EFCOG Best Practice #62

(12/17/08)

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Title: Items or Equipment/Material Storage

Facility: Los Alamos National Laboratory, West Valley Demonstration Project

Point of Contact: Tim J. McEvoy, 505-667-8172, mcevoytj@lanl.gov; or Bob Carter, 509-377-3220, bob.carter@wch-rcc.com

Brief Description of Best Practice: Successful efforts to prevent improper storage of items or equipment include:

1. Obtain storage requirements from manufacturer/supplier

   1. Contracts/Purchase Orders require manufacturer/supplier to provide long term storage requirements as a specific submittal with a copy to be sent along with the shipment.  Without this, storage requirements would have to be ferreted out of the vendor manuals or other vendor documents and could easily be missed.  Also, vendor manuals, etc. usually address long term storage and or shelf life requirements from a generic standpoint and do not necessarily address the specifics of the job the equipment or item is being bought for.  By getting a specific vendor submittal to address only long term storage requirements, it is easy to find the storage requirements and the requirements can be tailored for the specific job circumstances.

2. Long Term Storage Database

   1. Load item/equipment information and each long term storage requirement and shelf life information into a database upon receipt.  With the long term storage requirements submittal being shipped with the equipment or item, the data is readily available for input into the database.

   2. Print equipment maintenance cards from the database that identifies the item or individual pieces of equipment along with the required long term maintenance activities.  These cards are to be issued to the crew designated to perform the long term storage and maintenance activities.

   3. Upon completion of the long term storage maintenance activities, the crew foreman/supervisor signs the storage card and returns it for updating the database.

Why the best practice was used: Improper storage of items or equipment results in item or equipment not functioning properly during commissioning causing potential schedule impacts.  Also improper storage of items or equipment may result in loss of warranty from manufacturer. Improperly functioning items or equipment and loss of manufacturer warranties can result in significant cost increases to the Contractor or DOE customer. Use of items with expired shelf life could result in product not performing its intended function as specified, resulting in costly failures and operational delays.

What are the benefits of the best practice: On time maintenance of equipment and items. Improved item and equipment readiness due to proper storage requirements, maintenance, and rotation of inventory. Manufacturers have no other recourse than standing behind their warranties if an issue is discovered.

What problems/issues were associated with the best practice: Timing and cost involved with the development of a long term storage database and recovering manufacturers storage, maintenance or shelf life information later in the project than at the beginning or as a requirement of the original procurements.

How the success of the Best Practice was measured: Less equipment failure, fewer nonconforming conditions generated due to improper or unknown maintenance requirements. Changes in the procurement practices of items having shelf lives to not overstock. Reorder is now based on specific usage that will not exceed shelf life.

Description of process experience using the Best Practice: Increased confidence in stored item and equipment’s capability to perform as expected. Raised awareness of maintenance and project personnel of items and equipment availability due to an up to date and accurate equipment database. Customer satisfaction that the high cost of critical items and equipment or long lead time items in storage functioned as required when needed.