SBIR and the Phase III Challenge of Commercialization Report of a Symposium (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Panel II: Transitioning SBIR: What Are the Issues for Prime Contractors?
Panel II: Transitioning SBIR: What Are the Issues for Prime Contractors?
Pages 75-101
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From page 75... ...
Finally, he encouraged more discussion of intellectual property and its role in the relationship between prime contractors and subcontractors.
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From page 76... ...
Their interaction included support in the form of follow-on with the companies and tracking the development of their technology. He also participated in national SBIR conferences, such as the recent Navy Opportunity Forum in Reston, Virginia.
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From page 77... ...
Hendel wanted to expand this across the Integrated Defense Systems and its large programs, such as the F/A-18, the Joint Direct Attack Munitions, the C-17s, and the Delta launch vehicles programs. There he had found limited awareness of the SBIR program, and he wants to elicit more involvement from those programs.
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From page 78... ...
• Can the prime contractor itself find champions for their programs, and also act as a champion for a technology being developed through Phase I and Phase II awards? Advantages of a Team Approach The funding issues discussed for agencies are relevant for the prime contractors as well, said Mr.
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From page 79... ...
Lockheed Martin does 80 percent of its business with the DoD and other U.S. federal agencies, and therefore, he said, "We certainly understand the urgency of establishing a corporate strategy to leverage in the SBIR program." Currently, Lockheed Martin was in the process of establishing a task force to determine the current levels of SBIR involvement across its five business segments.
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From page 80... ...
Finally, although Lockheed Martin had not had difficulties with SBIR partners in assigning rights to intellectual property, the entrance into a Phase III contract would be the time to review any IP issues that need to be addressed. He reviewed several procedures that might be adapted for use in the SBIR program.
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From page 81... ...
Building a Relationship between Prime Contractors and Small Businesses Lockheed Martin also intended to build more formal business relationships with its small businesses, which are critical to successful Phase III transitions. This process must begin with joint visits to customers when both sides can discuss product discriminators, areas for further investigation and collaboration within Lockheed's own Independent Research and Development (IR&D)
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From page 82... ...
Raytheon's SBIR staff had spent a good deal of time with John Williams of the Navy SBIR program and Douglas Schaffer of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) , attempting to spread the SBIR program across the other services and agencies with which Raytheon worked.
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From page 83... ...
He is looking for more opportunities for rapid technology development and insertion by establishing long-term relationships with key small businesses and strengthening relationships with customers by helping them get the right technologies to the warfighter quickly. He said that his goal was to better coordinate the activities of the government, the small businesses, and prime contractors like Raytheon.
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From page 84... ...
At the corporate level, the vice-president of technology coordinated the leads that had been identified at each unit. He then discussed "key entry points" to the SBIR process, from a prime contractor's point of view.
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From page 85... ...
Among near-term business advantages were the abilities to help program managers solve problems, reduce costs and risks, and find alternative solutions. They worked with the advanced program managers and directors for each product line -- the people concerned with tomorrow's needs rather than just today's deliveries and customer requirements.
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From page 86... ...
Raytheon had developed a model that began with sharing capabilities and technology roadmaps for missile systems or concepts; then discussing with the customer the program evolution and enabling technologies required; identifying technology gaps; working with customers to develop program roadmaps; and moving the technology through the different SBIR phases, from Phase Zero to Phase III. Those SBIR awards can provide RMS with a valuable link to the overall program by providing the strategic technology enablers needed, as well as a competitive advantage or "discriminator." Mr.
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From page 87... ...
This is key requirement for both existing and advanced programs, and should emphasize integration of the roadmap planning by government, prime contractors, and small busi nesses. • Focus on Program and Technology Roadmaps Gaps.
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From page 88... ...
A growing $3 billion company, ATK is able to gain access to high-level technical expertise that would normally be beyond its reach. The company had used its acquisition process to expand or increase its technical sophistication, allowing it to create partnerships with prime contractors and with government that it would not otherwise have.
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From page 89... ...
Firms the size of ATK do not have a large engineering base, so the SBIR forums hosted by the services offer a valued alternative to engage with engineering expertise. He cited the recent Navy forum as providing a place where small firms, prime contractors, and government customers could engage in dialogue, exchange and even active negotiations.
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From page 90... ...
From ATK's perspective, one reason that transitions fail is that the SBIR program often focuses on technical solutions to the neglect of systematic planning. He cited AARGM as a "systems answer to a systems problem," which was why it has done well.
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From page 91... ...
First, the program managers in the agencies sometimes served a valuable function as "match-makers" between prime contractors and small firms. At other times, the prime contractors with technology needs might be the matchmakers, finding a capable small business to take to the program managers.
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From page 92... ...
The DoD, he said, has been promoting spiral development, technology insertion, and similar steps, but he found that funding for technology insertion work was often deleted from acquisition programs when overall program funding is constrained, since both prime contractors and DoD acquisition managers are risk adverse -- and new technologies are inherently risky. He asked two sets of questions: • Should the review committee recommend that DoD acquisition programs set aside money to perform technology insertion work?
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From page 93... ...
Dick Reyes, president of a small technology company, raised the question of changing the environment that had made it possible for the large prime contractors to dominate his market space. He recalled that in 2003, the top 100 DoD firms had 89.9 percent of the total federal R&D budget, with Boeing and Lockheed Martin together accounting for more than half.
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From page 94... ...
Such a dialogue would not have occurred, or it would have occurred only at a governmental level. In addition, he said, having been a supplier to the larger prime contractors, "I can tell you they're interested in diversifying their supplier base so that one single supplier does not become the single point of failure.
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From page 95... ...
At that point they learned about the SBIR program and won their initial SBIR awards, which helped move their products more rapidly into the marketplace. Reflecting on their business model of moving innovation to the marketplace, Dr.
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From page 96... ...
This parent company is headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, where it was formed, and has divisions in Roanoke, Danville, Charlottesville, and Hampton Roads, and, most recently, northern Vir ginia. While the locations in south and central Virginia attracted little venture capital, even during the "bubble days," the SBIR programs helped the company grow and create hundreds of jobs in rural parts of Virginia where high-technology employment is scarce.
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From page 97... ...
The founding technology for this spin-off was discov ered "on the shelf," this time at Lucent, which had developed it for the telecommunications industry. Luna was interested in using it for life sci ences and won SBIR awards to develop and build prototype systems.
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From page 98... ...
Currently, cell targeting has not succeeded because attaching the cell targeting molecule to the outside of existing contrast agents allows the Gadolinium to remain inside the body long enough to be toxic. Luna has demonstrated the ability to securely attach binding molecules to the trimetaspheres.
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From page 99... ...
Once the firms found venture capital or a corporate partner, they had focused on the technology around which they had been formed. He said he had mixed feelings about using venture capital.
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From page 100... ...
There's no way we would have built the company that we've done today, and had the successes that we've had, without both the ATP and SBIRs." He said that he had tried "multiple times" to raise venture capital, but that the only two venture capital investments they received came just at the end of the late-1990s "bubble" days. Since then, he said, the dollars invested by venture capitalists had declined sharply, and venture capital companies were interested only in firms geographically located near their own offices.
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From page 101... ...
Murphy's firm is a remarkable example of the interaction of regional strength and federal support. Because it is locally rooted in areas where market funds are not likely to reach, its success owes a great deal to the SBIR program.
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