Rtec-Instruments Inc.

Rtec-Instruments Inc., a minority-owned, self-certified small disadvantaged business and Subcontinent Asian American-owned manufacturer based in San Jose, California, supplies specialized laboratory tribology and erosion-testing equipment to federal agencies as a prime contractor on full-and-open purchase orders and small business set-asides. The company manufactures multifunction tribometers, vacuum tribometers, high-frequency reciprocating rigs, block-on-ring testers, and particle erosion testing platforms, along with thermal accessories and control systems. Rtec-Instruments is a manufacturer of goods under primary NAICS 334519 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing), with secondary classification under engineering services.

Rtec-Instruments competes across both set-aside and full-and-open vehicles, with set-asides accounting for approximately 44% of recent awards. Sole-source awards feature prominently — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center has issued multiple sole-source determinations for cryogenic accessories and erosion testers where Rtec-Instruments was the sole identified provider. The 15 prime awards (83% of the footprint) consist entirely of firm fixed-price purchase orders averaging roughly $120 thousand in value; no parent IDIQs, GWACs, or BPAs structure the prime relationship. The company places one task order under the Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract.

NASA Shared Services Center drives award volume and dollar concentration, accounting for 5 of 18 total awards ($430 thousand combined potential value) across vacuum tribometers, particle erosion testers, and cryogenic accessories. The Department of the Navy Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center together represent 6 awards ($679 thousand combined potential value) for block-on-ring testers and tribometer control systems. The Department of the Army Research Development and Engineering Command, the Department of the Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service round out the customer set. The nine distinct customer agencies covered 78% of awards by count and 94% of combined potential value, indicating moderate concentration among civilian research and defense test-and-evaluation customers.

Recent capability work includes a $54,500 July 2026 purchase order from NASA for a low-temperature sample stage enabling cryogenic erosion testing for lunar regolith and Martian dust simulation; a $398,024 July 2024 delivery of two tribometers to Army RDEC; a $231,850 total small business set-aside from Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a tribology tester integrated with 3D optical profilometry; and a $113,546 block-on-ring tester for Naval Sea Systems Command. The combined potential value across all awards stands at $1.8 million with combined obligated dollars of $2.5 million. Activity shows volatility — five awards in 2021, decline to three per year in 2022 and 2023, then recovery to five in 2024 — with only one award in 2026 to date. Only one award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Rtec-Instruments also subcontracts as a supplier: it provided a tribometer and training to HII Mission Technologies Corp on an Army Combat Capabilities Development Command ground vehicle systems contract in 2024, and supplied engineering services under the EPSE III Robotics and Lasers vehicle through 2021.