SUCCESS STORY
ICON, a web portal for the metals manufacturing supply chain, facilitates connections between Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) procurement activities and a proficient supply base specializing in critical cast components for the warfighter. ICON, a part of AMC’s Emergent Metal Casting Solutions (EMCS) program and led by the Non-Ferrous Founders' Society (NFFS), plays a pivotal role in the timely delivery of high-quality, cost-effective cast parts. This initiative highlights the collaborative efforts within the American Consortium (AMC) to innovate and enhance the efficiency of the DLA’s metalcasting supply chain.
Problem: The defense supply chain for castings and forgings is burdened by complex, fragmented acquisition data. Many DLA solicitations are issued for complete assemblies that include cast or forged components buried deep inside large technical data packages. Manufacturers are often forced to spend hours manually reviewing drawings, part lists, and historical contracts just to determine whether they can source the required subcomponents and be competitive. This lack of clarity introduces risk at every step. Foundries and forges routinely invest significant staff time only to discover late in the process that key parts are unavailable, misaligned with their capabilities, or priced out of reach. At the same time, DLA sees high no-bid rates and repeated failed solicitations, creating delays and uncertainty across the supply chain.
Solution: ICON’s ACE integration de-risks the supply chain for castings and forgings by translating complex government acquisition data into information manufacturers can actually use. ACE analyzes DLA solicitations and technical data packages, distilling them into a bill of materials that identifies the cast and forged subcomponents, their NSNs, existing supply chains, and historical pricing. This allows manufacturers to quickly see what is truly required to build an assembly, whether the necessary parts are available, and whether the opportunity is commercially viable. Instead of spending days dissecting government documentation, suppliers can pre-screen opportunities in minutes. When a solicitation is not viable, ACE captures the reason for the no-bid, creating a formal feedback loop that gives DLA unprecedented insight into why certain requirements fail to attract competition.
Benefit: ACE replaces uncertainty with clarity, saving manufacturers hundreds of hours of wasted research and reducing the financial risk of pursuing unviable work. Suppliers can focus their resources on opportunities they can realistically win and deliver, while DLA gains visibility into the true constraints and dynamics of the industrial base. By de-risking the supply chain for castings and forgings, ICON and ACE are improving competition, reducing failed solicitations, and accelerating the path from requirement to production, strengthening the U.S. manufacturing base and getting critical capability to the warfighter faster and with greater confidence.
Learn more at www.iconportal.com