Defense Program-Compliant Digital Operations, Built for the Modern Defense Industrial Ecosystem

The National Defense Industrial Strategy demands a generational shift toward a resilient, dynamic, and modernized defense industrial base. Tsunami delivers the full-stack digital infrastructure required to securely produce and sustain complex programs at speed, scale and cost, executable under prime and government oversight.

30-minute call with someone who's navigated DCMA oversight and AS9100 audits.

  • 22 years

    In defense programs, since 2003

  • ITAR/EAR

    Compliant, DDTC registered

  • AS9100D

    Certified, NIST SP 800-171 aligned

  • Zero

    Evidence gaps at audit

Full Stack Delivery for Defense

We bridge the gap between legacy systems and the future of defense manufacturing with secure integrations, governed data migration and validation, custom applications, analytics and decision support, technical content and configuration discipline, plus enterprise platforms when they are in scope.

  1. {{ s.n }} {{ s.title }} {{ s.desc }} →

Fragmented Systems, Stagnant Operations

You're managing billion-dollar programs with fragmented systems and evidence scattered across tools. The risk is not just schedule and cost. It is configuration drift, incomplete traceability, and inability to produce objective evidence under DCMA/DCAA and prime oversight.

Between 55% and 75% of ERP implementations fail to meet their original objectives, with discrete manufacturing experiencing failure rates as high as 73%. For defense contractors specifically, failure costs run 2-3 times more due to compliance overhead, extended program cycles, and strict contract terms.

The primary culprit? Poor data migration, which accounts for 38% of all failures.

  • 73%

    Failure Rate in Manufacturing

  • 38%

    Data Migration, #1 Cause

  • 57%

    Cite Acquisition Process Inflexibility

  • 62%

    Operate Without Governance Controls

Where You Are Today

Where Industry Leaders Operate

{{ r.today }}

{{ r.leader }}

What This Costs You

80% of supply chain issues originate with sub-tier suppliers, but you can't see them until they cause critical delays.

  1. 1

    When Engineering releases a design change and Manufacturing doesn't get the update until weeks later,

    that's rework. Scrap. A program delay that triggers penalty clauses in your government contract.

  2. 2

    When your supply chain visibility ends at tier-1 suppliers,

    you don't know that a tier-3 supplier has material shortages until it's too late.

  3. 3

    When auditors ask for proof of NIST SP 800-171 aligned controls and you're assembling evidence from spreadsheets and email chains,

    that's millions at risk.

  4. See how contractors have closed this gap →

The Integrated Defense Enterprise

Leading defense contractors are moving toward fully integrated digital ecosystems that connect design, manufacturing, and sustainment operations.

  • The Digital Thread

    A seamless flow of data from initial requirements through design, manufacturing, testing, and into sustainment. When Engineering makes a change, Manufacturing sees it immediately. When a part fails in the field, Engineering gets the data to improve the design. No gaps. No delays. No rework.

  • Digital Twin for Complex Assemblies

    Physics-informed models using sensor and operational data to predict failures, optimize spares, and increase operational availability. Shipyards adopting PLM across the enterprise naturally capture digital thread and digital twin rich data as a by-product of design, manufacturing, and testing processes.

  • Integrated ERP with Native EAM and FSM

    Modern defense ERP systems like IFS Cloud provide deep support for complex manufacturing modes including make-to-order, configure-to-order, and engineer-to-order operations. These platforms integrate manufacturing operations with native Enterprise Asset Management and Field Service Management capabilities, providing full lifecycle visibility from production through sustainment.

  • Automated Compliance Built In

    ITAR tags on each part in the bill of materials, allowing isolation and monitoring of ITAR-sensitive items through every phase of production and export. CUI protection controls aligned to NIST SP 800-171 (access, incident response, audit logs, encryption) built into the system, not bolted on afterward. AS9100 traceability for lot/serial numbers from raw material to finished product, with one-click audit reports.

Real-World Outcomes

Organizations implementing modern systems report:

See Defense Transformation Stories
  • 34%

    increase in assembly speed and zero non-conformance for complex aerospace parts using AR-guided assembly

  • 30-50%

    reductions in machine downtime with digital transformation initiatives

  • 10-30%

    increases in throughput through integrated manufacturing execution

  • 15-30%

    improvements in labor productivity via connected operations

  • 30%

    faster contract award timeline for aerospace suppliers integrating ITAR processes into ERP

Why Generic Consultants Fail in Defense

The failure rate for defense ERP transformations is exceptionally high. This is rarely a software problem. It's a complexity and expertise problem.

Over-Customization and Technical Complexity

One of the most significant challenges is over-customization. The DoD and defense contractors have frequently customized software to meet specific operational needs, but highly tailored systems become difficult to update, integrate, and scale.

Defense products involve intricate multi-tiered structures with thousands of components, each with precise specifications requiring detailed, multi-layered BOMs. Generic consultants view this as "just more rows in the database." They don't understand that each component has:

  • Revision control (which version is approved for which contract?)
  • Source control (which suppliers are ITAR-approved?)
  • Configuration control (what's actually installed in serial number 12345?)
  • Traceability requirements (lot/serial tracking from raw material to finished product)

When consultants don't understand these nuances, they configure the system incorrectly. The system rejects valid parts. Approved suppliers get flagged as non-compliant. Configuration baselines don't match reality. And you discover these problems at go-live, when it's too late.

Integration Challenges Across Fragmented Systems

The DoD operates numerous ERP systems, each tailored to specific branches, without achieving true interoperability. This fragmented approach results in siloed data, duplicate processes, and billions of dollars in inefficiencies.

For contractors operating multiple sites globally, ITAR restrictions require that data elements and relationships be carefully defined. Software used for PLM, PDM, CM, and DM functions varies across sites, requiring accommodation of heterogeneous architectures.

Generic consultants assume "APIs will handle it" without understanding that ITAR-controlled data cannot simply flow across borders via API.

They don't know how to architect systems that maintain compliance while enabling operational efficiency.

Security and Compliance Requirements

Defense programs add security requirements that must be implemented and evidenced, not just stated. For most contractors, that means protecting CUI in nonfederal systems using NIST SP 800-171 aligned controls and being able to produce proof: least-privilege access, audit logging, encryption, incident response readiness, and disciplined configuration management.

Generic consultants don't have NIST SP 800-171 expertise. They don't know how to configure systems to meet DoD security requirements. They don't understand the difference between CUI and ITAR data.

We design for evidence generation that holds up to customer and independent review.

The Cultural and Organizational Barrier

Digital transformation represents an enterprise-level cultural change requiring top-down and bottom-up adoption. Program offices are often unable or unwilling to integrate new practices into legacy system improvements. 57% identify acquisition process inflexibility as the most significant challenge to participation in defense work.

Generic consultants don't understand DoD acquisition processes. They don't know how to navigate program offices, DCMA oversight, or contract modification procedures.

Talk to a Defense Expert who's navigated these challenges →

The Burning Platform

Defense programs increasingly require demonstrable protection of CUI and disciplined governance across the delivery environment. The expectations show up in three places:

  • At bid and award

    Customer and primes request evidence like MFA enforcement, least-privilege access, audit logging, encryption, incident response procedures, and documented controls.

  • During execution

    Security requirements are validated through oversight, contract clauses, audits, and periodic assessments.

  • At renewal and expansion

    Weak evidence and unmanaged risk create friction for new work, new sites, and cross-border delivery.

The Compliance Reality

If you cannot demonstrate security controls when required by contract, you risk bid ineligibility, award delays, corrective action demands, and withheld work.

  • 37%

    of the Defense Industrial Base will need to demonstrate NIST SP 800-171 aligned protection of CUI

  • 62%

    operate without comprehensive governance controls

  • 50%

    would not be compliant if truly enforced

Supply Chain Fragility

Despite post-pandemic recovery, supply chains remain fragile. The F-35 has experienced deliveries delayed on average by over seven months due to supply chain challenges. 80% of supply chain issues originate with sub-tier suppliers.

Workforce Pressure

Over 29% of the aerospace and defense workforce is over age 55. Defense firms cite the skilled workforce shortage as their "greatest risk." More than 800,000 open jobs in manufacturing today, with projections showing 4 million needed over the next decade.

When experienced workers retire and take decades of institutional knowledge with them, you need systems that enforce the rules. Not systems that rely on someone knowing the workaround.

Request a Defense Readiness Assessment →

We operationalize NIST SP 800-171 aligned controls where CUI actually lives: enterprise platforms, integrations, data pipelines, and custom applications. That includes least-privilege access, audit logging, encryption, incident response readiness, and deliverable evidence packages that stand up to prime and customer review.

Defense Experts Who Deliver the Full Stack

We implement enterprise platforms when needed, but we are not platform-limited. We build and run systems, integrations, data, and evidence discipline that make defense operations executable and auditable.

What Makes Tsunami Different

Our teams blend deep operational expertise from complex, regulated environments with senior software specialists, all U.S. Persons where required and trained in export control and sensitive data handling.

  • Teams built for complex, regulated environments. Not generic consultants.

    Our defense practice blends deep operational expertise from aviation, shipbuilding, and complex manufacturing with senior IFS and software specialists who understand defense program requirements. We've managed DoD contracts. We've navigated DCMA oversight. We've delivered on AS9100 audits. We know how programs work.

  • No 3-month onboarding waste.

    When you hire a generic consultant, you spend the first 3 months teaching them your business. We know what OTB, OTS, POA&Ms, and configuration baselines mean. We speak your language on day one.

  • CUI protection, NIST SP 800-171 alignment, and evidence discipline.

    We operationalize NIST SP 800-171 aligned controls where CUI actually lives: enterprise platforms, integrations, data pipelines, and custom applications. That includes least-privilege access, audit logging, encryption, incident response readiness, and deliverable evidence packages that stand up to prime and customer review.

  • ITAR and export control experience.

    We know how to tag ITAR-sensitive items in the BOM, isolate and monitor them through production, and ensure data doesn't flow across borders inappropriately. We've done this for aerospace suppliers, achieving 30% faster contract award timelines.

  • AS9100 traceability built in.

    We configure systems to track lot/serial numbers from raw material to finished product, maintain configuration baselines at critical lifecycle points, and generate one-click audit reports for DCMA reviews.

  • Audit-ready quality discipline (ORCA).

    We execute defense work under ORCA (Operational Reliability & Continual Advancement), our Quality Management Program. Defined verification and acceptance gates, early variance detection, documented evidence, and corrective action discipline that holds up under customer and prime oversight. It reduces rework, stabilizes schedules, and improves audit readiness across implementation, data migration, integrations, and support.

  • WAVES methodology: data migration without the nightmare.

    Our proprietary WAVES methodology (Wash, Analyze, Verify, Enhance, Store) eliminates the load-error-fix-load cycle. Second fleet migrations complete 30% faster with fewer resources compared to initial migrations.

  • ITAR/EAR
  • DDTC
  • JCP DD2345
  • ISO 9001 + AS9100D
  • NIST SP 800-171
  • ORCA QMS

What We Deliver in Defense

  • {{ d.body }}
Talk to a Defense Expert about your program →

Defense-Specific Capabilities

    • {{ b }}
      •

Real Defense Transformations

We have supported aerospace and defense programs since 2003, delivering outcomes where objective evidence, traceability, and mission readiness are non-negotiable.

View all defense and shipbuilding stories →

Talk to a Defense Expert

30-minute call with someone who's navigated DCMA oversight, not a salesperson.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • {{ f.a }}