From Visibility to Security, How SMBs Can Transform Manufacturing

From improving operational visibility to boosting cybersecurity preparedness, SMBs can leverage the following solutions for their operations.

Many SMB manufacturers often need assistance in improving their operational visibility.

With limited visibility, they may struggle to mitigate waste, monitor production lines and track employee performance. These hurdles may affect their performance, leading to lower outputs.

Moreover, when front-line workers can’t access or share information instantly, this often leads to delays and inefficiencies.

To close visibility gaps, SMBs need to digitize the critical steps of their manufacturing workflow and integrate fragmented systems.

Our partners at Zebra offer digital solutions that bring visibility at scale. Zebra’s rugged mobile devices enable real-time communication and data sharing across teams, without burdening your IT staff.

These devices integrate voice, video and text into a single platform, improving worker productivity while keeping the solution cost-effective. Geared with Zebra devices, workers can scan barcodes, collect inventory data and streamline warehouse mobility.

In addition, Zebra Print DNA, a printing software platform, improves visibility across manufacturing processes by enabling real-time tracking and seamless integration of printers into your operations.

Manufacturing teams can digitize essential tasks such as printing labels and receipts while attaching barcodes to products. The platform ensures real-time production data can be accessed by frontline workers, production managers and backend professionals without blind spots.

A limited digital maturity may prevent SMBs from automating their manufacturing processes. Without interconnected systems, simple tasks like inventory logging or production updates may seem too difficult to automate.

But in this pursuit, SMBs may not be able to overhaul their IT infrastructure easily. They need automation solutions that can easily fit into their current architecture.

Build manufacturing workflow automation

Zebra solutions offer phased automation platforms tailored to SMBs. These can bring smaller tasks like data capturing, printing jobs and information retrieval under one continuous automation.  

With Zebra’s built-in DNA software, IT teams can easily build such nimble automations customized to their workflows. Here’s an example of manufacturing automation.

• Frontline workers scan barcodes on parts using Zebra scanners, which instantly capture and send data to the central system using Zebra’s Scan-to-Connect and UDI Scan+ features.
• Zebra printers, managed through Print DNA, automatically generate updated inventory labels or shipping documents in real-time.
• The Printer Profile Manager Enterprise remotely monitors and manages all devices to ensure continuous uptime and efficiency.

Enhance endpoint security automation

Manufacturing SMBs can also benefit from automation in their security processes. With endpoint protection solutions from our partners at Sophos, IT administrators can deploy security solutions for their in-house computers, servers and mobile devices to automate threat detection and response.

The solution can actively scan computing devices for threats like ransomware attacks and prevent them from spreading to other computers. This automated threat response can help SMBs keep their systems secure with minimal human intervention.

By automating endpoint protection, SMBs can face lower IT downtime, remediate threats faster and focus on increasing business productivity.

Here are some of Sophos’ automated security controls:

• Continuously scans for known and unknown threats, blocking them without manual oversight.
• Behavioural analytics detect suspicious activity such as unauthorized access or encryption attempts.
• Automatically triggers containment actions like device isolation or process termination.

The solution can easily fit into an existing IT setup and doesn’t require extensive training for company-wide deployment, making it well-suited for SMBs.

Cyberattackers increasingly go after small and medium businesses due to the presence of less advanced security controls. As per CDW’s 2025 Cybersecurity Study, the average number of cyberattacks targeting small organizations increased from 259 in 2024 to 276 in 2025.  

Cyberattacks can deter SMBs from achieving greater operational performance by causing downtime and stealing sensitive data. May it be employee laptops, workstations or networking devices; a cyberattack can originate from any unprotected endpoint.

The growing number of attacks on SMBs calls for heightened security tactics across the entire manufacturing value chain. Our partners at Sophos offer endpoint protection solutions that can help SMBs upgrade their cybersecurity preparedness.

With its prevention-first, layered defence strategy tailored to resource-constrained environments, Sophos can offer improved protection for several devices at once. Its Endpoint Protection platform uses multiple AI-powered detection models to stop known and unknown threats including ransomware, phishing and exploit-based attacks before they impact systems.

Key capabilities include:

• Anti-ransomware and behavioural analysis to detect and neutralize suspicious activity in real-time
• Web, application and device controls to minimize the attack surface
• The Shields-up mode automatically activates advanced protections during active threats
• Centralized management and easy deployment for small IT teams

Together, these features help SMBs strengthen their defences, reduce incident response times and can help avoid the high financial and operational costs of cyberattacks – all without adding complexity.

Modernizing industrial processes is a multistep journey that is unique for each Canadian SMB. You need guidance, support and expertise to configure technology while staying resourceful.

At CDW Canada, we assist SMBs in achieving their modernization goals by tailoring technology solutions to their needs and environment. Our dedicated small business experts closely work with you to fully understand your business and integrate solutions for maximum impact.

Whether you want to improve visibility, automate tasks or upgrade your cybersecurity forefront, our SMB experts are ready to offer customized solutions.