NCDMM

NAT IONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE MANUFACTUR ING & MACHINING Pennsylvania, where the NCDMM’s own base of operations in Blairsville is situated. “We were early sponsored out of the late Congressman John Murtha’s office with the edict that we would be self-sufficient within three years,” says Chief Operating Officer, Gary Fleegle. “We achieved that target by moving to a fee-per- service model. We are purposefully small as far as internal staff. We have 36 employees to keep the overhead low and the project management costs down. To supplement that, we collaborate with a group of technology providers called Alliance Partners. They’re anywhere from software providers, machine tool providers, tooling providers, automation robotics—the whole gamut across AMT. What we do is work with our customers to identify their opportunities and needs. Our customers are 99 percent DoD, but we also work with the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Nuclear Emergency Research Team. We assemble teams that allow all parties to lend their technologies and services in a way that’s novel, delivers solutions, and either reduces costs or gets the effort back on schedule.” With growing reliance on automated technology in the manufacturing sector, technicians are being challenged with solving problems faster, better, and at lower costs than others can. That’s why the NCDMM is set on continuously growing its partnership networks; to broaden its ability to deliver leading manufacturing innovations; and to ensure that U.S. defense manufacturing remains globally competitive. “There are competitors in this space,” Fleegle admits. “But they typically in-source their technology