Rhode Island's Greystone Corporation Diversifies Into Defense / Aerospace

Small Business Contract Award: Mk281 "Green Ammunition" Projectile Bodies

PROVIDENCE, R.I., March 2 -- Greystone Corporation announced today that it received a 3-year contract to produce "green ammunition" projectile bodies for American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM). The projectile bodies are for the Mk281, the only 40 mm Non-Dud Producing (NDP) training ammunition in the United States. Through the Rhode Island Economic Development Commission, Greystone secured a loan to re-tool and diversify into the defense / aerospace industry. The contract exemplifies how small companies can realign in the economy to fulfill federal initiatives.

The Mk281 product design enables the Department of Defense (DoD) to fulfill its mission of supporting small businesses. It enables Greystone to become less dependent on the automotive industry, and it enables ARM to strengthen its small business base of producers to fabricate all Mk281 components in the U.S., in accordance with the Senate's "Buy American" requirements.

As a producer of safety critical parts for the automotive industry, Greystone will transfer core automotive capabilities. The high-tolerance precision machining and coating techniques used for stability control braking systems, air bag components, and fuel system components apply to ammunition. Like automotive parts, projectile bodies also require strict adherence to engineering specifications, corrosion protective coatings, and lifetime product traceability.

With over 75 years of continuous business experience, Greystone is technically seasoned and able to deliver on time. "Our supply relationships are deeply established," explained John Maconi, Chief Operating Officer. "Our Engineers and Quality Team deal directly with suppliers. This helps us to maintain an overall quality and delivery rating for automotive customers of 98%. That's a solid number for an industry running on Just-In-Time practices. Applying similar systems and operational flexibility to the projectile product makes good sense."

Besides manufacturing the steel component and plating for the Mk281 projectile body, Greystone will manage the entire projectile manufacturing process. This includes dedicating one supply chain manager to oversee raw material procurement, manufacturing, quality and logistics for the machining, plating and injection molding. For a product like Mk281, 99% of the raw materials for the projectile body are manufactured in the United States.

Mk281 is positioned as the market leader in the 40 mm "green ammunition" product category through a U.S. Marines' contract award to Rheinmetall. Mk281 is primarily used by the Marines, but also is used at the Army's National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California. The cartridge is used for fire and maneuver training, and it allows soldiers to train in dry summer months when range restrictions prohibit the use of the Army's M918 pyrotechnic spotting cartridge.

The M918 also creates large amounts of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). It is a 1970 design with a fuze failure rate of 3%-8%, which makes it expensive to clean up. The DoD is searching for ways to phase out the M918 while staying on mission to support Soldiers and small businesses.

With the volume of 40 mm "green ammunition" needed to keep War-fighters' skills sharp on high-velocity machine guns, small businesses like Greystone can successfully compete in this space. The company also recently added aluminum anodizing and manganese phosphate capabilities to support the armed forces demand for weapons, and established a proprietary coating process to increase the life and accuracy of gun barrels.

Greystone was established in 1932 and has two facilities in Rhode Island and a plant in Virginia. The company is focused on bringing technical solutions to customers that require turned metal parts with functional wear coatings in the automotive, defense / aerospace and medical markets. The company is certified by NADCAP, holds TS 16949 and ISO 2002 Registrations, and is an FAA Approved Repair Station.

For more information, visit us at www.Greyst.com and www.PlatingJournal.com.