Stratasys has been awarded a $7.8m contract to advance the development of on-site quality assurance capabilities for its F3300 and F900 FDM additive manufacturing systems.
The 2026 America Makes and the Department of War (DoW) Organic Industrial Base (OIB) Modernization Challenge has provided the funding, with work to commence over the next two years.
Through this effort, Stratasys has been tasked with developing a solution that allows manufacturers to generate the 'real-time process data needed' to scale additive manufacturing production, expand capacity and reduce reliance on costly post-build inspection and qualification. The ability to verify part quality 'efficiently, consistently and with sufficient technical evidence' is considered by the partners to be one of the key barriers limiting broader adoption of additive manufacturing in production environments.
By enabling quality data to be captured during the build process, Stratasys is striving to ensure that manufacturers can 'reduce inspection burdens, compress qualification cycles and add additive manufacturing capacity with greater confidence.' The company is aiming to develop a quality assurance solution that identifies potential anomalies during production and generates the documentation needed to support quality decisions in the hope that additive manufacturing can be deployed as part of a scalable production model.
“The next phase of additive manufacturing adoption within the defence industrial base is about moving from isolated applications to qualified, scalable production,” said John Wilczynski, Executive Director of America Makes. “Stratasys’ work to advance in-situ monitoring on established polymer production platforms addresses a critical part of that challenge - building greater trust in the manufacturing process and generating the data needed to support qualification. This project will create a stronger foundation for expanding additive manufacturing across production, sustainment and supply chain applications throughout the defence enterprise.”
“This initiative is about helping manufacturers scale additive production with confidence,” added Rich Garrity, Chief Business Unit Officer, Stratasys. “When production teams have access to quality data during the build process, they can qualify applications with less friction, expand production capacity more efficiently and integrate additive manufacturing more effectively into demanding production environments. America Makes plays a critical role in bringing together industry, government and technology leaders to address some of manufacturing’s most important challenges. Collaborative initiatives like this help accelerate innovation and strengthen the capabilities needed to support the future of advanced manufacturing.”
Through the 2026 OIB Modernization Challenge, America Makes is supporting projects that advance manufacturing capabilities critical to industrial production, resilient supply chains and the defence industrial base.
Other awards to have been announced via the 2026 OIB Modernization Challenge include:
- Honeywell Aerospace: Rapid Production of Sand Castings via Additive Manufacturing Technology
- HRL Laboratories, LLC: Rapid Qualification of Additive Parts
- Machina Labs: Edge Factories for Production of Low-Cost Weapon Systems
- Accenture Federal Services, LLC: Additive Manufacturing Digital Twin & Operations Simulation
- REM Surface Engineering, LLC: Advanced Chemical/Chemical Mechanical Polishing Technologies for Additively Manufactured Components within the DoW OIB
