Category: Industry News

In a review of the latest data of Government contractors currently registered with the U.S. Government having an active CAGE code; the data shows that the District of Columbia ranks number one with the state of New York showing the lowest percentage of Government contractors per capita.

According to the most recent data tabulated by BidLink.net,  the associated chart represents the percentage of “Government contractors” (based on the number of CAGE codes) per state verses the population of the given state. The state populations used in these calculations are from the most recent extract of population estimates from U.S. census data based on state on residents 18 years or older.

Over 1.6 million organizations in the United States are currently active in the Governments database with an active CAGE code. Basically any company or organization wishing to do business with the U.S. Government, specifically military agencies such as the DoD, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines will have a CAGE code.

A CAGE code is a five (5) position alphanumeric code used to identify organizations that provide, manufacture, or control the design of items supplied to U.S. Government Military agencies. The CAGE code is an integral part of the military cataloging system and is shared with many of the automated data processing (ADP) systems throughout the military.

According to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFAR) any organizations wishing to conduct business resulting in an contract award or any type of purchasing agreement must have their CAGE code active in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). CCR registration must be updated on an annual basis to remain in the system. Currently a little over a third of the total organizations active in the CAGE database are active in the CCR database.

There are two basic types of CAGE codes Manufacturers and Non-manufacturers.

Of the total active U.S. CAGE codes only 11% of them are classified and Manufactures and 89% of them are Non-manufacturers.

The basic CAGE code data contains contact information such as phone and address information. There is a myriad of other relative data which is associated to a single CAGE code. Information such as part numbers and National Stock Numbers (NSN’s) manufactures, sources, contract numbers, procurement history etc.

BidLink.net provides vital information to defense contractors by mining its enormous and comprehensive database.  This data includes millions of defense contracts, procurement history, part numbers and vendor information.  This unique combination of resources allows BidLink to monitor and extract important information for the defense contracting industry.  BidLink.net, based in Washington, D.C., provides bid consolidation, searching and notification services, as well as part number (NSN) lookup services to many military activities and thousands of private companies around the world.

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Welcome to BidLink Defense News!

We are expanding our news area to provide in depth research and information about the defense contracting industry. BidLink has millions of rows of information, which we often mine for information that can help keep our clients informed. Our data team are constantly analyzing trends and studying data on a never ending quest to find something that can give our clients a competitive edge.

BidLink has hired a number of professional writers and employed a research team, which will provide up to the minute information on the defense industry.

We hope you enjoy BidLink Defense News.

– The BidLink Staff

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In an age of tightening defense budgets, suppliers are finding that replacement parts used to maintain existing equipment are good business. Even though purchase volume is down over the past few years, vendors are finding comfort in the consistent business of replacement parts. BidLink will periodically examine a particular industry segment in search for opportunities for our clients.  Today we examine one such industry segment, FSC 5330: Packing and Gasket Materials.

Over the past 10 years the Department of Defense, has purchased over 61,000 unique NSN’s from more than 3,000 different companies in the gasket industry according to data obtained by BidLink.net, a provider of defense industry information.

National Stock Numbers (NSN) are used by the government to categorize the items that they buy.   Items are classified in segments, indicated by the Federal Supply Class (FSC).

5330	-01-	298-7343
Federal Supply Class	Country Code	Unique Number

The segment -FSC 5330 – titled: “Packing and Gasket Materials” is defined as Seals, gaskets and packing are made from materials specifically designed and constructed to resist deterioration from the action of heat, gas, chemicals, liquids, and used to fill a cavity and create a tight seal.

They include items such as General Purpose Oil Grease, Air, Liquid, Gas, and chemical Seals; Oakum; Prefabricated Gaskets and Seals designed for a single specific application. Note-This FSC includes only seals and gaskets designed for standard use.

SALES VOLUME

Although belt tightening has reduced the volume of purchases for items under FSC 5330 over the past three years, annual volume is still close to $100 million.

In this segment, sixteen percent (16%) of these suppliers are women owned. Fifty Seven percent (57%) of these companies are listed as manufacturers where as Forty percent (40%) are categorized as non-manufacturers  including distributors and brokers. The last 3% categorized as NATO (or foreign companies). Eighty Seven percent (87%) of these 3,000+  companies are classified as small business, where the  company has employees ranging from 0 to 500 people.

Quantities sold to the Government range from a few pieces to over 300,000 pieces in a single purchase order. This specific NSN 5330-01-298-7343 was sold for $0.18 each a quantity of 300,000 for a single contract totaling $54,000 dollars- a nice contract and should keep the stamping machines running for awhile. Not all orders are this large in volume but prices range all the way up in the thousands of dollars each.

We are finding that a large amount of money spent by the defense department is for simple items that one might overlook, like batteries, gaskets, cookies and sunglasses.  Companies who can make these types of products will find the defense department as a huge potential customer for American made goods where private sector sales might be faltering.

BidLink.net provides vital information to defense contractors by mining its enormous and comprehensive database.  This data includes millions of defense contracts, procurement history, part numbers and vendor information.  This unique combination of resources allows BidLink to monitor and extract important information for the defense contracting industry.  BidLink.net, based in Washington, D.C., provides bid consolidation, searching and notification services, as well as part number (NSN) lookup services to many military activities and thousands of private companies around the world.

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