SASE in Manufacturing: Building Secure and Agile Smart Factories
SASE in manufacturing is becoming essential as factories adopt Industry 4.0, smart factories, IoT, and AI-driven systems. While these innovations boost efficiency, they also expose manufacturers to new cybersecurity risks. Today, manufacturing is the most attacked industry, with 25.7% of all cyberattacks targeting this sector (IBM, 2024). Legacy MPLS networks, siloed tools, and outdated security models can’t keep up. To protect connected factories and ensure resilient operations, manufacturers need a modern Industry 4.0 security strategy powered by Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
Manufacturers’ Key Challenges with Industry 4.0 Security
As manufacturers embrace Industry 4.0 with smart factories, IoT, and AI-driven automation, traditional IT and security models can’t keep pace. Legacy networks, siloed tools, and rising cyber threats increase risk and complexity, while outdated MPLS circuits inflate costs and slow digital transformation. To thrive, manufacturers need a SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) approach—secure, scalable, cloud-native, and cost-efficient.
1. Unified & Simplified Architecture
Challenge: Legacy networks create overhead and gaps in visibility.
SASE Solution: Converges networking and security into a single platform.
Impact: Centralized management reduces tool sprawl, streamlines policy enforcement, and secures expanding IoT and automation environments.
2. End-to-End Security & Compliance (Zero Trust)
Challenge: Firewalls alone can’t protect IT, OT, and IoT systems.
SASE Solution: Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) with FWaaS, CASB, DLP, and SWG.
Impact: Secures robotics, industrial control systems, and analytics platforms while meeting GDPR, ISO 27001, and NIS2 compliance.
3. Fast, Scalable, Reliable Connectivity
Challenge: MPLS circuits can’t support low-latency, high-bandwidth smart factory needs.
SASE Solution: A global backbone with intelligent traffic routing.
Impact: Enables predictive maintenance, real-time supply chains, and AI-driven production without latency bottlenecks.
4. Cost-Efficient Operations
Challenge: Point solutions and legacy circuits inflate IT costs.
SASE Solution: Cloud-native, OPEX-based model that reduces hardware and MPLS dependency.
Impact: Cuts costs while scaling securely, freeing resources for innovation and smart manufacturing growth.
IT Challenges Holding Back Manufacturers
Manufacturers embracing Industry 4.0 face unique IT and cybersecurity hurdles. Limited resources, outdated systems, and complex infrastructures slow down innovation and expose factories to rising cyber risks. Below are the four biggest IT challenges preventing manufacturers from scaling securely and efficiently:
1. Complexity
IT teams often juggle a disconnected patchwork of networking and security tools, leading to gaps in visibility, inconsistent policies, and high operational overhead. Instead of focusing on innovation, IT teams spend valuable time on manual maintenance and firefighting, resulting in reactive rather than proactive management.
2. Cyber Risk
Outdated systems, aging infrastructure, and unprotected IoT/OT devices leave factories highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Legacy security tools lack visibility and modern controls, making it difficult to enforce consistent protection. Attackers exploit these gaps while compliance demands (GDPR, NIS2, ISO 27001) add pressure to secure increasingly complex environments.
3. Rigidity
Manufacturers operate across multiple locations with a mix of MPLS, on-premise systems, and cloud applications. Legacy infrastructure makes adding sites, partners, or applications slow and resource-intensive, limiting agility. Without modern architectures, global operations lack the performance and scalability needed for real-time production and data-driven decision-making.
4. High Costs
Traditional IT architectures are expensive and unpredictable—from licensing and hardware to support contracts and siloed point solutions. With budgets already stretched, IT teams are forced to prioritize upkeep over innovation. Without consolidation, cost control and scalability remain out of reach.
Manufacturing Connectivity Challenges in China
Expanding into China presents unique networking and cybersecurity challenges for global manufacturers. Legacy architectures often struggle with visibility, compliance, and performance under the constraints of the Great Firewall. Below are the key pain points that IT leaders face when connecting factories, suppliers, and remote teams in China.
1. Operational Complexity
China is often treated as a separate network environment, requiring different consoles, SKUs, and policies. To achieve high availability, manufacturers must duplicate appliances, coordinate across multiple vendors, and manage regional exceptions. This approach reduces visibility, creates policy drift, and makes every change slower, riskier, and harder to scale across distributed sites.
2. Fragmented Security
Security enforcement in China is frequently partial and inconsistent. Some vendors inspect traffic outside the country, while others only apply a limited security stack (e.g., URL filtering but not DLP or threat prevention). Manufacturers are often forced to deploy custom PoPs or appliances at each site, increasing both cyber risk and operational overhead for global operations.
3. Unreliable Network Performance
Without proper Service Level Agreements (SLAs), performance is unpredictable by design. Traffic is routed over the public internet or partner-run circuits and exposed to the Great Firewall, leading to latency, jitter, and packet loss. Plant operators and remote users struggle with application access, and IT teams face downtime risks with little escalation support beyond basic tickets.
4. DIY Cross-Border Connectivity
Many manufacturers are left to build their own cross-border connectivity solutions. This requires sourcing and licensing telco infrastructure, navigating regional regulatory approvals, and managing compliance. Each new factory deployment can add weeks or months, and when compliance issues arise, IT teams bear the burden of resolving them.
Why Cato Cloud SASE for Manufacturers
To enable smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and global operations, manufacturers need an IT architecture that’s secure, agile, and efficient—without adding complexity. The Cato SASE Cloud Platform converges networking and security into one cloud-native service, delivering enterprise-grade protection, reliable connectivity, and cost-efficient operations.
Manageability: Simple, Centralized Control
Cato unifies networking and security into a single platform with one console and one policy engine. Lean IT teams gain full visibility across sites, users, and applications while eliminating the burden of patching, upgrades, and manual troubleshooting. This frees resources for innovation instead of maintenance.
Security: Consistent Protection Across IT, OT & IoT
Built-in Zero Trust, CASB, DLP, and FWaaS deliver uniform protection against ransomware, data loss, and cyber threats. Cato extends security to industrial IoT and OT systems, providing real-time visibility and compliance with GDPR, ISO 27001, and NIS2—all without siloed tools or integrations.
Reliability: SLA-Backed Global Performance
With a private backbone of 85+ PoPs, Cato delivers low-latency, high-availability connectivity across factories, cloud apps, and remote teams—even in regions like China. Built-in WAN optimization ensures smooth operations, real-time analytics, and uninterrupted supply chain visibility.
Efficiency: Lower Costs, Greater Agility
Cato replaces MPLS, appliances, and point products with a single cloud platform. Manufacturers move from CapEx-heavy infrastructure to a flexible OpEx model, reducing IT spend while enabling rapid deployment, secure direct internet access, and future-ready scalability.
Why Technology Focus Group
echnology Focus Group (TFG) ensures manufacturers and enterprises get maximum value from their Cato Networks investment by providing:
Vendor-Certified Expertise – Our team holds Cato Networks certifications, ensuring deployments align with global best practices for performance and security.
Industry-Specific Knowledge – We understand the unique challenges of manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and public sector organisations, tailoring deployments to real-world needs.
End-to-End Support – From design and pilot to full rollout, compliance, and ongoing management, we act as a long-term partner rather than just a reseller.
Accelerated Deployment – With direct vendor relationships, we streamline onboarding and help clients achieve value faster.
Compliance Alignment – We build Cato solutions around GDPR, ISO 27001, and NIS2 requirements, reducing risk and audit burdens.
Cost Advantage – As a certified partner, TFG passes on exclusive partner discounts, giving clients more value while reducing total cost of ownership.
By combining deep technical expertise, compliance-driven delivery, and commercial benefits, TFG empowers buyers to deploy Cato’s SASE Cloud confidently — achieving secure, scalable, and cost-efficient networking across all operations.
Transform your network with SASE
Stronger security. Faster performance. One platform