A Company That Outgrew Its Own Infrastructure

For a long time, Prince Service and Manufacturing’s technology needs were manageable. Then the company was acquired by Unified Defense, and manageable became something else entirely.

Suddenly, there were multiple locations that needed to operate as a single network. Security requirements tied to government contracting work jumped several levels. And looming over all of it was CMMC certification, a compliance framework that carries real teeth: without it, a contractor cannot pursue government work involving Controlled Unclassified Information.

“Our technology needs were much higher than we could support internally,” Robert said. “The level of expertise that we had in the building with the current IT staff was good, but it wasn’t that next level that we needed.”

That gap is where Spinen came in.

Connecting the Buildings, Then Connecting the Dots

The first order of business was infrastructure. Prince Service and Manufacturing had multiple locations that functioned like separate islands. Spinen brought in the networking architecture to connect them, putting every location on the same domain so that staff could support and be supported as if they were all in the same building, even when they were five miles apart.

“We were able to monitor and maintain everything from a single location,” Robert said. “We were able to help people as if they were in the building with us, but they weren’t.”

That foundation set the stage for the harder work ahead.

The CMMC Challenge

CMMC certification is not a checkbox. It is a structured, audited security framework designed to protect sensitive government information, and it requires documentation, tested processes, and technical controls that most small and mid-sized manufacturers simply do not have in place.

Prince Service and Manufacturing did not have them either, and they knew it.

“We did not have the technical expertise to become CMMC certified,” Robert said. “So, we built a relationship with Spinen, who was able to, between us working together and building a relationship, overcome those obstacles.”

Spinen’s role in the certification process was comprehensive. They worked directly with the auditors during the audit itself. They helped select the required software and ran the testing to make sure it met compliance standards. And they handled a significant portion of the documentation work, writing the processes and procedures that a CMMC audit demands on the technical side.

The certification matters for two reasons, Robert explained. It is a legal prerequisite for pursuing government contracts that involve sensitive information. And because it is genuinely difficult to obtain, it creates a competitive advantage. Certified vendors are scarce enough that certification opens doors that most competitors simply cannot walk through.

“It’s such a difficult certification to get that we feel like it’s going to create a lot of opportunity for us to get additional work that will be available because of the lack of government vendors who are certified,” he said.

Handing Over the Right Things

Robert admits that when Spinen first came on board, he had reservations. He had been managing the company’s technology himself, and bringing in an outside team felt like ceding ground he wasn’t sure he wanted to cede.

Jimmy Puckett, Spinen’s President and CEO, addressed that concern directly and immediately.

“The very first thing they did, which was great, was they handed me a sheet of paper that had a list of all of the things that they could do, and they said, check the things that you want to do, and then check the things that you want us to do,” Robert recalled. “Which was great, because at that point, I could hold on to the things that I felt like were important for me to do internally and let go of the things that they were going to be better at.”

That handoff turned out to be one of the most valuable things that happened. With the day-to-day infrastructure and security responsibilities in Spinen’s hands, Robert and his team were freed to work at a different level.

“I can start looking at projects and looking at things at more of a 30,000-foot level than being in the weeds trying to solve these problems,” he said. “It takes enormous amounts of stress off of me, knowing that I am not the final solution to the problem, that I’ve got somebody that I can call, who might have already called me to let me know. Sometimes they see before I see.”

What Comes Next

The relationship between Prince Service and Manufacturing and Spinen has continued to evolve. Weekly meetings keep both teams aligned, and Spinen regularly brings new ideas to the table.

Currently, the two organizations are working together on an AI initiative that will allow Prince Service and Manufacturing’s staff to have a conversational interface with their own data, pulling the information they need without running complex reports or building dashboards from scratch.

“Spinen is always coming to us with ideas on ways that we can take things to the next level,” Robert said. “They know what we need. They understand us. I have learned a lot from them.”

Prince Service and Manufacturing is a precision machining and manufacturing company operating under Unified Defense. They are based in the southeastern United States.