#138: How SMBs Can Break Into The Defense Industrial Base

Is your manufacturing business leaving defense contracts on the table?In this episode of Stay Sharp: Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with two returning experts to break down one of the most misunderstood opportunities in manufacturing: the Defense Industrial Base. Whether you're running a five-person shop or a 500-person operation, there is a lane for you in the DIB, and today's guests explain exactly how to find it.Guests:Steve Nichols heads the public sector and defense group at Razorleaf, bringing decades of experience across technology, operations, strategy, and business development spanning organizations from startups to large enterprises including Silicon Graphics, CACI, MRI Software, and Razorleaf Government Solutions.John Biagioni is the President of Lampin Corporation and brings deep manufacturing expertise shaped by a career that started on the shop floor as a machinist. He has nearly a decade of leadership experience as president of Dynisco, Viatran, and DJ Instruments, holds four patents in sensing and rheological instruments, and is a published authority on operational strategy.What You'll Take Away:What the Defense Industrial Base actually is, including the NIB, the hidden DIB, the Marine Industrial Base, and sub-categories most SMBs never hear aboutWhy the DLA currently has 22,000 non-bidded parts and what that gap means for small manufacturersHow CMMC certification works, what it costs ($50K to $200K+), and why you can actually include that cost in your first bidThe difference between CUI and classified information, and why the safe move is to protect everythingWhy poor data quality on aging weapon systems creates both friction and opportunity for SMBsWhat it means to be the "easy button" for a prime contractor, and why that's a smarter goal than chasing prime status yourselfHow the variable capacity model, or "Uberization" of the DIB, could give smaller shops a real entry point into defense contractsState-level grants (including $30,000 programs in Massachusetts and Connecticut) that can offset CMMC compliance costsFirst steps any SMB can take today: SAMs registration, getting a CAGE code, connecting with prime supplier portals, and joining DIB-focused industry groupsKey Insight:The government's goal of building a Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network means the Department of Defense is actively looking for shops with verified process capabilities, not just finished products. If your shop can demonstrate capacity, you could be "put in stasis" and called on when demand spikes.Resources Mentioned:DLA (Defense Logistics Agency) non-bidded parts spreadsheet available for public download at dla.milSAM.gov: System for Award Management, the starting point for any DIB entryPIEE: Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment for vendor registrationCMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification): cybercoe.osd.milRazorleaf Government SolutionsLampin CorporationContact the Stay Sharp team: [email protected] this episode?Subscribe to Stay Sharp: Digital Engineering on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. It helps us reach more engineers, operators, and manufacturing leaders doing the hard work of keeping industry sharp. Got a topic you want us to cover? Email us at [email protected] or drop a comment wherever you're listening. Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.© 2026 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.