By Kathie Mahoney, MassMEP President
Change starts on the factory floor.
America’s defense-tech renaissance is real, and its success now depends on manufacturers like the ones we serve across Massachusetts. A recent essay from Andreessen Horowitz, The Case for the American Manufacturing Asset Class, makes the point plainly: venture capital has poured into new defense companies, but what ultimately matters is production and fielding at scale.
Without that capacity, the authors warn, the country ends up with prototypes instead of a force strong enough to deter conflict. The surge in demand from these new programs is now flowing down to an aging supplier base that, in their words, has largely been overlooked.
We agree, and we would add one thing. The machine shops, component makers, and process specialists several tiers below the primes are not a problem to be solved. They are the foundation, and they are exactly who MassMEP and our APEX Accelerator team work with every day.
The challenge: small shops, big ramps
The defense supply chain runs on small manufacturers, and the authors put numbers to it. The 2022 Economic Census counted 16,876 machine shops nationally; among those operating all year, 83% employed fewer than 20 people. Roughly three-quarters of America’s 240,644 manufacturing employers are that small.
That profile will look familiar to anyone who has walked a Massachusetts shop floor. These firms are often world-class at difficult processes and sometimes a single-source solution in the supply chain. But the article identifies the pressures that make it hard for them to scale into new defense programs:
- Capacity limits. 61% of tier-two-and-below defense manufacturers cited tooling, automation, or production-line limits among their top three barriers to expansion.
- Fragmentation. The capabilities needed for one system are scattered across specialized shops that rarely work as a coordinated network, and a single supplier several tiers down can cap output for an entire program.
- Qualification. Work cannot simply move to whichever factory has room, because qualification is often tied to specific processes and facilities.
- Uncertain demand. Small shops cannot carry new machines, people, and inventory against orders the government has not yet committed to.
- Build-to-print habits. Suppliers often know exactly why a part is costly or hard to make, but have no channel to feed that knowledge back into the design.
None of these is a reason to stay out of defense work. Each one is a gap that the right support can close.
How MassMEP helps manufacturers build capacity
MassMEP helps Massachusetts manufacturers get ready to produce more, produce better, and produce securely. The article argues that capital in equals capability out. For most small and mid-sized shops, the first step toward capability is not a new building or a new piece of equipment. It is getting more out of the people, machines, and processes already in place.
- Find the real constraint. The article describes a “two-second transfer test”: if a worker can move a part between machines in two seconds, a robot probably adds cost without adding output. Our operational excellence work asks the same question. Is the bottleneck the cutting cycle, fixture changeovers, or parts waiting on inspection? That is where investment should go first.
- Adopt technology where it pays. The authors note that advanced technology adoption remains concentrated in the largest firms, while the long tail of suppliers has barely been touched. MassMEP’s Emerging Technologies team helps smaller manufacturers evaluate and implement automation, smart sensors, data collection, and AI tools sized to their operations.
- Meet cybersecurity requirements. Defense work requires protecting controlled information under DFARS, NIST SP 800-171, and CMMC. We help manufacturers assess gaps and build compliance programs so cybersecurity becomes a qualification, not a barrier.
- Build the workforce. More output requires more skilled people. MassMEP delivers incumbent-worker training, apprenticeship pathways, and technical skills programs that let shops add capacity without losing quality.
- Strengthen engineering capability. The essay’s call for co-engineering, where suppliers help redesign a part so it can be made at volume, depends on suppliers who understand their own processes deeply. Process data, quality systems, and design-for-manufacturability skills give our clients a seat at that table.
The article’s test for any investor applies to our work too: does it leave behind stronger engineering, more qualified capacity, better equipment, and skilled workers? That is the standard we hold ourselves to.
How the APEX Accelerator opens the door to defense work
MassMEP’s APEX Accelerator helps Massachusetts businesses find, win, and perform government contracts, at no cost. APEX Accelerators are a Department of Defense program, part of a national network of more than 90 centers working through about 300 offices as the bridge between government buyers and suppliers.
The article makes clear that factories ramp on orders, not maybes. A shop that has never sold to the government cannot respond to demand it cannot see. Our APEX team, in partnership with our MassMEP team, closes that gap:
- Readiness assessment. We evaluate whether a company is ready for government work and how to position it.
- Registrations and certifications. We guide clients through SAM registration and small business certifications that open set-aside opportunities.
- Market research. We identify which agencies, programs, and prime contractors buy what a company makes, using procurement histories and pricing data.
- Bid matching. Clients receive notifications of opportunities that match their products and capabilities.
- Proposal support. We review bids and help clients understand solicitations, specifications, and MIL-SPEC requirements.
- Connections. Matchmaking events put small suppliers in front of buying officers and primes.
The article notes that new defense companies like Anduril and Castelion are deliberately designing around commercial and multi-vendor supply chains. That is an opening for capable Massachusetts suppliers who know how to get in front of them. In spring 2027, MA APEX and MassMEP are hosting a matchmaking event for the defense supply chain industry. Stay tuned for more details.
Together: from capable shop to qualified defense supplier
What makes Massachusetts different is that we bring both halves under one roof. APEX helps a manufacturer find and win the work; MassMEP helps that manufacturer deliver it at the quality, security, and volume the customer needs.
The authors warn against two failure modes: a supplier base too thin to scale, and a single great supplier becoming a single point of failure across several programs. The answer to both is more qualified sources, not fewer. That is the network we are building. Each manufacturer who completes a cybersecurity assessment, improves throughput, trains new machinists, and registers to bid adds depth and redundancy to the Commonwealth’s defense industrial base.
The essay also argues that suppliers become more resilient when the capabilities they build for one program carry into the next. We see this every day. The quality systems, certifications, and process improvements a client builds for a defense contract also make it more competitive in medical, aerospace, and commercial markets.
The authors conclude that this new age of manufacturing will be built in places like Worcester, Fall River, Springfield, and Lowell, by the manufacturers who have quietly been part of America’s defense supply chain for generations.
Get started
If your company makes precision parts, components, or assemblies, the defense supply chain needs you, and you do not have to navigate it alone.
- New to government contracting? Start with a free APEX Accelerator counseling session to assess readiness and get registered.
- Already a supplier and preparing to grow? Talk to MassMEP about capacity, automation, workforce, and CMMC readiness.
- Not sure where you fit? Call us. We will help you map a path.
Let’s build the supply chain together.
Sources
- Connor Love and Collen Larson, The Case for the American Manufacturing Asset Class, a16z, October 2, 2026
- U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Small Business Programs, APEX Accelerators one-pager