Products, Construction and Incident Response Services for the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Al Venzon, a Senior Manager for the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has been a Quest client for almost 10 years. In that time, Venzon says the Quest team has helped him in a number of situations where things might have gone badly.

Leader in aerospace and defense industry leverages Quest

SNC, a leader in the aerospace and defense industry headquartered in Sparks, NV, is best known as the builder of the Dream Chaser, a “spaceplane” that looks like a one-tenth-scale space shuttle. This robotic orbital vehicle is designed to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station and is the only such vehicle capable of a soft runway landing. It is one of a vast array of products that SNC manufactures, with facilities in 19 states and on most U.S. Air Force bases. With so much technologically advanced—and high-stakes—work to perform on the front end, SNC IT leverages Quest to facilitate many of their technology needs while providing strategic and tactical services that optimize their ability to succeed.

In addition to construction services, fiber, and incident response services, SNC has worked with Quest to procure much of its hardware and software. Quest has provided SNC with help from product purchase to support. This includes customized pre-sales support and ongoing product care, as well as a 24/7 client-response team and rapid delivery to its many facilities.

Venzon recalls one disaster recovery emergency in which Quest’s assistance was vital.

“We had a situation where a small fire broke out in an equipment room where we had a core piece of network equipment,” he recalls. “The sprinklers went off and did what they were supposed to do—put out the fire—but they also put out the network equipment.”

Deploying replacement equipment with decisive action

“Quest recognized the urgency of the situation and took action immediately,” Venzon says. “The next three days were like a small military campaign. Our Quest Account Manager, Sean Daniel, and his team were able to locate replacement equipment from a variety of sources, and quickly deploy them.” Daniel says,“I was happy our team was able to help.”

Venzon reports that Quest is now helping SNC on a big digital-transformation project that sees the company digitizing its entire manufacturing execution system (MES). “We want our managers on the floor working with tablets and getting real-time information so they can make real-time decisions,” Venzon says.

Not long ago, the company’s project management team realized they were on track to miss a deadline. “In order to accelerate turnaround times for system access needed by the MES consulting team, we turned to Quest,” Venzon says. “So Quest Professional Services came in to augment staffing and we did not have to reallocate our already committed resources.”

Turning on a dime shoulder to shoulder

“We’re smaller than Lockheed and Boeing,” Venzon says. “Our competitive advantage is that we can turn on a dime. Quest’s ability to flex on demand is similar to the value we provide our customers. We don’t run marathons—we run sprints. And Quest is able to keep stride with us.”