NCDMM to lead $7.5M Army initiative related to additive manufacturing

Business NCDMM to lead $7.5M Army initiative related to additive manufacturing November 12, 2026 2 min read Trending The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, which manages America Makes and the Youngstown Innovation Hub, has been awarded a task order valued at $7.5 million, it was announced Wednesday. As the prime contractor, NCDMM will partner with Michigan-based Automation Alley to advance secure, distributed additive manufacturing capabilities that strengthen the defense supply chain's resilience. Administered through NCDMM's indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, the effort supports the U.S. Army's modernization priorities by demonstrating how intellectual property-protected manufacturing instructions can be securely transmitted to distributed AM equipment, enabling on-demand production of defense components with data security, traceability, and quality assurance. "This award demonstrates NCDMM's commitment to advancing manufacturing capabilities that strengthen our nation's defense industrial base," said Gene D. Berkebile, president and CEO of NCDMM. "By partnering with Automation Alley and its technical collaborators, we are helping address supply chain vulnerabilities, improve access to critical components and support the readiness of our warfighters through secure, distributed additive manufacturing." Legacy defense components often face supply chain disruptions, extended lead times and limited domestic production capacity. This initiative will validate a secure "streaming manufacturing" model that applies concepts used in digitally licensed media to physical production, allowing manufacturing instructions to be securely delivered to distributed production sites. During Phase I, Automation Alley will lead the design and validation of a secure digital manufacturing environment. Technical activities include developing an encrypted workflow architecture aligned with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification requirements and National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity standards; identifying and validating candidate polymer and metallic weapon system components; and producing additively manufactured parts using validated processes. A key deliverable is demonstrating the secure, end-to-end transfer of smart product recipes to distributed manufacturers, supported by digital quality-assurance recipes that document and verify each part produced.