Incident Response Workflow for Manufacturing

# Incident Response Workflow - Manufacturing

## Purpose
Activate during any unplanned disruption to coordinate response, minimise downtime, and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

## When to Use
A rapid-response workflow for handling service outages, security incidents, or critical business disruptions with defined roles and escalation paths.

## Instructions
1. Review the template below and familiarise yourself with the structure
2. Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your manufacturing business details
3. Customise the tone and formatting to match your brand
4. Save in your preferred tool (Slack or Asana)

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## Incident Response Workflow

### Trigger
Service outage detected, security breach identified, or critical business disruption reported by any team member or automated monitoring system.

### Steps

**Step 1: Report the Incident** (Owner: First person aware) - Immediately
Post in the #incidents Slack channel with: what happened, when it was noticed, what systems or services are affected, and the perceived severity. Use the incident report template pinned in the channel.
- Tool: Slack
- Output: Incident reported in dedicated channel

**Step 2: Classify Severity** (Owner: Incident Commander - typically IT Lead or Operations Manager) - Within 15 minutes
Assess severity level:
- **P1 (Critical):** Core systems down, revenue-impacting, data breach, affects all customers
- **P2 (High):** Major functionality degraded, workaround exists but limited
- **P3 (Medium):** Minor functionality affected, workaround available
- **P4 (Low):** Cosmetic or non-urgent issue, no immediate business impact
- Tool: Slack
- Output: Severity classification posted, response team identified

> Decision Point: P1 incidents require immediate all-hands response and executive notification. P2 incidents require the core response team within 1 hour. P3/P4 follow standard support processes.

**Step 3: Assemble Response Team** (Owner: Incident Commander) - P1: within 15 min, P2: within 1 hour
Notify the response team via Slack and, for P1 incidents, phone calls. Create a dedicated Slack channel (#incident-[date]-[brief-desc]) for coordination. Assign roles: Incident Commander, Technical Lead, Communications Lead.
- Tool: Slack
- Output: Response team assembled in dedicated channel

**Step 4: Contain the Incident** (Owner: Technical Lead) - As quickly as possible
Take immediate action to prevent the incident from escalating. This may include isolating affected systems, reverting recent changes, activating backup systems, or blocking suspicious access. Document all actions taken.
- Tool: Relevant systems + Slack (documenting actions)
- Output: Incident contained, actions logged

**Step 5: Communicate to Stakeholders** (Owner: Communications Lead) - Within 30 minutes of classification
For P1/P2 incidents, send initial communication to affected clients, team members, and management. Use the incident communication template. Be factual: what happened, what you are doing, and when the next update will be provided.
- Tool: Slack + Email
- Output: Stakeholder communication sent

**Step 6: Investigate Root Cause** (Owner: Technical Lead) - Ongoing during response
Investigate the underlying cause of the incident. Gather logs, check recent changes, review access records, and identify the triggering event. Document findings in real-time in the incident Slack channel.
- Tool: System logs + Slack
- Output: Root cause identified or narrowed down

**Step 7: Implement Fix** (Owner: Technical Lead) - Once root cause is identified
Implement the fix or remediation. For P1/P2 incidents, have a second team member review the fix before deploying. Test the fix in a controlled manner where possible.
- Tool: Relevant systems
- Output: Fix deployed and verified

**Step 8: Verify Resolution** (Owner: Incident Commander) - Within 1 hour of fix
Confirm the incident is fully resolved. Check all affected systems and services. Ask the original reporter and other affected parties to verify normal operation. Monitor for recurrence.
- Tool: Slack + monitoring tools
- Output: Resolution confirmed by multiple parties

**Step 9: Send Resolution Communication** (Owner: Communications Lead) - Within 1 hour of resolution
Notify all stakeholders that the incident is resolved. Include: what happened, what was done, and any actions customers or team members need to take. For P1/P2 incidents, provide a timeline for the full post-incident review.
- Tool: Slack + Email
- Output: Resolution communication sent

**Step 10: Create Incident Record** (Owner: Incident Commander) - Within 24 hours
Create a formal incident record in Asana capturing: timeline of events, root cause, actions taken, people involved, duration, impact assessment, and status (resolved/monitoring).
- Tool: Asana
- Output: Formal incident record created

**Step 11: Conduct Post-Incident Review** (Owner: Incident Commander) - Within 5 business days
Hold a blameless post-incident review with the response team. Document lessons learnt, identify preventive measures, and create action items to prevent recurrence. Assign owners and due dates for all follow-up actions.
- Tool: Notion + Asana
- Output: Post-incident review completed, prevention actions assigned

### Completion Criteria
- [ ] Incident classified and response team assembled
- [ ] Incident contained and root cause identified
- [ ] Fix implemented and resolution verified
- [ ] All stakeholder communications sent
- [ ] Formal incident record created
- [ ] Post-incident review completed with follow-up actions assigned

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**Complexity:** advanced | **Setup time:** 30 minutes | **Tools:** Slack, Asana, Zapier

Note: This template has been tailored for manufacturing businesses in Australia. Adjust terminology and compliance references to match your specific context.