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Automation Alley has received a $1.58 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to help identify local companies prepared to handle military contracts.
The grant requires Automation Alley to work with the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command, or TACOM, to find and contact companies capable of supplying parts for the military through the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages Program.
The program will identify manufacturers capable of producing replacement parts the Army needs but that are no longer in production, representatives from Automation Alley said. The parts will be used in maintaining the Army’s 3,000 key weapon systems.
“We are proud to bring this opportunity to Michigan businesses and look forward to working with TACOM and TARDEC (Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center) to find solutions for its significant parts obsolescence problem,” said Ken Rogers, executive director of Automation Alley.
“Not only will this project help the military, it’s sure to help Michigan companies find new opportunities to showcase their high-tech capabilities while ensuring long-term stability by diversifying outside the automotive industry,” Rogers said.
Rogers said companies with skills required by TACOM are encouraged to send contact information to info@automationalley.com. This information will be added to a database that will contain information about manufacturing vendors and engineering companies available that can provide valid sources of supply or support the initiative.
In the next two months, Automation Alley will recruit a program manager to act as the principal point of contact for the Army and conduct an industrial base capacity trendand-risk analysis.
The DMSMS program started with a congressional appropriation to the Army in the Department of Defense Appropriations Acts of 2008 and 2009, supported by Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., and Candice Miller, R-Mich.
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