Melton Sales & Service

Melton Sales & Service, operating as Melton Industries, is a small business manufacturer of industrial and vehicle components headquartered in Columbus, New Jersey, that supplies the Defense Logistics Agency and Department of the Army as a prime contractor almost exclusively through firm fixed-price purchase orders, delivery orders, and indefinite delivery contracts without set-asides—though recent awards show a growing share of Total Small Business set-aside IDICs. The company is a for-profit Subchapter S corporation that competes across multiple DLA commands and Army regional contracting offices, with no subcontractor footprint in its recent award record.

Melton's customer concentration is extreme and narrow: the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime command accounts for 8,917 awards (71% of all awards) with $212.1 million in combined potential value, anchoring the vendor's federal revenue. DLA Aviation contributes a secondary customer base with 1,517 awards and $36.7 million potential value. Together, DLA Land and Maritime and Aviation account for 73% of all awards and 60% of potential value. The Department of the Army Materiel Command commands add material dollars—Detroit Arsenal has 132 awards at $89.5 million potential value and Redstone Arsenal has 440 awards at $48.5 million—but represent a minority of transaction volume by award count. This concentration within DLA is both Melton's primary strength and its recompete risk. Across 12,516 awards tracked since 2008, the vendor has obligated $177.3 million (37% of combined potential value), indicating a historical mix of small purchase orders and larger task orders that have not all progressed to full funding.

Melton's capability portfolio, grounded in its award history, centers on manufactured industrial components and vehicle parts for military logistics: diesel engines and engine accessories (1,390 awards under Other Engine Equipment Manufacturing NAICS, 830 awards for diesel engines PSC 2815), hose and flexible tubing assemblies (1,484 awards under Hose and Flexible Tubing PSC), storage batteries and rechargeable batteries (1,035 awards), hardware and fasteners (647 awards), and miscellaneous fabricated metal products. Representative recent work includes a $615,230 definitive contract from TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for 22 diesel engines (NSN 2815-01-559-2661) with completion November 9, 2026; multiple engine block assembly orders from DLA Land and Maritime totaling $285 thousand across five separate purchase orders in February 2026, each set aside for small business with December 14, 2026 completion; and $81,225.60 in crankshaft engines (NSN 2815013672053) under Total Small Business set-aside in February 2026. Smaller recurring work includes battery delivery orders (sub-$1,000 ceiling), hose assembly components, and mechanical assemblies ordered through standing IDICs.

Melton holds at least ten active indefinite delivery contracts, all single-award vehicles with $350,000 ceilings and one-year or five-year terms running through 2027 or 2031. DLA Land and Maritime awards eight of these IDICs, each carrying Total Small Business set-asides; DLA Aviation awards two, one set-aside and one non-set-aside. The sourcing documents embedded in IDV descriptions indicate these vehicles are structured for rapid ordering with guaranteed minimum unit quantities (typically 4 to 20 units annually) and anticipated order frequencies of 5 to 12 calls per year. The top two IDIQ parent vehicles by task-order volume—SPE7L322D0016 with 532 task orders and SPE7L720D5005 with 423 task orders—carry nominal combined potential value ($305 thousand and $226 thousand respectively), suggesting these are high-velocity, low-dollar ordering vehicles typical of DLA's simplified acquisition procedures for consumables and components.

Activity has declined year over year from 1,295 awards in 2022 to 254 through April 2026, a trajectory suggesting either a shift in DLA sourcing patterns or a tightening of Melton's competitive position on high-volume vehicles. The recompete cliff presents material exposure: 223 awards (combined potential value $9.9 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and will require recompete or contract renewal. The majority of this cliff sits within DLA Land and Maritime's small business IDICs, where Melton's incumbency is strong but not immune to full-and-open or new small business challengers. Melton competes almost entirely under full-and-open and Total Small Business set-aside designations; no awards carry 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other alternative set-aside categories in the visible record.

Melton's presence across 43 distinct customer agencies masks the reality that nine of ten federal dollars flow from DLA commands. The vendor holds no parent contract vehicles such as GWACs, BPAs, or government-wide IDIQs—all work is direct DLA or Army regional contracting office task orders against single-award IDICs. This positioning makes Melton highly dependent on DLA's procurement velocity and volume and limits its ability to compete against prime contractors on larger government-wide vehicles or integrator programs where DLA work would be subcontracted.