Jonathan DiMattei, Founder & CEO of Lothric Labs, describes his pathway into defense manufacturing as fearless, relentless, and totally unbiased networking. He attended every ribbon cutting, grand opening, and Chamber of Commerce event he could find, regardless of industry. The breakthrough came at World Trade Center Denver, where events put him directly in front of United Airlines, Lockheed Martin, and defense contractors. His team's thousands of hours of lived 3D printing experience made the elevator pitch natural rather than rehearsed. Ten months after opening Lothric Labs to the public, they secured over 50 active clients and became the US strategic partner for Ultimaker, the only 3D printer adopted by the U.S. Army.
The biggest challenge for small manufacturers entering defense isn't technical capability but compliance, warns Jonathan. You can master aerospace-grade 3D printing, network into meetings with defense contractors, and shake hands with CEOs, but without CMMC certification, you're not getting the 3D model files. Some defense companies are softer, asking to see compliance on the roadmap. Others had hard lines. Luckily, publicly accessible SCIF spaces are now creating pathways for smaller manufacturers to access government-compliant networks and start bidding without building multi-million dollar facilities. The real bottleneck isn't equipment but knowledge: which materials to use among thousands of options, how to optimize CAD models for additive manufacturing, and navigating the compliance requirements that gate access to classified work.
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