We protect
manufacturing
operations.
Most manufacturers are one unplanned stop, one engineer departure, or one shift gap away from a serious production problem. ECS removes that risk, joined up under one partner.
Manufacturing operations are more fragile than they appear.
Every manufacturer running automated production carries the same three risks. They've existed for decades. The industry just learned to live with them. ECS was built to eliminate them.
Most companies only notice the risk after it becomes a problem.
Your OEM takes days to respond. Your line can't wait days.
Your service contract sits with the machine builder, and it only covers their machine. Buy a filler from a filling machine company and the contract stops at the filler. It does not cover the line either side of it. So you wait days for their engineer, even when a better one is ten minutes down the road.
Your engineers carry the knowledge. In their heads.
PLC programs live on USB sticks. Documentation is out of date. When a key engineer leaves, retires, or is simply unavailable, everything they know about your systems leaves with them.
Your shift gaps get filled by agencies who don't know your site.
Traditional recruitment is slow and inconsistent. Agencies send bodies, not engineers. The person on your line tomorrow might never have seen your equipment before.
Your production line. Visible, monitored and protected. Remotely.
This is what ECS does. Not coordination or project management, but engineering: hands on the hardware, code in the PLC, and documentation in Command Centre the moment the job is done.
See our project work →Four protection layers.
One partner.
Most manufacturers rely on a fragmented mix of OEM callouts, recruitment agencies, USB backups and contractors. ECS replaces all of it with one joined-up system that is already in place before anything fails.
Command Centre gives you control of your OT knowledge. Connect gets an engineer into the machine faster. Shift Hero gives you engineering capacity when your team is stretched. Projects delivers the automation improvements, panels and software your plant depends on.
Your OT environment. Structured, visible, controlled.
Command Centre is the system of record for your automation assets. It holds version control for PLC logic, device visibility down to line level, and the compliance documentation an auditor will ask for. Built for industrial automation rather than adapted from IT tooling.
An engineer inside your machine in under an hour. Without an OEM callout.
Connect gives your team direct access to experienced automation engineers remotely. They get into the PLC, see what the machine is actually doing, and work out what is stopping it. Access is session-based, authorised, and IEC 62443 aligned, so nothing is left open on your network between calls.
Engineering capacity on demand. Not recruitment.
Pre-vetted electrical, mechanical and multi-skilled contractors, available for short-term cover, long-term placements, and project work. Every engineer assessed by engineers, within an IR35-aware managed service model.
Automation delivery. From first sketch to final sign-off.
Full-service automation engineering: control panel design and build, PLC and SCADA software, line optimisation and installation. Every project is delivered by engineers rather than passed through a layer of middlemen.
Built by engineers.
Trusted by industry.
ECS is not a traditional engineering contractor. We don't wait to be called when something breaks. We work alongside manufacturing teams year-round, before and after anything goes wrong as well as during it.
About ECS →"To modernise engineering service delivery in the UK by combining expert talent, flexible systems, and automation-first thinking."
ECS was founded by controls and automation specialists who have worked on the tools. Every decision is made by people who have stood on a production floor at 2am diagnosing a fault.
We don't wait to be called when something breaks. We work alongside your engineering team year-round, protecting machines, documenting what your systems actually do, and covering shifts before gaps turn into failures.
Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Automotive, Packaging, Utilities, MOD & Defence, Chemical, Oil & Gas. We've worked with some of the UK's best-known manufacturers.
NIS2 readiness support, IEC 62443 aligned access architecture, IR35-aware engineer deployment, full activity logs and version-controlled PLC programmes. The governance is part of how the service works, rather than something added afterwards.
Real outcomes.
Without naming the site.
Many manufacturing environments cannot publish detailed technical case studies. Where client confidentiality applies, ECS provides anonymised operational breakdowns covering the problem, the engineering response and the measurable outcome.
Reduced PLC recovery risk across 12 production lines.
A UK food manufacturer was running 12 production lines with no centralised record of PLC software versions. Engineers carried knowledge in their heads. When a key engineer left, the site was exposed. Nobody knew which version of the code was live on four of the lines.
ECS conducted an OT asset survey, established a Command Centre baseline across all 12 lines and implemented a change-logging process. Within three months, every device had a version history. The next time a PLC fault occurred on Line 7, the ECS engineer had the current software loaded before the session started.
Moved from scattered OEM callouts to same-session resolution.
A multi-site FMCG group was spending £60–80k per year on OEM callout fees across three sites. Average response time was 36 hours. On two occasions, a line was stopped for more than two days waiting for a brand-specific engineer who turned out to be unnecessary once on site.
The group moved three sites onto Connect. In the first six months, 14 faults were resolved remotely in under 90 minutes. Two required on-site follow-up. Estimated callout cost saving in year one exceeded £40k before accounting for reduced downtime.
Covered a peak production period without agency risk.
A packaging manufacturer needed to scale from 18 to 26 engineers during a 10-week peak production period. Previous years had relied on two agencies who regularly sent engineers unfamiliar with the site equipment, which meant slow fault resolution and two safety incidents in 18 months.
Shift Hero placed eight pre-vetted engineers, each briefed on the specific equipment and site requirements before arrival. Zero safety incidents over the 10-week period. Four of the eight engineers were re-booked for the following peak.
Built an audit-ready OT asset register before a regulatory inspection.
A pharmaceutical manufacturer faced a regulatory audit with no centralised record of their automation assets. Documentation was spread across email threads, a SharePoint folder and two retiring engineers' laptops. The audit window was eight weeks away.
ECS ran a rapid OT asset survey and onboarding sprint. Within five weeks, all critical assets were documented in Command Centre with revision history, software versions and supporting documentation. The audit passed without a major finding on the automation estate.
The team were professional, demonstrated excellent standards and looked to improve as well as maintain. With their support, we delivered the Christmas period with minimal downtime compared to previous years of some parts of the plant being out for days. I would highly recommend ECS and will use them again in the future.
Enhanced Control Solutions have completed a number of projects at our site. I found James and his team to be extremely knowledgeable and prompt. They have offered a number of innovative solutions and are competitively priced. I would not hesitate to use the services of Enhanced Control Solutions again.
We use ECS on many occasions and find the company a breath of fresh air. The management through to the workforce are very professional with a fantastic skill set. Positive, can-do attitude thrives in this company with top quality standards to match. Second best does not even reach the agenda.
ECS has a multiskilled professional team, which makes working with them easy. Good people, great company.
What manufacturers ask before speaking to ECS.
ECS is a production resilience partner for UK manufacturers. We protect manufacturing operations through four connected layers: Command Centre for OT asset intelligence, Connect for remote PLC support, Shift Hero for engineering capacity and Projects for automation delivery. Most manufacturers use more than one.
No. ECS is an engineering services business. Shift Hero is part of ECS and provides engineering capacity through a managed service model rather than traditional recruitment. The distinction matters for IR35 purposes and for the quality of engineers you get.
Command Centre is a software platform that structures your OT asset knowledge. Connect is a 24/7 remote PLC support service. Shift Hero provides pre-vetted engineers for cover and capacity. Projects delivers automation work: panels, PLC software and installation. They work independently or as a joined-up system.
Yes. Connect provides 24/7/365 access to ECS automation engineers with an approximate 60-minute response. This covers 10+ PLC brands including Siemens, Rockwell, Omron, Mitsubishi and Schneider.
ECS works predominantly with food and beverage, FMCG, packaging, pharmaceutical, automotive, utilities and chemical manufacturers. We also work with MOD and defence environments and OEM machinery builders.
An OEM contract covers the machine that builder supplied, and nothing either side of it. If you have six machine builders on a line, you have six contracts and six response times. A single ECS Connect subscription covers the whole line regardless of who built which machine or which PLCs are on site.
One partner for every layer of your engineering support.
ECS runs all of it, from asset control through remote diagnostics to on-site cover, so nothing falls between two suppliers.