Plant managers, maintenance and industrial IT · Quebec and Ontario
Network and security systems for manufacturing and industrial plants
In a plant, the network carries production as well as e-mail, and the fence encloses equipment that cannot be replaced in a week. Vega Security builds the cabling, the fibre and the security of an industrial site without stopping the line.
A plant cannot stop for a network cable
Industrial networks are rarely designed: they accumulate. A cable was run to a new machine, then to another, a switch was added inside a cabinet, and the office and the production floor ended up on the same network with a link to the equipment supplier that nobody remembers approving.
This page is for the plant manager, the maintenance manager and the person responsible for IT or for the production network. The site may be one building or several on a property, with a yard, a gate, contractors coming and going, and a few days of shutdown each year in which the heavy work has to fit.
- Office and production on one networkA problem on an office computer can reach the machines, and nothing separates the two.
- Distances that copper cannot coverRuns across the plant are too long, too close to power or too exposed to last.
- Contractors and visitors on the floorSuppliers, drivers and temporary workers enter by doors that are open during the shift.
- A perimeter nobody watchesOutdoor storage, a back gate and outbuildings that have no camera and no network.
- Cable that was cut and never recordedOther work damaged a link, it was patched in a hurry, and no drawing shows where it runs.
Systems for the plant floor, the offices and the perimeter
Any of these can be ordered alone. On an industrial site, the fibre, the cabling and the network security are best planned as one piece of work.
- Fibre optic installation and cablingA backbone between the main telecom room, the cabinets on the floor and the other buildings of the property, over distances and near equipment where copper does not belong.
- Fibre optic fusion splicingSplices made on site with a fusion splicer and protected in trays and enclosures, including the repair of a cable damaged during other work.
- Fibre optic testing and certificationEach fibre tested and the results handed over, so that a link is proven before production depends on it. It can be ordered for fibre installed by others.
- Structured cabling and LANCabinets with their patch panels, cable management and power, copper runs to the machines, the stations and the camera positions, each link tested and labelled.
- Network security (IDS/IPS)A firewall between the office and the production network, separate zones for the building equipment and the cameras, intrusion detection and prevention, and a controlled path for the suppliers who connect from outside.
- Access controlThe staff entrance, the production areas, the control rooms and the storage of materials opened by card, with rights by shift and by role and a record for every door.
- Electronic locks and door hardwareHardware chosen for doors that take constant traffic, dust and gloved hands: exit devices on the production exits, strikes on the control room doors and a monitored lock on the materials store.
- Video surveillanceCameras on the gate, the yard, the loading area and the perimeter, with licence plate reading at the entrance and remote viewing for the people on call.
- Video analyticsIntrusion zones along the fence and around the outdoor storage that tell a person from a passing animal, and a record of the vehicles that came through the gate, shift by shift.
- Long-range wireless bridgesA radio link to an outbuilding, a remote gate or a camera at the edge of the property, and a second path for a fibre link that must not go down.
- Enterprise Wi-FiCoverage of the floor for tablets and handheld devices, designed around the machines, the metal and the interference that a plant produces.
- Cellular signal boostingMobile coverage inside a building of concrete and steel, for the people on the floor and for the equipment that relies on the cellular network.
- Security and network auditsAn inventory of the cabling, the cabinets, the switches and the way systems are separated, with findings by priority, before a budget or an expansion.
Planned around production and shutdown windows
Most of the work is done while the plant runs. What cannot be is prepared in advance and fitted into a planned shutdown.
- A site visit under your safety rules
We follow your induction, wear what the site requires and are escorted where you ask. The visit covers the telecom rooms, the cabinets on the floor, the cable routes and the perimeter.
- A design that separates what runs from what stops
The drawings show which work is done during production and which needs a line or a room to be idle, with the time each step takes.
- Preparation before the shutdown
Pathways, cabinets and cable are installed and tested beforehand, so that the shutdown is used only for the cut-over.
- Cut-over, tests and a way back
Each link is moved, tested and confirmed with your maintenance team. The old connection is kept until the new one has proved itself in production.
Records your maintenance team can work from
- Route drawings of every fibre and copper run as installed
- Test results per fibre and per copper link
- A network diagram showing the zones and what may cross between them
- The fibre assignments and the labelling of each cabinet
- Administrator access to the door and camera systems, with instruction
Industrial sites we work in
- Manufacturing plants
- Workshops and assembly facilities
- Plants with several buildings on one property
- Industrial yards and outdoor storage
Related industries
Vega Security holds all the licences required for its work.
Questions from plant and maintenance managers
Can the work be done without stopping production?
Most of it, yes. Pathways, cable and cabinets go in while the plant runs. Only the moment when a machine or an area changes from the old link to the new one needs a stop, and that is scheduled in a window you choose.
Do you work on the production network itself?
We build the infrastructure it runs on: cabling, fibre, cabinets, switches and the firewall that separates it from the office. The machine controllers and their programming remain with your automation team or your equipment supplier.
Why fibre rather than copper on the plant floor?
Fibre covers distances that copper cannot, and it is not affected by the electrical noise of motors and drives. For short runs inside a cabinet or an office, copper remains the simpler choice.
A cable was cut during other work. Can you repair it?
Yes. We locate the fault, splice the fibre or replace the section, test the link and give you the result. We also record the route, so that it is known the next time someone digs or drills.
How do we give a supplier remote access to one machine only?
Through the firewall, with an access that opens to that machine and nothing else, for that supplier's account. The rule is documented and can be switched off when the work is finished.
Request a quote for your plant
Tell us about the site, the number of buildings, what you want to connect or protect and when your next shutdown is planned. We reply by e-mail or phone.
A site plan, even an old one, is a good starting point.
- Hours
- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Office
- Montreal, Quebec