DFARS Specialty Metals: How to Source Compliant Material
A 2 percent weight threshold decides whether a single noncompliant bolt can disqualify an entire assembly. Here is how to tell if the specialty metals restriction applies to your part, and how to prove the metal is clean.
10 min read
CMMC vs. NIST 800-171: What Your Suppliers Actually Need
CMMC's third-party certification requirement has been suspended since July 2026, but the NIST SP 800-171 controls underneath it were never optional. Here's what each framework actually requires, which revision applies right now, and what to put in a purchase order.
10 min read
CMMC Level 2 for Buyers: What to Require From Suppliers
The phase-in moved in 2026 and most guidance still quotes the old dates. What Level 2 covers, what flows down to a subcontractor, and what a purchase order should actually say.
13 min read
How to Verify ISO 13485 Certification
A medical device QMS certificate is not regulatory clearance. Where the register lives, what the scope line has to say, and which questions ISO 13485 never answers.
11 min read
How to Verify Nadcap Accreditation in eAuditNet
Nadcap accredits a process at a site, not a company. Where the list lives, which commodity code to search, and why an AS9100 certificate does not answer the same question.
13 min read
How Many Machine Shops Are in the US? 2026 Benchmark
NAICS 332710, counted. How many there are, which states hold them, and what the figure quietly leaves out.
11 min read
How to Replace a Chinese Supplier With a US Manufacturer After 2026 Tariffs
Requalification, tooling transfer, and a second source running in parallel. The order those happen in, and how to keep a line fed while the supplier changes underneath it.
13 min read