Photo by Homa Appliances on Unsplash

If you’ve spent time in the manufacturing industry, you know that as soon as a contractor walks in the door of a facility, they are trained in safety and plant Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) policy to ensure against catastrophic incidents like injury, damage, or product contamination.

They may also sign an NDA agreeing not to share your proprietary information. These are all great risk-reduction strategies and have been quite streamlined to ensure ease of use.

Maybe your contractor is very likable, and you know they will do their best to follow your policy, but what about that laptop they have in their bag? Does it know which rules to follow? Opening the door to external connections to your network introduces many unknowns and may expose you to extreme risk if not handled correctly. It’s tempting to place a giant lock on the network doors and a sign stating “no admittance.”

But it isn’t that simple, is it? That contractor may be helping to introduce new efficiencies or production capabilities that will return major dividends for your company. The last thing we want is to hold up progress or, even worse, production.

So now what do we do? Take the risk of data theft or ransomware and let them work? Refuse the contractor network access?

The answer lies in the first paragraph. Established practices have been in place for mitigating physical risk for decades, and they work. So, what’s stopping us from adopting a smooth onboarding process for contractor electronics that will give us peace of mind? Not much, if you stop and consider.

Having been on the receiving end of the spinning wheel of death many times while working with manufacturers, I am painfully aware of how a poorly implemented vendor access management policy can slow down not only contingent workers but those in the plant attempting to keep things running at speed.

The following steps are a great place to start when developing a policy to keep things safe and efficient for all parties.

1. Assess: What is necessary, and what could go wrong?
   1. What access do my contractors require when working in my facility?
      • Maintenance contractors may only need limited machine-level access, while a new process developer might need broader permissions. Segment access needs by role.
   2. What does that level of risk expose within our network?
      1. Malware could halt production for a contractor working on production systems. Prioritize risks based on impact, starting with devices touching core systems.
   3. What is my realistic worst-case scenario if we are compromised via their device? Data Loss? Machine data corruption? Ransomware? How long before we’re up and running again?
2. Plan: Now that we know our potential risks, we can develop safeguards and create an onboarding program. Here are a few considerations.
   1. It MUST be safe. If the program doesn’t measurably reduce your exposure, it’s value is nil.
      1. Provide a device with known controls and EDR, and validate its identity before granting network access. Low-barrier checks prevent significant issues.
   2. It MUST be user-friendly. If the program is difficult to deploy, people will find work arounds, it’s human nature. Back to square one you go.
      1. Set up and provide contractor accounts and laptops with appropriate permissions so that access is plug-and-play rather than bogging down in IT requests.
   3. It MUST be well published. Everyone must clearly understand the policy, why we are employing it, and how the onboarding process works. It should be as clear as any GMP or safety policy within the facility, and the knowledge must be ubiquitous.
3. Test: Now that your new plan has left the conference room, we must test drive it to ensure we can onboard efficiently. Review the following points.
   1. Device types: Does this policy and playbook work for all expected device types? (ask your contractors what they are using, and schedule some tests)
      1. What is our contingency for new devices? Broken devices? Insecure accounts?
   2. Have the program owner sit down and work through the process like a new contractor will. Time the entire process from start to finish with a test contractor. Track the pain points and consider pre-staging logins, permissions, or quick reference guides.
      1. Would they be frustrated by the instructions?
      2. How long did it take?
      3. Can we streamline the process further by performing some prep work ahead of time?

This approach keeps security tight without blocking progress—letting contractors and vendors get in, do their job, and keep things running safely and smoothly. Getting contractor access right isn’t just about security—it’s about removing roadblocks so contractors can add value without putting your company at risk.

And don't forget your off-boarding checklist - disable their account and reset their laptop.

A smart, efficient onboarding process transforms contractors from liabilities into assets. When you take the time to lock down the essentials and cut out unnecessary hoops, you’re not only protecting your network but also empowering your team to get real work done.