How quickly could a small Irish manufacturer get production back up if its server, ERP or key files were lost?

The short answer: It depends on your backups, where the copies sit and whether anyone has tested a restore. With good backups and a written plan, many manufacturers can restore key systems in hours. Without them, recovery can stretch into days, and production waits. So, manufacturing disaster recovery starts with two simple questions. How long can you run without your server, ERP or key files? And how much recent data could you afford to lose?

This guide is for small and mid-sized manufacturers in Meath, Cavan, Westmeath, Louth and Dublin. It explains what realistic recovery looks like, without the jargon.

What manufacturing disaster recovery really means

Backup is a copy of your data. Recovery is getting the business working again from that copy. The two are not the same thing. For example, a nightly server copy helps only if you can rebuild the server and get the ERP running again.

The NCSC’s 12 Steps to Cyber Security addresses this. It calls for recovery plans “in line with their criticality to the survival of the business”. In practice, manufacturing disaster recovery means deciding which systems matter most, and in what order they come back.

RTO and RPO in plain words

Two terms come up in every manufacturing disaster recovery conversation. They sound technical, but the ideas are simple.

• Recovery time objective (RTO): how long a system can be down before it seriously hurts the business.
• Recovery point objective (RPO): how much recent work you could afford to lose, measured in time.

For instance, if you back up once a night, you could lose a full day of orders and stock movements. If that is too much, you need more frequent backups. Equally, if the shop floor cannot work without the ERP for more than a morning, your plan must reflect that. Only you can set these targets for manufacturing disaster recovery, because they depend on your orders and shifts.

What makes recovery take hours or days

No honest provider can promise a recovery time without knowing your setup. However, some factors make a big difference:

• Whether you can restore a whole server quickly, or only individual files.
• Where the backup copy sits, and how long it takes to download.
• Whether replacement hardware is available, or must be ordered.
• Whether someone has written the steps down, or they live in one person’s head.
• How many systems depend on each other, such as ERP, file shares and label printers.

Above all, an untested restore is a guess. The first real attempt should not happen during an outage.

Common causes of lost systems and files

Lost data rarely comes from one dramatic event. More often, manufacturing disaster recovery starts with something ordinary:

• A failed server disk or power supply, especially on older hardware.
• Fire, flood or a burst pipe in the comms room.
• Accidental deletion of a shared folder or a drawing archive.
• A faulty update that leaves a server unable to start.
• Ransomware or another attack, which is one cause among several.

The NCSC’s guidance for small businesses lists “accidental deletion” alongside cyber-attacks as reasons to keep backups. It also says how often you back up “will depend on how frequently your data changes”.

ERP and MRP systems in manufacturing disaster recovery

Your ERP or MRP system usually holds orders, stock, bills of materials and job schedules. It often runs on its own database, either on your server or hosted by the vendor. That matters, because a file backup alone may not capture a database correctly.

Therefore, check with your ERP vendor about:

• How to back up the database, and how often.
• Who restores the system, and how quickly they can respond.
• Whether licences or activation need resetting on new hardware.
• What the vendor’s hosted service backs up, if you use one.

Also remember that Microsoft 365 backup covers email, OneDrive and SharePoint. It does not automatically cover your ERP, a local server or the PCs that run machines. Our guide to legacy production PCs covers images and spares for those.

Testing restores before you need them

The NCSC recommends a documented plan “tested on a regular basis (typically at least annually)”. In addition, smaller restore tests during the year keep manufacturing disaster recovery plans honest. Try restoring a deleted folder, a mailbox and, where possible, a copy of the ERP database.

Meanwhile, think about working without systems for a short time. The NCSC’s SME recovery steps ask whether “you put workarounds in place”. For example, could you print the week’s job sheets in advance?

Questions to ask about manufacturing disaster recovery

Whether you use an IT provider or manage things yourselves, ask these questions:

• What exactly do you back up: Microsoft 365, the server, the ERP database and key PCs?
• Where do the copies sit, and are they separate from our network?
• How often do you test restores, and can we see the records?
• What would a full server rebuild involve, and who would do it?
• Who do we call outside office hours if the server fails?

How Sweeney Computer Services helps with manufacturing disaster recovery

Oliver Sweeney founded the company in 1985. Today, we support more than 50 businesses and more than 10 schools from Hurdlestown, Kells, Co. Meath. Our Managed IT Support includes Microsoft 365 backup from Silver upwards. That is a starting point for manufacturing disaster recovery, not the whole plan. We restore-test backups every two weeks and share the records on request. We also offer device and server backup, scoped in a written proposal. Read more about our work with manufacturers.

Our plans are Silver at €49, Gold at €69 and Diamond at €89 per user per month, excluding VAT. We bill Microsoft 365 licences separately. Gold includes email security, phishing awareness training and unlimited on-site call-outs. Our helpdesk runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with after-hours emergency support at extra cost. For a fuller cost picture, see our guide to managed IT support cost for manufacturers.