Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1546025
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2026 security upgrades, vendor management reviews, and employee training. Then comes the less visible but equally important work of living with those controls long enough for them to become an oper- ational habit. The 110 controls touch HR, physical security, executive accountability, and incident response planning. Every function has a role. At Naprotek and SemiGen, that meant building cybersecurity awareness into onboarding and ongoing training, implementing documentation discipline that makes every control traceable and auditable, hardening systems against both external threats and insider risk, and developing incident response capability that gets tested regularly rather than sitting in a binder. "People assume the technology is the obstacle," Cail notes. "In our experience, the discipline to maintain controls consistently—month after month, while running a manufacturing operation—is where organizations struggle. Executive ownership made the difference for us. When leadership treats cyber- security as a business priority, the rest of the orga- nization follows." Choose Your C3PAO Relationship Carefully The third-party assessment is what separates certi- fied from claimed, but the C3PAO relationship matters well before assessment day. The organiza- tion you work with is a resource, not just a gate- keeper. Cail's advice is to find a partner that helps your team understand the standard, not simply pass it. The goal is a durable security posture. A one-time assessment result that doesn't reflect how your organization operates will not hold up over three years of continuous compliance. Verified, Not Claimed CMMC Level 2 certification carries real procurement value. Certified suppliers are better positioned in competitive bids, and that is a legitimate business outcome. But for prime contractors and program offices evaluating their supply chains, the more meaningful result is the removal of uncertainty. Because the programs depending on that data have no tolerance for gaps, 110 controls are inde- pendently verified across people, systems, and operations. Naprotek and SemiGen pursued this certification so their customers don't have to wonder whether their supplier is ready. An inde- pendent third party has examined the environment and confirmed it meets the standard. In a market where cybersecurity claims are easy to make, that verification is the differentiator that holds. SMT007 Tim Filteau is president and CEO of both Naprotek and SemiGen.