What our CEO Jayme Rahz shared during a recent conversation with Paperless Parts
Last week, our CEO, Jayme Rahz, sat down with Paperless Parts for an open and practical conversation about CMMC and what the journey really looks like for a small manufacturing business (I will link the video here). Rather than focusing on controls or technical checklists, the discussion centered on leadership decisions, tradeoffs, and how small shops are navigating CMMC as it becomes part of everyday business.
Jayme began by grounding the conversation in who we are at Midway Swiss Turn. We are a small, family-run precision machining company based in rural Ohio, with about 12 employees, many of them being family members. That context matters because CMMC impacts small manufacturers very differently than large organizations with dedicated IT teams and larger budgets.
When CMMC became real for us
During the conversation, our CEO shared that CMMC first became real for Midway Swiss Turn several years ago while researching tools to improve collaboration and quoting. In the middle of that research, CMMC came up during a Paperless Parts webinar, and it quickly became clear that the program would apply to work Midway Swiss Turn was already doing.
Jayme described that realization as “a punch in the gut” when it became clear that continuing to grow in defense work would require taking CMMC seriously. Like many small manufacturers, we initially wondered whether there might be an exemption for very small companies, but as time went on it became apparent that no such exemption would be given.
At that point, Midway Swiss Turn’s leadership had to decide whether to commit to the process or accept limits on future participation in defense work.
Treating CMMC like a business decision
One of the strongest themes Jayme emphasized is that CMMC cannot be treated as just another compliance task. She explained that we approached it the same way we approach other major investments in the company. “It’s an investment you have to make in your business,” Jayme said.
She also discussed how customer conversations began to shift over time. Even before formal audits were widely available, customers started asking direct questions like, “Are you going for CMMC and at what level?” That was an early signal that CMMC was already influencing how suppliers were being evaluated.
Why the journey takes time for small manufacturers
Jayme was candid about why this process often takes longer for small shops. Like many small shops, Midway does not have an internal IT department. That reality shaped the pace of our progress and required learning along the way.
Midway is fully cloud based and does not operate an on-site server. That meant carefully evaluating tools, configurations, and affordability, and accepting that adjustment would be part of the process due to technology and how rapidly it can change.
Eventually, we moved into Microsoft GCC High as a long-term environment. One of the broader lessons Jayme highlighted is that, for small manufacturers, paying more for a managed environment can sometimes reduce the overall burden by eliminating the need to constantly piece together and maintain disconnected systems.
What this means moving forward
Customers are becoming more proactive about identifying suppliers who can support sensitive data requirements, as these expectations are increasingly shaping how sourcing decisions are made. For Midway Swiss Turn, the goal is to stay aligned with our customers so that when CMMC requirements formally appear in contracts, the transition is seamless.
CMMC is not simple or inexpensive for small manufacturers. It requires sustained commitment, patience, and leadership involvement. It is not a one-time project, but a long-term business decision that affects how a company operates and grows. For Midway Swiss Turn, that commitment reflects how we approach our customer relationships overall. As requirements evolve, we focus on adapting alongside our customers so we can continue to support their needs and remain a reliable manufacturing partner as expectations change.
We would like to thank Paperless Parts for hosting the conversation and creating space for small manufacturers to share real-world experiences. These discussions are critical as the industry works through CMMC together.