SPARC: Authentise Makes AM-Optimized Workflow Software Available for U.S. Military Surge Production

Earlier this year, Authentise, the manufacturing workflow software provider based in the UK and Philadelphia, announced that it was working on a collaborative engineering platform called Project DDNA, a defense-oriented solution leveraging the company’s Threads and Flow software. Authentise launched the platform in collaboration with Kform, a Virginia-based defense contractor specializing in commercializing emerging technologies.

Now, Authentise is announcing SPARC (Surge Production & Readiness Command), another collaboration with Kform, along with other partners. Funded in part by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), SPARC is a comprehensive supply chain management tool designed specifically for manufacturers serving the U.S. defense sector.

SPARC enables users to see exactly where surge capacity is available for U.S. defense customers, with information organizable in terms of geography, manufacturing process, and even certification. The platform also includes simulation capabilities related to likely demand signal scenarios, providing advance insight into possible supply pain points.

While it’s not strictly an additive manufacturing (AM) platform, the potential to support agile surge capacity — especially for strategically critical sectors like defense — is increasingly becoming one of the biggest selling points for AM processes. For instance, Authentise notes that a recent pilot case for SPARC involved “the challenge of helping a U.S. drone producer scale from 100 to 10,000 units per month”, aligning precisely with the use-cases that are driving U.S. military branches to build up organic AM capabilities.

In a press release about the launch of the SPARC software platform by Authentise, Kform, and others, Callye Keen, the CEO of Kform, said, “When a surge hits, forecasts fail and guesswork costs time. SPARC shows, in near real time, who can build what — and how fast. We must plan for success and confidently answer the challenge of scaling production.”

Andre Wegner, the CEO of Authentise, said, “SPARC bridges the gap between promise and proof. For DoD, it’s how we achieve surge resilience without relying on foreign capacity. For suppliers, it’s the new credential: verifiable readiness.”

The AM industry has reached a point where, to move on to a new phase of growth, it in fact needs to be fully incorporated into the broader manufacturing sector. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, a tool that isn’t AM-centric may be more directly applicable to the AM industry’s current needs, than would be some AM-exclusive counterpart.

For instance, take the example of drones again. Earlier in the year, U.S. Army officials discussed using AM as a bridge production technique on the way towards in-house, injection-molded drone output of 10,000 units per month. To accomplish that objective, you need visibility into both available AM and injection-molding surge capacity, not just one or the other.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound like such a difficult problem to solve, and maybe it shouldn’t be, but the fact that all of these sources of information are so siloed from one another means it’s virtually impossible under current operating conditions. While SPARC can’t solve that problem all on its own, it seems like a perfect starting point.

The next step would be to incentivize suppliers to participate in the platform, and Authentise and its partners are already in the process of doing that. This is an announcement I’ll be eagerly awaiting any updates on.

Featured image courtesy of Authentise