Cold outreach to Manufacturing companies
The buyer here is a production manager in the manufacturing industry, primarily measured on reducing operational downtime. They respond positively to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their production schedules and how your solution can prevent delays caused by equipment failures or supply chain disruptions.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 552 manufacturing company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- unplanned equipment downtime
- supply chain delays
- inefficient production processes
- high operational costs
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent equipment failures
Use industry news sources and equipment monitoring reports to filter for manufacturers that recently reported equipment failures. This information is crucial as it indicates a potential need for solutions that enhance operational reliability and reduce downtime.
- 02
Target companies with supply chain disruptions
Look for manufacturers that have publicly announced supply chain issues, especially those affecting production timelines. These disruptions create a sense of urgency and make them more receptive to solutions that can streamline their operations.
- 03
Craft messaging around production efficiency
In your outreach, focus on how your solution can improve production efficiency and minimize downtime. Mention specific metrics or case studies relevant to similar manufacturers that highlight improvements in throughput and reliability.
- 04
Address common objections upfront
Be prepared for objections related to budget constraints or the complexity of implementation. Address these by providing insights on ROI and simplified integration processes that have worked for other manufacturers, making it easier for them to see the value.
- 05
Follow up post-industry events
Schedule follow-ups with companies that attended recent manufacturing trade shows or webinars. These events often indicate a readiness to explore new solutions, and a timely follow-up can capitalize on their recent engagement.
Can manufacturing companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 552 manufacturing companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 24.3% of 1–10-person companies against 83.1% of the largest — 59 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Reducing production downtime
- Streamline your operations
- Overcome supply chain challenges
Questions
- Why do production managers ignore outreach about new technologies?
- Production managers often prioritize immediate operational issues over new technologies. If outreach fails to address their current pain points, such as equipment failures or supply chain disruptions, it may be overlooked as irrelevant or unhelpful.
- What factors influence a production manager's decision to adopt new tools?
- Key factors include the potential for reducing downtime, improving production efficiency, and the ease of integration with existing systems. Production managers are also influenced by the experiences of their peers and case studies demonstrating real-world benefits.
- How can outreach be tailored to resonate with manufacturing leaders?
- Outreach should focus on specific challenges faced in the manufacturing process, such as equipment reliability and supply chain efficiency. Highlighting quantifiable improvements and relatable case studies can make the outreach more relevant and compelling.
- What common mistakes do sellers make when reaching out to manufacturing companies?
- Sellers often make the mistake of being too generic in their messaging. Failing to connect their solutions to specific manufacturing challenges, or not demonstrating an understanding of the industry's operational realities, can lead to disengagement from potential buyers.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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