America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) are proud to announce the winners of a recent project call funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of War, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSW ManTech), worth a total of $10.5M. The project call, Joint Additive Qualification for Sustainment – Supplier Qualification (JAQS-SQ – Groups 2 & 3), focuses on unified requirements and training to qualify laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) and directed energy deposition (DED) suppliers for the metal AM industrial base.
This project builds on the original JAQS‑SQ effort to strengthen manufacturing readiness and expand defense industrial bases (DIB) capabilities by standardizing AM training and audits, aligning suppliers with acquisition requirements, accelerating the onboarding of non-traditional vendors, and ensuring consistent, qualified production. The training curriculum will be developed in partnership with Wichita State University – National Institute for Aviation Research (WSU‑NIAR). Specifically designed for production and engineering operations managers, this practical training will teach leaders how to implement process control documents and qualification principles effectively. Once suppliers have completed training and integrated the guidance, an audit will be conducted to verify their ability to operate as qualified AM manufacturers for the Department of War (DoW). This includes demonstrating the ability to execute a performance qualification as defined in the curriculum and required by the audit.