The Day We Got the Forklifts Out of the Break Room
A truck would pull in. The driver would find a ticket. Then they’d go looking for a forklift operator. Sometimes they found one quickly. The clock was always running.
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Manufacturing & Operations · Research Triangle, NC
Vincent Anderson
Fractional IT Director · AI Strategist
25+ years keeping manufacturing businesses running.
Completely. Invisibly. Proactively.
Solving problems before you even know they exist.
I started at the North Carolina Department of Revenue at 18. Intern. Within a year I was running the Windows 2000 migration. 1,300 machines, 30 offices, statewide. They needed it done. I did it.
That was 25 years ago. Since then I’ve built infrastructure across three continents, kept systems running for defense contractors with people deployed in active war zones, and served as the senior technology voice for organizations that needed someone to own the roadmap. Not just the server room.
My sharpest work has been in manufacturing. Keeping plants running through system outages that would have cost real money, connecting shop floor operations directly to the systems that run the business, and managing infrastructure where there’s no convenient time for something to break.
I work with owners and executives who need technology to stop being a distraction and start being an advantage. That means strategy, not just support. A plan that actually connects to how the business makes money.
Right now a lot of that conversation is about AI. What’s real, what’s liability, and how to use it to make your existing team more valuable without blowing up your culture in the process. Manufacturing companies that get ahead of this in the next three years will have a structural advantage over those that don’t.
Most of that advice comes from people who have never had to run what AI lives on. I have. Security posture, data governance, endpoint management, network architecture. That’s a different kind of AI conversation — grounded in what’s actually deployable in a manufacturing environment, not what looks good in a vendor demo.
If you need someone who can see where this is all going and build toward it, that’s the work.
Field Notes
War stories worth reading.
The Night I Rebuilt a Network With a Cell Phone and a Software-Based Router
AT&T replaced the router. The power went out. The router never came back. Three days until a replacement arrived. I wasn’t willing to wait three days.
ReadThe Server I Shipped to Afghanistan
When the FOB needed a file server and the supply chain had other ideas, I found another way. Here’s what happens when enterprise IT meets logistics at the literal edge of the world.
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What I Do
Two ways to work together.
Fractional IT Director
For growing companies that need strategic technology leadership without the overhead of a full-time CIO. I become your senior IT voice: managing vendors, setting security posture, and aligning technology investments with actual business outcomes.
- Technology roadmap & strategic planning
- Vendor & contract management
- Security & compliance oversight
- Team leadership & staff augmentation
- Crisis response & incident management
AI Strategy & Advisory
Practical AI integration for organizations ready to move past the hype. I help leadership teams understand what tools are actually worth adopting, how to implement without exposing the organization, and how to build capability, not dependency.
- AI readiness assessment
- Tool evaluation & selection
- Workflow automation design
- Staff training & change management
- Ongoing advisory & governance
Ready to work together?
I take on a limited number of clients. If you think there’s a fit, let’s spend 30 minutes finding out.
Schedule a Conversation