(a) Assessment
The Secretary of Defense shall assess the feasibility and utility of establishing a Department of Defense-wide program to be known as the Pay-to-Print Program for the purposes of—
increasing the availability of parts in any supply chains of a weapon system of the Department of Defense;
reducing manufacturing time or costs of such parts; and
increasing the ability to rapidly scale production of such parts.
(b) Elements
In conducting the assessment required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall—
identify such parts included in a program, project, or activity in a portfolio assigned under the leadership of a portfolio acquisition executive that could be produced by Government personnel or covered Government support contractors via additive manufacturing processes;
review technical standards, qualification processes, design templates, contracting methods, and policies and determine if any changes are necessary to ensure the feasibility of establishing the Pay-to-Print Program;
review methods of data access and methods to track the use of the data for the Pay-to-Print Program, and identify any lessons learned or best practices that could be implemented for the Pay-to-Print Program;
identify funding authorities and mechanisms necessary to establish the Pay-to-Print program; and
identify any other considerations for the implementation of the Pay-to-Print Program, as determined by the Secretary.
(c) Report
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate an update on the assessment required by subsection (a).
(d) Rule of construction
Nothing in this section shall preclude the Secretary of Defense from establishing a pay-to-print program before the submission of the report required in subsection (c).
(e) Definitions
In this section:
The term pay-to-print means a business approach where the customer pays a fee to access the original equipment manufacturer’s digital design file for the purpose of printing a physical product using additive manufacturing processes.
The term portfolio acquisition executive has the meaning given in section 1732 of title 10, United States Code.
The term covered Government support contractor has the meaning given in section 3775 of title 10, United States Code.