Manufacturing Readiness Starts Now
Production systems have always needed to flex and adapt to how quickly global disruptions can completely redefine a manufacturing business in a matter of months.
Add to that how the intense time demands of manufacturing are exactly what cyber attackers target, as they know downtime drives higher ransom demands, and the need to audit Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) platforms for geopolitical and security resilience becomes unmistakable.
Manufacturing has become the most targeted sector for cyber attacks, with ransomware incidents surging dramatically. According to the Bitsight TRACE report on the 2025 State of the Underground, ransomware attacks surged by nearly 25% last year, data breaches increased by 43%, and the underground markets grew more sophisticated and resilient.
The competitive divide is also widening fast. The more integrated manufacturers’ systems are, the more likely they are to outperform competitors and the market. Manufacturers with integrated data systems are 2.5 times more likely to achieve cost and time efficiencies compared to those trapped in siloed environments according to Deloitte. Yet EY Parthenon claims that only 30% of CEOs have full visibility into geopolitical exposure across operations, markets, and suppliers. That is why having a fully integrated production system that relies on MOM/MES integration is key to growing and staying resilient during disruptive times.
MES vs. MOM: How Clarity Delivers Geopolitical Resilience
Manufacturers frequently misunderstand the critical distinction between MES and MOM. This is more than a semantic debate; it defines whether a company audits the correct operational systems or leaves critical vulnerabilities undiscovered.
Proper audits not only identify weaknesses, but spotlight the strengths manufacturers have architected into their operations, including which investments are yielding measurable dividends, where competitive advantages are fortified, and where strategic gaps remain.
The core confusion: MES is tactical; MOM is strategic. MES aligns precisely with ISA95’s Production dimension, functioning as the operational nervous system on the plant floor. It guides operators through tasks, records real-time genealogy data, monitors machine performance, and optimizes individual plant processes. Its scope, by definition, is plant-level efficiency and control.
In contrast, MOM delivers strategic value at the enterprise scale by integrating traditionally siloed systems that include quality management, logistics, warehouse and materials management, labor tracking, maintenance, and calibration, all within a unified database schema. MOM’s strategic advantage lies in enabling digital continuity from engineering design through to manufacturing operations. It creates enterprise-wide transparency, strategic adaptability, and resilience that legacy MES implementations simply cannot match.
From Tactical Visibility to Strategic Resilience
Consider the real-world scenario of Taiwan facing export restrictions, which is a credible geopolitical risk scenario today. MES would merely alert manufacturers that production has stalled. MOM, however, would automatically initiate alternative sourcing strategies, dynamically recalibrate multi-plant production schedules, and adjust commitments to customers, all while seamlessly managing regulatory compliance across different jurisdictions.
Eaton’s Strategic Resilience with DELMIA Apriso
Eaton exemplifies this strategic resilience through its adoption of DELMIA Apriso for multi-plant harmonization. As an Eaton representative explained:
“The greatest advantages include increased transparency in our production operations, the ability to make real-time decisions, and a unified solution for the entire production chain.”
Eaton’s experience shows how strategic MOM platforms are not just efficiency solutions; they’re essential foundations for operational resilience in a turbulent geopolitical environment.
Three Configurability Advantages of Strategic MOM Platforms
Best-in-class MOM platforms, notably DELMIA Apriso, deliver essential configurability advantages that rapidly become competitive necessities when geopolitical disruptions materialize:
- First, true configurability without compromise. Leading MOM solutions aren’t rigid off-the-shelf packages or overly complex toolkits. Instead, they offer extensive component libraries (e.g., DELMIA Apriso’s 1,200+ business components), configurable down to the user interface—critical for effective operator adoption and sustained productivity on the shop floor.
- Second, breadth of integrated functionality within a single unified database schema. Traditional MES deployments multiply integration points, creating vulnerabilities at precisely the moments geopolitical crises reveal them. In contrast, strategic MOM platforms ensure digital continuity across production, quality, maintenance, and logistics, preventing communication gaps from becoming operational chasms.
- Third, robust global capabilities. Features such as Business Process Management allow centralized configuration of standardized processes and rapid, consistent deployment to global facilities. During geopolitical disruptions, essential process changes propagate instantly from centers of excellence to local facilities—minutes, not weeks.
Auditing for Geopolitical Resilience: Five Layers that Matter
Effective audits for geopolitical resilience are structured across five critical layers:
Layer 1: Map Technology Dependencies.
Every cloud service, data center location, API structure, hardware origin, and software vendor relationship matters. Recent cybersecurity breaches targeting manufacturers highlight how nation-state actors increasingly exploit manufacturing systems. With attacker dwell times now averaging 11 days, per Mandiant M-Trends 2025, audits must document precise technological dependencies and vulnerabilities.
Layer 2: Audit Data Sovereignty Compliance.
Geopolitical risk amplifies data sovereignty into operational necessity. Regulations like GDPR, China’s Cybersecurity Law, and ITAR make data residency and control non-negotiable. Manufacturing operations must prove exactly where critical production data resides at every moment, as data sovereignty failures quickly become business continuity issues.
Layer 3: Deepen Supply Chain Visibility.
Most organizations audit only their direct suppliers, overlooking third-party integrations spanning multiple layers. Every MES/MOM integration point, from cloud analytics to patch management, represents a potential vulnerability that requires continuous, detailed auditing.
Layer 4: Real-World Resilience Testing.
Operational resilience isn’t a theoretical exercise. Organizations must test scenarios like cloud outages lasting 72 hours or sudden cross-border data flow restrictions. Real-world tests, as demonstrated by Eaton’s single-platform MOM strategy, verify failover capabilities, resilience strategies, and rapid adaptability under geopolitical stress.
Layer 5: Prepare for Nation-State Cyberattacks.
Robust audits must verify the implementation of zero-trust architectures, air-gapped operational environments, OT-specific cybersecurity protocols, and effective incident-response timelines. While machine learning can reduce unplanned downtime by 15–30%, per McKinsey, Deloitte, AI integration simultaneously expands potential attack surfaces.
The Next 90 Days: Building a Resilient Future
Manufacturers aiming for operational resilience within the next three months must focus on these actions:
- Month 1: Deploy automated discovery tools to map integration points, data flows, and third-party dependencies. Assess digital continuity between engineering, operations, ERP, PLM, and APS platforms.
- Month 2: Conduct rigorous resilience stress tests—simulate cloud outages, data-flow disruptions, and supplier sanctions. Every vulnerability discovered now prevents operational blind spots in 2026, aligning with growing board-level mandates around geopolitical risk.
- Month 3: Establish robust offline operating protocols, redundancies, and monitoring for abnormal data behaviors. Confirm alternate suppliers for critical components and verify that architecture supports mixed-mode manufacturing flexibility during geopolitical disruptions.
The Bottom Line: Resilience as a Competitive Advantage
The MES/MOM market will exceed $15.21 billion in 2026, driven by a fundamental reassessment of operational resilience. Integrated MOM platforms deliver 2.5 times greater efficiencies and significant downtime reductions including 15-30% lower unplanned downtime and 30% reduced maintenance costs. Yet, the ultimate competitive differentiator isn’t just efficiency; it’s preserving those gains during disruptive geopolitical events.
Manufacturers that prioritize these strategic audits today will be resilient and operationally superior when disruption inevitably arrives. Those who delay risk becoming cautionary tales—expensive reminders of what happens when geopolitical risks collide with manufacturing realities.
Proactive resilience isn’t optional. It’s the defining strategy for manufacturers determined to shape their future rather than succumb to geopolitical forces.
Louis Columbus is currently serving as a member of the DELMIA Marketing team, where he assists with DELMIAWorks and robotics solutions. Previous positions include product management at Ingram Cloud, product marketing at iBASEt, Plex Systems, senior analyst at AMR Research (now Gartner), marketing and business development at Cincom Systems, Ingram Micro, a SaaS start-up and at hardware companies. Professional experience includes marketing, product management, sales and industry analyst roles in the enterprise software and IT industries. Columbus' academic background includes an MBA from Pepperdine University and completion of the Strategic Marketing Management and Digital Marketing Programs at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He teaches MBA courses in international business, global competitive strategies, international market research, and capstone courses in strategic planning and market research. Columbus has taught at California State University, Fullerton: University of California, Irvine; Marymount University, and Webster University.