Authentise and Kform Launch DDNA, Unveiling a New Model for Defense Innovation: Continuous Hardware Ops (CHOPS)

29 July 2025, Authentise, a pioneer in digital manufacturing workflow software, and Kform, an agile engineering and defense-grade manufacturing provider, today launched Project DDNA, the first operational implementation of a new delivery model: Continuous Hardware Ops (CHOPS).

CHOPS breaks from outdated, siloed, linear engineering methods and replaces them with a live, contextual, and fully traceable loop from concept through manufacturing—purpose-built for the pace and complexity of defense.

“Our first prime contracts in reverse engineering made it brutally obvious,” said Andre Wegner, CEO of Authentise. “Every project starts from zero because none of the prior decisions—why that material, that geometry, that process—are ever captured. DDNA changes that. It builds context into the process, so we stop relearning what we already knew.”

Built on Authentise’s Threads and Flows platforms and accelerated by Kform’s rapid design-to-build infrastructure, DDNA enables programs to compress development timelines from years to months, without losing traceability or scalability. In active deployment with Department of Defense customers, it’s already been used to deliver parts for the world’s largest wind tunnel and re-engineered field-ready wearables in under eight weeks.

“We’re not pitching a product,” said Callye Keen, CEO of Kform. “This is a new category. It connects engineering, manufacturing, and quality assurance in real time. It’s what lets small teams move fast, scaled up for the biggest problems in defense.”

Why CHOPS, Why Now?

Today’s defense programs are bogged down by fragmented workflows, missing context, and a culture of reactive quality assurance. Projects restart at every phase. Reverse engineering often means starting from scratch. And traceability dies the moment a decision leaves a meeting or email.

CHOPS ends that.

With DDNA, every conversation, assumption, and decision is captured and linked to the final part. The system integrates with MBSE, CAD, MES, PLM and ERP platforms, and generates audit-ready, AI-readable outputs by default.

CHOPS: A New Category for Modern Defense

• Live traceability from requirements to build
• Persistent engineering context: never start from zero again
• Real-time collaboration between design, quality, and production teams
• AI-ready data structures for risk, cost, and performance analysis
• Defense-grade compliance, including IL5-ready architecture

“We’ve spent decades making reverse engineering too expensive, and modern manufacturing too opaque,” said Wegner. “The cost of not having context is massive and we’re still repeating the same mistakes. CHOPS is the fix.”

Authentise and Kform are now working with early adopters to bring CHOPS to more DoD programs. Whether launching new systems, scaling production, or modernizing legacy parts, CHOPS delivers speed with traceability—and persistent readiness across the supply chain.

Source: Authentise

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