Performance Metal Products, a Pennsylvania diecaster, has earned a five-year, $50-million contract for engineering services in support of the Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal, in New Jersey. "It’s quite exciting,” CEO Hank Leipert said. “It’s by far the biggest contract we’ve ever been awarded. This will change the company once again. It gets us into engineering services and more sophisticated manufacturing."
Located in Bechtelsville, PA, and formerly known as SciCast International, Performance Metal Products produces precision aluminum and zinc diecastings, as well as high-performance sacrificial anodes and a line of water heaters based on a corrosion-resistant lining materials and “intelligent anodes” that prolong service life.
ARDEC is one of the specialized research, development and engineering centers within the U.S. Army Materiel Command, with the specific assignment of advancing armaments technology.
The assignment to Performance Metal Products is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quality (IDIQ) agreement that puts the company in a steady competition with another (unnamed) contractor for a fixed period (five years) and may call for manufacturing, engineering and support services in the development of small-caliber arms and munitions.
Performance Metal Products formed a partnership with a software developer, Serco Inc., to develop products in support of the ARDEC contract.