- single points of failure
And when the one person who knows the trick leaves? You’re rebuilding the process under pressure.
Time to clean it up:
- List the daily workarounds your team uses (yes, write them down)
- Prioritize the ones that create errors, delays, or security holes
- Replace them with real fixes: automation, process cleanup, or system upgrades that don’t disrupt production
Manufacturing doesn’t need perfect systems. It needs repeatable systems.
Habit #6: The Giant Spreadsheet That Runs Everything
We’ve all seen it.
One Excel file:
- 14 tabs
- fragile formulas
- “don’t touch that column”
- three people who understand it (one retired last year)
That’s not a tool. That’s a liability.
Smarter play:
- Document what the spreadsheet is actually doing (scheduling, inventory, purchasing, quoting, QC tracking)
- Move that function into a platform built for it, ERP modules, scheduling tools, inventory systems
- Add role-based access, audit trails, backups, and real recoverability
If a spreadsheet is mission-critical, treat it like a system, not a secret weapon.
Why These Habits Stick Around in Manufacturing
Let’s be honest, these aren’t “dumb mistakes.” They’re survival moves.
They stick because:
- They save time today
- The risk feels invisible
- Production comes first (as it should)
But here’s the deal:
Tech debt is like credit card debt.
You can ignore it for a while… but you pay interest in downtime, stress, and rework until you finally clean it up.
How Chicagoland Manufacturers Actually Break These Habits
Not with lectures. Not with “best practices” slides.
You break them by making the right behavior the default:
- Updates are planned and controlled
- Passwords are managed and shareable securely
- Admin rights are tight and auditable
- Remote access is locked down (especially vendors)
- IT and OT are segmented intentionally
- Backups restore fast enough to matter
- Workarounds get replaced before they become “how we do things here”
If you’re looking for outside support, Illinois manufacturers also have solid resources like IMEC (Illinois MEP) for operations and improvement initiatives, good organizations exist locally. The key is turning this into a system, not a one-time cleanup.
Ready for a Clean Break in 2026?
Let’s do a 15-Min Discovery Call.
No judgment. Just a fast look at what’s most likely to cause downtime or a security incident.
In 15 minutes, we’ll sanity-check:
- Patch cadence for shop-floor PCs and servers
- Who has admin rights on engineering + production stations
- Remote access into your environment (VPN, vendor access, jump boxes)
- Backup + recovery time for ERP/MES and engineering/CAD files
- IT/OT segmentation basics (and where the easy wins are)
Schedule Your 15-Min Discovery Call Here https://rwksolvesit.com/discoverycall/
You’ve got lines to run, deadlines to hit, and people counting on you.
Let’s make sure your technology supports production, without becoming the reason production stops.
Because in manufacturing, downtime is a four-letter word.
