6 Hard Truths of Industrial Networks

Is Your Network the "Silent Killer" of Your Project Success? (It's Time for a Reality Check)

 

Let's be honest. In the rush to deliver projects, meet deadlines, and satisfy stakeholders, the network often gets relegated to the "IT stuff" category – something that's assumed to just work. But this is a dangerous assumption, and it's costing businesses far more than they realize.

Like an iceberg, there are many things hiding beneath the surface that are not apparent from the surface level problems you may be experiencing.

Think about your current projects. Are you experiencing any of these issues?

 

• Slow Application Performance: Are teams constantly complaining about lag, slow loading times, or unresponsive systems?
• Frequent Outages or Disruptions: Are you experiencing unexpected downtime that's impacting productivity and delaying deliverables?
• Security Concerns: Are you worried about data breaches, malware, or unauthorized access?
• Difficulty Integrating New Technologies: Are you struggling to implement new tools or platforms because your network can't handle them?
• Communication Breakdowns: Are teams having trouble collaborating effectively due to poor network connectivity?
• Budget Overruns: Are you spending more and more money, but not able to make the progress you desire?
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If you answered "yes" to even one of these questions, your network is likely a significant bottleneck – and it's actively hindering your project success. The network isn't just a utility; it's the foundation upon which all your other projects and initiatives are built.

The Hard Truths

 

Ignoring Network Issues Doesn't Make Them Go Away.

 

It just delays the inevitable – and often makes the problems worse (and more expensive to fix) in the long run. A seemingly small network problem can derail an entire project, leading to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and frustrated stakeholders.

 

Hard Truth #1: Your Network is a Living System, Not a Static Asset.

 

This is probably the most common thing I hear about - "We set it up and never touched it". Many businesses treat their network like a piece of furniture – they set it up once and expect it to function indefinitely without significant attention.

 

The reality is usually not in this line of thinking - and this is a fundamental misunderstanding. While certain aspects may remain the same conceptually, you are always making changes with your data flows, requirements, and goals of the organization.

 

You would hire more operators for a new line - why would you avoid a proper network expansion wen you add more devices?while the physical assets may be there, the logical and technical facets of those devices change as your business changes. Running a machine longer means more throughput. Adding devices, or new drives means different data requirements.

 

Your network is a dynamic, constantly evolving ecosystem, even on the factory floor. It's subject to wear and tear (both physical and digital), it needs regular maintenance, and it must adapt to the ever-changing demands of your business and the broader technological landscape.

Even IT guys wish things could be set up and left as is - believe me. But when it cannot be static, it must be predictable. Since no network is truly static, it must be predictable.

 

Not prioritizing predictability in behavior, naming, IP addressing, or any other aspect slows down any solution. Your changes need to fit within that framework. Ignoring inconsistencies, regular updates, security patches, and performance monitoring is like neglecting the maintenance on your car – eventually, it will break down, and likely at the worst possible time.

 

The longer you delay, the more complex and costly the eventual fix will be.

 

Hard Truth #2: "Good Enough" is the Enemy of Growth.

 

A network that's "good enough" for today might be completely inadequate tomorrow.

If you're aiming for growth – adding employees, expanding services, adopting new technologies – your network needs to be ahead of the curve, not struggling to catch up.

 

A network that's barely keeping up will become a major bottleneck as you scale, slowing down operations, frustrating employees, and potentially driving away customers. "Good enough" today often translates to "major obstacle" tomorrow.

 

Scalability must be proactively built into your network, not reactively patched on.

 

Hard Truth #3: Security Breaches Aren't Just About "Big Companies."

 

Small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly targeted by cyberattacks, and a weak network is an open invitation.

The assumption that "we're too small to be a target" is dangerously outdated. Cybercriminals often target smaller businesses precisely because they tend to have weaker security measures.

 

A single breach can lead to devastating financial losses, reputational damage, and even legal liabilities. The cost of prevention is always less than the cost of recovery.

 

To many, security is a "nothing sandwich" - An exercise in "what-if"s, "should"s, and "could"s that many have never experienced. You may never have had your home broken into - but you still lock your doors and windows.

 

Your network should be the same. The abstraction of security from the underlying system makes it an easy target to dismiss at the cost of choosing to build a poor solution to save cost.

 

And the same is true of poorly implemented security. It is just as bad as no security.

 

Hard Truth #4: Downtime Costs More Than You Think (And It's Not Just Money).

 

When your network goes down, it's not just about the immediate cost of lost productivity. Consider the ripple effects:

 

• Missed Deadlines: Projects are delayed, potentially damaging client relationships. This might be obvious, but it quickly causes a train-wreck situation of piled up work, additional strain and load, as well as pressure for everyone to deliver more than they already were.
• Damaged Reputation: Customers lose trust when they experience disruptions. Whatever your product is, your goal is to deliver it to your customer. When you can no longer do that reliably, it becomes a sticking point.
• Employee Frustration: Constant network problems lead to decreased morale and productivity. Nobody likes working with bad equipment. Its easy to blame a piece of hardware, or a person - but its harder to fix it when that tribal knowledge is lost because their manager couldn't be bothered to approve funds to fix an issue.
• Compliance Issues: Depending on your industry, downtime can lead to regulatory penalties. Some requirements in data backup, monitoring, and redundancy can result in penalties when your data is lost.

 

These indirect costs can often exceed the direct cost of the outage itself.

 

Hard Truth #5: Your Factory Floor is More Network-Dependent Than Ever (And Downtime is Catastrophic).

 

The modern factory floor is no longer just about machines and manual labor; it's a highly interconnected ecosystem, increasingly reliant on a robust and reliable network. Even projects that seem purely operational are fundamentally dependent on seamless network connectivity. Even isolated networks will present these issues. Common areas that depend on networking communicaitons include:

 

• Industrial Control Systems & SCADA: These systems monitor and control your machinery and processes. They likely rely on the network for real-time data transmission and communication. Network latency or outages can lead to production errors, equipment malfunctions, and even safety hazards.
• Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs): PLCs, the brains of many automated machines, need to communicate with each other and with central control systems via the network. Network issues can disrupt this communication, halting production lines.
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Devices: Sensors, actuators, and other connected devices generate massive amounts of data that need to be transmitted and analyzed in real-time. A slow or unreliable network can cripple the effectiveness of your IIoT investments.
• Robotics and Automation: Automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robotic arms, and other automated systems rely on the network for navigation, control, and coordination. Network failures can bring these systems to a standstill.
• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES): MES software, which tracks and manages production processes, needs constant network connectivity to provide real-time visibility and control.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Your ERP system, which manages inventory, orders, and financials, needs to communicate with the factory floor systems via the network. Disruptions can impact the entire supply chain.
• Quality Assurance: Modern systems require a constant connection to maintain a high quality standard.

 

If your network is slow, unreliable, or insecure, it's not just an IT problem; it's a production problem. Isolating a network can also be an issue - as now you have no visibility into it, and thus no information to fix these issues when problems come up. Your machines still depend on the network to operate at peak efficiency.

 

A single network outage can halt your entire production line, costing you thousands (or even millions) of dollars per hour in lost output, wasted materials, and missed deadlines. The stakes are simply too high to ignore the criticality of your factory floor network. Even minor network hiccups can cause significant ripple effects.

 

Hard Truth #6: Technical Debt Accumulates Fast.

 

Every time you postpone a necessary network upgrade, every time you choose a "quick fix" over a sustainable solution, you're accumulating technical debt.

 

This debt, like financial debt, accrues interest. The longer you wait to address it, the more difficult and expensive it becomes to resolve.

Eventually, you'll be forced to make a much larger, more disruptive investment to overhaul your entire infrastructure, rather than making smaller, incremental improvements along the way.

 

Devices may no longer be supported or sold, forcing you to go to your favorite auction website to buy spares. Or maybe you need to request budget for next year, stagnating any changes you need to adequately meet production demand this year.

 

Is it a pain? Absolutely. But knowing where to spend is just as hard as knowing how much to spend. Taking the time to plan and understand how your technical debt has accumulated will allow you prioritize better, and let you fix issues faster, regardless of your budget constraints.

 

The Solution: Proactive Network Management

 

You cannot predict how a solution will work without an understanding of your current state, as well as your desired state.

 

Understanding the Inter-dependencies: Recognizing that every project, from adding new software, trying a new PLC platform, or adding IOT devices relies on a healthy, functioning network.

 

I am commonly asked why something does not work and my first question is: What is the source and destination?

 

Regardless of what you are doing, this gives any network engineer the context to dig in deeper to a problem. Not because I do not understand what your problem is, but because I need to know the inter-dependencies you are relying on within the network. From there, we can go in depth, and solve the problem you are experiencing.

 

Knowing that you want to go from PLC A to Server 4, for example, lets me know that you will pass through a firewall - and may be the source of your issue. I also know that the IDF connected to the cabinet switch with PLC A had firmware upgraded during a scheduled outage and we are observing the situation.

 

I can move to address this issue quickly rather than digging around without a high level understanding of what you are trying to do.

 

Investing in Scalability: Ensure your network can handle future growth and adapt to changing business needs.

 

Things change - so should your network. At the very least, designing a network that is scalable can be done early, and a standard followed to grow with your business.

 

Some initial knowledge investment on the front end will save many a project on the back end. Imagine that in 2 years, you want to have full gigabit capabilities. Right off the bat, it sounds expensive.

 

However, you know that you installed 8-pin X coded cable based of off some good advice you received. You can now focus your budget and planning efforts into upgrading hardware piecemeal, rather than taking longer outages to run cable. It may even be delivered early (and maybe even under-budget!) because of your proactive planning, and vision for scalability.

 

While, yes, that cable was more expensive when it was installed, it has saved you money in the present so your operation can grow with minimal interruptions.

 

Prioritizing Network Upgrades: Treating network improvements as critical project components, not afterthoughts. IT is sometimes a dirty word on the floor, but it is known that without these systems, production will not run. A network engineer can make systems work within certain bounds - what is technically possible needs to be balanced with what is operationally possible.

 

It may be that technically, you can make all these changes you need in an emergency, saving you money on your redundant cabling. But nobody wants that to happen - Would it be better to set up a better operation plan with adequate hardware? That way, in the event of a failure, you can pick right back up where you were while IT can get a plan together to restore the redundancy.

 

Regular Assessments: Conducting thorough network assessments to identify vulnerabilities, bottlenecks, and areas for optimization. The only other time these issues become clear is when they become a problem. And by then it is too late.

 

There is another reason so many IT guys talk about documentation - sometimes they do not know it all and rely on how things were done before to get work done. These processes and documentation create a predictable outcome. Predictability leads to better, faster, and more consistent service.

 

Keeping your documentation up to date by assessing what you have currently ensures your teams can act on the most recent information to keep the plant running.

 

 

Can you get help on these hard truths?

 

At Warner Industrial Networking, LLC we help businesses stop treating their network as an afterthought and start recognizing it as the strategic asset it is. We provide the expertise and solutions you need to prioritize network projects effectively, ensuring that your infrastructure supports your success, not sabotages it.

 

Don't let your network be the silent killer of your projects. Let's talk about how we can help you build a solid foundation for success.