The chief executive of Mercury Systems says the company is not expecting the ongoing coronavirus outbreak to delay production or to slow its hiring.
In an interview with Inside Defense earlier this week, Mark Aslett said business is proceeding as usual for Mercury. He said the company began taking some actions, including looking at its supply chain, as early as January and said those initial steps have proven very beneficial.
"In hindsight, we were very, very quick to act," he said, noting that when Mercury initially sent much of its workforce home, some employees asked if he was overreacting. Later, Aslett said, they thanked him.
"We actually haven't seen any COVID-related shutdowns or productivity impacts in our manufacturing facilities," Aslett added.
Still, he said the company is keeping a close eye on the situation.
"It doesn't mean we have no risk because it would be foolish to think that," Aslett told Inside Defense. "It doesn't mean we're immune; we're still very much focused on protecting those facilities."
Aslett said some of Mercury's suppliers faced coronavirus impacts, but are now operational.
"Although I think there are still risks to the supply chain . . . the risk is starting to come down," he said. "We're literally down at the part level looking at buying extra component raw materials, which we did, again, early on; we're second-sourcing wherever we can; if we need to redesign, then we're redesigning, but today I think the risk has gone down."
Aslett said Mercury's attrition rate has declined during this period, but the company is still hiring -- now using virtual methods.
The company has seen increased interest from job candidates, which Aslett said is likely "driven by the impact that we see happening to the aerospace industry" as well as recent merger activity.