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Supply Chain SecurityFood Logistics & WarehousingOctober 13, 2026 · 1 min read
Distribution centers are OT environments too
Conveyors, sorters and cold rooms deserve the same care as the plant floor
Rachel Kim · Co-Convenor, CSAFI New York
When people think of operational technology in food, they picture processing plants. But a modern distribution center is full of it: conveyors, sorters, automated storage and refrigeration.
An outage there can empty shelves across a whole region in days.
Where distribution centers are most exposed
- Warehouse control systems connected to corporate IT without separation
- Vendor remote access to automation equipment
- Refrigeration panels reachable from the internet
- Shared accounts on handheld scanners
Treating the distribution center as an OT environment — with its own inventory, network separation and response plan — is the first step.