R & D Metals & Chemicals, Inc.

R & D Metals & Chemicals, Inc., a veteran-owned small business manufacturer headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, supplies welding and soldering consumables, brazing alloys, welding equipment, and welding qualification services to the Department of Defense as a prime contractor on firm fixed-price purchase orders. The company competes predominantly in full-and-open (non-set-aside) procurement, though a material share of recent awards carry Total Small Business set-aside designations reflecting its veteran-owned status.

The vendor's customer footprint concentrates almost entirely within the Defense Logistics Agency. The top five funding entities account for 95% of award count, led by DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment (840 awards, $4.7 million combined potential value) and DLA Land and Maritime (208 awards, $1.1 million combined potential value). The two rankings align closely; DLA Troop Support dominates both volume and dollars. By potential value, DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment, DLA Land and Maritime, DLA Troop Support Hardware, Naval Sea Systems Command, and Naval Supply Systems Command together account for 72% of combined potential value. The vendor has worked with the Defense Logistics Agency across multiple subordinate components—including Aviation and Hardware divisions—as well as Navy commands, but DLA Troop Support remains the anchor customer by a wide margin.

R & D Metals & Chemicals' capability portfolio centers on Defense Logistics Agency supply-chain consumables for military equipment maintenance and repair. Representative work includes a $91,760 firm fixed-price purchase order from DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment (awarded February 2024) for 74 units of NSN 3439004331919 brazing alloy, silver; a $26,362.38 Total Small Business set-aside purchase order (October 2023) for brazing alloy, silver; and numerous smaller orders for welding electrodes ($4,320), welding rods ($17,800), gas welding torches ($14,418.72), and soldering flux at unit values ranging from $70 to $950. The vendor's award history reflects sustained high-volume, low-to-moderate-dollar transactional business rather than large development or integration contracts. Top PSC codes (Miscellaneous Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Supplies and Accessories; Hose, Pipe, Tube, Lubrication, and Railing Fittings; Gas Welding, Heat Cutting, and Metalizing Equipment) confirm focus on consumables and equipment for field support.

Activity has remained steady, with 91 awards in 2023 and 91 in 2024, though 2025 saw a decline to 59 awards. The first award in the source data dates to July 1995, and the vendor has maintained continuous SAM registration since September 2001. Combined potential value across all 1,251 awards in the source stands at $8.4 million, with $7.7 million obligated (91% execution rate). The recompete cliff over the next twenty-four months is minimal—only 2 awards with combined potential value of $10 thousand are due for ultimate completion and potential recompete by October 2028. The vendor sits on multiple DLA indefinite-delivery vehicles, including Indefinite Delivery Contract SP041204D4092 (20 task orders), SPM43004D5C79 (7 task orders, $34 thousand), and three other IDCs with smaller footprints. The vendor operates 100% as a prime contractor with no sub-award activity in the source portfolio, delivering goods and services directly to DLA and Navy logistics points of contact.