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6K Additive has obtained a five-year Blanket Buy Settlement (BPA) order from the US Military Contracting Command. Supposed to help the actions of US Military Growth Command (DEVCOM) — most likely a very powerful company for superior manufacturing R&D throughout the military — the BPA provides 4 US Military R&D organizations entry to 6K’s steel additive manufacturing (AM) powders, made utilizing its proprietary UniMelt course of.
These organizations embrace New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal, Benet Labs in New York, Adelphi Laboratories in Maryland, and Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. One of many key differentiators of 6K’s UniMelt plasma manufacturing course of is that it facilitates the manufacturing of steel powders from recycled supplies, enabling the conversion of scrap steel to steel AM feedstock. The UniMelt course of is appropriate with nickel, titanium, copper, in addition to refractory metals like tungsten.
On this case, a BPA primarily means that the 4 organizations talked about above can place repeated orders from 6K for steel powders at a set value, with a restrict to both the overall quantity that may be spent annually or on every order. Thus, it permits the federal government to order from 6K as the necessity arises, with out establishing a brand new contract for every order.
In a press launch about 6K Additive’s five-year BPA from US Military DEVCOM, Lieutenant Colonel Peter J. Stambersky, Retired, the Director of Federal Affairs at 6K, mentioned, “My expertise from my service within the Military supplies me with a singular perspective of the settlement. Clearly, there’s a profit to 6K Additive, however, extra importantly, this settlement supplies the US Military DEVCOM with entry to vital supplies for [AM] derived from feedstock proper right here within the US. This settlement additional establishes 6K Additive as a trusted companion for powder and as a supply for reprocessing retired elements from navy plane and autos delivering a closed-loop, safe supplies provide to the US Military.”
This deal alerts {that a} genuinely transformational second in the US navy’s AM progress has arrived: as quickly because the navy can flip scrap from its overflowing boneyards into AM feedstock at scale, the forms tied to altering packages of file within the US protection price range will really be the largest impediment standing in the best way of the navy’s going all in on AM.
Furthermore, a contract like this might in the end assist deal with that precise drawback, as effectively. As 6K factors out within the press launch, “already licensed scrap” is ensured to “meet the specified specification” that has already been decided for a given half in a given program of file. If this course of could be optimized to the place 3D printed components don’t need to be re-qualified, or if the re-qualification course of can a minimum of be fast-tracked digitally, it drastically simplifies — and drastically accelerates — the budgetary course of associated to changing current US navy components made with legacy strategies with 3D printed components. It is a good instance of the type of mission the place preliminary success is more likely to result in exponential development.
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