Digital transformation is reshaping the industrial landscape at an unprecedented pace, enhancing performance, automation, and connectivity. While IT innovations promise greater efficiency and responsiveness, they also introduce risks that threaten the resiliency of manufacturing operations.
With the U.S. smart manufacturing market projected to grow by 13.2% annually from 2024 to 2030,1 the rapid adoption of advanced technologies is accelerating, making operational resiliency more critical than ever. Recent research shows that downtime costs for large organizations can reach up to $9,000 per minute. In high-risk industries, hourly downtime costs can surpass $5 million.2 Every moment of disruption ripples through supply chains, production lines, and customer satisfaction.
Emerging Trends in Manufacturing Resiliency
Let’s explore some of today’s most pressing barriers to achieving resiliency:
- Security threats to proprietary and legacy systems
Manufacturers face unique challenges in protecting outdated infrastructure that was not designed with cybersecurity in mind. These systems, while critical to shop floor operations, are difficult to secure and at risk of ransomware attacks, intellectual property theft, and production disruptions. The continued reliance on legacy systems may explain why manufacturing accounts for over 65% of industrial ransomware attacks.3 The growing adoption of connected devices and digital tools further complicates efforts to secure industrial environments.
What’s happening in 2025:
- Persistent vulnerabilities in legacy systems and outdated proprietary technology
- Increased ransomware and malware attacks targeting industrial environments
- Growing difficulty in securing interconnected systems without disrupting operations
- Scaling infrastructure and ensuring availability
Another crucial challenge involves scaling operations effectively. As companies experience rapid growth, existing IT infrastructure often struggles to support the increased workload. With greater reliance on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices, interconnected supply chains, and business intelligence tools for strategic decision-making, the need for robust, always-available operations has never been greater. Ensuring critical systems remain available during peak workloads is a top priority. Maintaining high availability and planning for recovery are becoming more challenging as systems become increasingly interconnected.
What’s happening in 2025:
- Rising operational risks from infrastructure unable to scale with demand
- Increased downtime and disruptions caused by performance issues in storage, servers, and networks
- Greater need for dynamic scalability to support growing customer bases and global operations
- Supply chain and compliance complexities
In today’s interconnected world, the global marketplace adds new layers of complexity to supply chain management. Organizations must contend with disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and cyberattacks, all threatening operational stability. Traditional linear supply chains have transformed into intricate digital ecosystems, driven by advanced technologies such as data analytics, blockchain, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI).4 These tools are now essential for managing modern supply chain networks. Simultaneously, companies face the challenge of ensuring seamless operations while mitigating vendor risks and meeting increasingly stringent compliance requirements. Adhering to global regulatory frameworks further strains operational systems, making effective management of these complexities critical to maintaining business continuity.
What’s happening in 2025:
- Increased demands for real-time supply chain visibility and secure data sharing
- Stricter cybersecurity compliance requirements for vendors and partners
- Heightened risks from fragmented vendor relationships and disparate contracts
- Data integration and performance optimization
Businesses face growing complexity in data management. They generate vast volumes of data from sensors, systems, and operations, but fragmented systems and data silos create inefficiencies. Business intelligence (BI) and analytics software are essential to unifying these data sources, enabling real-time insights and strategic decision-making. Consolidating data for improved operational performance and predictive analysis remains a key challenge.
What’s happening in 2025:
- Persistent obstacles in integrating multiple systems and eliminating data silos
- Rising pressure to leverage data for predictive insights and operational efficiency gains
- Increasing need for robust data governance to ensure compliance and accuracy
- Focused IT resources and expertise
Many manufacturers report insufficient internal resources and knowledge to manage complex IT environments, modernize infrastructure, or implement robust security measures. In fact, 60% of manufacturers say their workforce needs additional training to address today’s technology skills gaps.5 Smaller IT teams often struggle to balance daily operations, proactive security management, and infrastructure upgrades.
What’s happening in 2025:
- Growing pressure on IT teams as they tackle infrastructure migration, security monitoring, AI scaling, and compliance demands
- Limited internal expertise to execute migrations or optimize advanced cloud environments
- Fragmented vendor support that leads to inefficiencies, driving the need for integrated and cohesive solutions
The Path Forward
How do we proceed in an increasingly complex manufacturing landscape? Success in 2025 and beyond requires a strategic approach that addresses these interconnected challenges head-on. Here’s what forward-thinking organizations should consider:
- Proactive security to protect legacy systems, proprietary technology, and critical infrastructure
- Scalable cloud solutions to support growth, global operations, and peak workloads
- Integrated data systems for real-time insights and better decision-making
- Robust disaster recovery plans to address increasingly frequent and unpredictable disruptions
- Streamlined compliance management to adapt to evolving regulatory demands efficiently
While these strategies provide a framework for success, implementing them requires experienced partners who understand the complexities of modern manufacturing. This is where specialized managed service providers become valuable allies in your resiliency journey.
At Ntirety, our team offers a tailored suite of solutions that align with these critical needs—from securing legacy systems to building scalable cloud infrastructures that support global operations. By adopting these strategies, manufacturers can fortify their security posture, streamline operations, and position themselves for long-term success.
Learn more about how to uncover critical gaps and develop a roadmap for operational resilience with Ntirety.
1. Deloitte, Scale Your Transformation with Industrial IoT Solutions, 2024.
2. Forbes, The True Cost Of Downtime (And How To Avoid It), April 2024.
3. Manufacturing.net, Cybersecurity Best Practices for Legacy Manufacturing Systems, May 2024.
4. EY, Supply Chain, Accessed January 2024.
5. Kearney and World Economic Forum, From Disruption to Opportunity: Strategies for Rewiring Global Value Chains, May 2024.
