Roxanne Schlue was two months into her new job at LMT Defense when the Eldridge company received one of its largest-ever federal contracts. Schlue’s job as compliance manager was to ensure that the appropriate flow-down clauses were passed down to subcontractors. For assistance with that, she turned to the CIRAS Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC).
“When you agree to a contract with the federal government, you agree to dozens of different clauses,” said Samantha Ferm, CIRAS government contracting specialist. “For companies like LMT, there are federal requirements as well as requirements specific to the Department of Defense. The question becomes which of these requirements get passed down to subcontractors so that everyone is compliant.”
LMT Defense was founded in 1980 as Lewis Machine and Tool Company. The company provides the U.S. military, law enforcement, and government agencies with precision-engineered weapons and weapon systems. They often use subcontractors, and since they’re responsible for the actions of anyone they source from, it’s critical to know which terms and conditions of a contract need to be passed along. Noncompliance at any level has severe consequences including termination for default, which can end a company’s career as a government contractor.
Schlue had the opportunity to work with several members of the CIRAS team. They provided best practices from other manufacturers and agencies that do work for the federal government. They also provided online resources to help Schlue develop a matrix to track the various clauses in the LMT contract.
“It was really about figuring out the requirements of the contract,” Schlue said. “CIRAS helped me understand the regulations and how to manage them for ourselves and our suppliers. With their assistance, LMT Defense was able to ensure compliance with our U.S. military contracts.”
LMT Defense has a long-standing relationship with CIRAS, which includes assistance with ISO certification, a requirement of many federal and international contracts.
For more information, contact Samantha Ferm at siferm@iastate.edu or 319-333-9558.