[05:16] What is Transhield and what is your role?

We make very fancy and very custom tarps. Those thin plastic covers you see on Teslas or boats or windmill blades being transported, we make those. Not only do they shrink and form to shape, but they also protect from corrosion. We also have a military division where we are also on the cutting edge of EMF shielding.

[07:35] You mentioned that you work for the government. Can you explain how that side of things works?

CMMC 1.0 was a landmark effort to secure its defense contractors, and it didn’t gain traction until CMMC 3. Currently, we are working towards compliance with the future NYST 182 guidelines that will be rolling out.

[10:15] Any time that you implement security controls in an organization, there are going to be roadblocks. Can you tell us about any you have encountered and how you’ve handled them?

My boss came from a much bigger organization, and as CFO, he has a lot of swing in the budget. So, he’s been great in knowing what we need and pushing it through. What we do involves taking 3D model captures which, as we work with the military, is one of our most sensitive areas. Our manufacturing process needs to be quick and discreet as possible. When we added new security measures, it caused a great deal of extra processing time. However, by working with vendors, we were able to upgrade other areas to gain time there.

[14:12] Is there a worry that the speed up will impact QA at all? Is it more beneficial to perhaps take it slower sometimes?

You would think so, potentially, but our 3D scans are so massive, take so many data points, and are so accurate that it is hugely hard on the hardware to process them. Security cannot be stepped down in any way. We had to sacrifice processing for security.

[17:10] But you were able to make up ground in other areas of the process?

We received measurable loss, but we were able to find a build that our design team was happy with by tweaking elsewhere and still meeting compliance. We had no choice but to take the hit. The military is a third of our business, and our company is a size where everyone has a hand in something, so I apply changes across the board.

[19:00] Let’s switch gears here and talk about some of your previous experiences.

I was a consultant for years, taking contracts, and did that from high school until 2012. I took two persistent long-term contracts and found that I liked them and the stability. The first company I worked for, I started as a contractor and came on as a desktop support technician. I became the service desk team lead and the very first sys admin there.

[21:00] It’s a common theme that IT people end up taking on multiple roles. How do you, in your current role, balance doing all that?

First of all, I have a great team. I hate having one project. I prefer multiple projects and breaking them up into pieces that can be tackled and moved around. Not all of our work is home based, so dealing with cultural differences is sometimes a stumbling point.

[24:48] People are all unique. As a team manager, how do you deal with individual differences while maintaining the integrity of the team?

We talk out the problem and go through the steps to solving it. Especially with the more “everything’s on fire” team members. With the more reluctant people, it’s reframing it to ask how I can help them or their end users.

[28:50] How do you get the data that you need to get the work down?

A ticketing system is only as good as the team operating it, so the first step is to provide a measurable benefit to users. It’s about documenting things and instilling the need for that in your employees. Once they start understanding the use of their data and KPIs and how it can benefit them, usage and engagement increases.

[31:57] Once you have this in place, how do you determine KPIs?

This is our first ticketing system, so we came in with a blank slate. We ran it for a few months to get averages, then I looked at complaints to determine action points. Then I picked one thing to focus on.

[36:20] Let’s discuss ERP implementation and your experiences with that.

Currently, everything is covered with the ERP, but maybe not as much as I would like. We are currently in the process of migrating to something new.