DFARS specialty metals

The requirement is implemented in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, most commonly through clause 252.225-7009. Specialty metals include certain steels, nickel-based and cobalt-based alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, and zirconium and zirconium alloys. The rule follows the metal down the supply chain, so a small shop machining components for a defense prime can be bound by it through flow-down terms in the PO.

In practice, shops comply by buying DFARS-compliant material from suppliers who certify the melt source, and by keeping the mill test report that shows it. There are exceptions and thresholds, so the PO terms and your customer's guidance are the authority on what applies to a given order.

Traveler ties each heat lot and its mill cert to the job that consumed it, so when a customer asks where the titanium on a shipment was melted, the answer is two clicks from the job, not a search through the cert binder.