diff --git a/src/data_index/defaults/local.py b/src/data_index/defaults/local.py
index ba59e42..d1f5fc0 100644
--- a/src/data_index/defaults/local.py
+++ b/src/data_index/defaults/local.py
@@ -24,10 +24,16 @@
 
 # --- General config ---
 REGION = "ap-southeast-2"
-BATCH_SIZE = 1_000
 OUT_DIR = pathlib.Path(".load/orchestrate-fargate")
 THRESHOLD_BYTES = 10 * 1024**2  # 10 MB
 
+# --- Local config ---
+BATCH_SIZE = 1_000
+MAX_WORKERS = 8  # concurrent batches (limits RAM/CPU pressure)
+S5CMD_WORKERS = 8  # s5cmd defaults to 256 — cap it for local runs
+TRANSFORM_WORKERS = (
+    4  # transform threads per batch (total = MAX_WORKERS × TRANSFORM_WORKERS)
+)
 
 # --- Live Inventory Source config
 _s3_metadata_catalog_config = S3TablesCatalogConfig(
@@ -59,7 +65,7 @@
 )
 
 # --- File fetcher ---
-_file_fetcher = S5CMDFetcher(anon=True)
+_file_fetcher = S5CMDFetcher(num_workers=S5CMD_WORKERS, anon=True)
 
 # --- Metadata extractor ---
 _unstructured_netcdf_extractor = UnstructuedNetCDFExtractor()
@@ -106,10 +112,12 @@ def run_index_local(
     metadata_factory: InMemoryUnstructuredMetadata
     | DiskCachedUnstructuredMetadata
     | None = None,
-    transform_max_workers: int | None = None,
+    transform_max_workers: int | None = TRANSFORM_WORKERS,
 ):
 
-    data_index.orchestrate(
+    data_index.orchestrate.with_options(
+        task_runner=prefect.task_runners.ThreadPoolTaskRunner(max_workers=MAX_WORKERS)
+    )(
         inventory_source,
         partitioner,
         fetcher,
@@ -122,4 +130,4 @@ def run_index_local(
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    run_index_local(transform_max_workers=32)
+    run_index_local()