For example, the small businesses performing work on the DOTC initia- tive can only partner with the limited number of companies working on non- traditional ammunition cases for their components (i.e., metal head inserts, bullets and propellant) and polymer injection molding.
Typically, the small business orders tend to get lower priority when competing with other high-volume customers from the government or commercial indus- try. And when designs change, there tends to be considerable back and forth between the
lightweight ammu-
nition small business contractors and their component-manufacturing and injection- molding subcontractors to obtain an optimal solution. Te iterative design process of build-test-fix becomes more
WORKING THE LINE
Personnel pack ammunition on the line at LCAAP, part of the Army’s organic industrial base. The government-owned, contractor-operated facility has been in operation since 1939, and has the capacity to meet production demands that small businesses cannot match. (U.S. Army photo)
cumbersome because the small
businesses don’t have all of the functions under one roof. Tis, in turn, can make it more difficult for them to meet scheduled delivery orders.
FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION An additional challenge when working with small companies is the high-volume production levels typically required for small caliber ammunition during pro- duction and deployment.
Small companies tend to focus on devel- oping and providing a solution. At the same time, they may have limited under- standing or expertise on the impacts of transitioning from prototype to high- volume production. Integrating those solutions in development with manu- facturing technology becomes more challenging.
Tis often requires the government to act as facilitator between the solution devel- oper and the ammunition manufacturer
CASTING THE CASE An engineer from Frontier Performance Polymers Corp. works on the molds for the 7.62 mm M80 polymer cases. PM MAS is working with a number of small companies to come up with the right design for lightweight 7.62 mm ammunition. (Photo by Yong Lei, Frontier Performance Polymers Corp.)
ASC.ARMY.MIL
45
ACQUISITION
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