diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b70a9d5..5af0635 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ down:
 	${DOCKER_COMPOSE} down
 
 
+# Create all external volumes needed for production. Using external volumes is useful to prevent data loss (as they are not deleted when performing docker down -v)
+create_external_volumes:
+	@echo "🥫 Creating external volumes (production only) …"
+	docker volume create nutripatrol-postgres-data
+
 #-----------#
 # Utilities #
 #-----------#
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5af2c7e..8469ab3 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -35,4 +35,5 @@ services:
       - "${POSTGRES_EXPOSE:-127.0.0.1:5432}:5432"
 
 volumes:
-  postgres-data:
\ No newline at end of file
+  postgres-data:
+    name: ${COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME:-nutripatrol}-postgres-data
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/prod.yml b/docker/prod.yml
index c404b8b..316c287 100644
--- a/docker/prod.yml
+++ b/docker/prod.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
-version: "3.7"
+version: "3.9"
 
-# modifications to docker-compose for production settings
\ No newline at end of file
+volumes:
+  postgres-data:
+    external: true