SECURITY OF MATERIAL IN STORAGE

As a general procedure, material in storage must be kept under lock and key when practicable. The requirements for maintaining security of material are described in NAVSUP P-485 and NAVSUP Publicat.ion 1, Volume 2. Protecting material in storage and preventing internal pilferage are two of the functions of _{a storage operation.} Preventing loss of material can save dollars and time.

If not properly secured, material losses in such proportions could jeopardize the mission of the command. Loss of critical supplies for tactical use could result in the unnecessary loss of life and danger to national defense.

Control Measures

Specific measures for preventing pilferage may vary in different activities. The most practical and effective method used for controlling pilferage is the establishment of physical security and psychological deterrents. These can be accomplished in a number of ways as described in the following:

An aggressive security program is an effective means of convincing personnel that they have much more to lose than they do to gain by engaging in theft.

The supervisor must set the proper example and maintain a desirable moral climate for all storage personnel.

Let storage personnel know that it is their responsibility to report any loss to proper authority.

Institute adequate inventory and control for accounting material in storage.

Establish and monitor lock and key control procedures.

Perform an investigation about suspected losses quickly and efficiently.

Establish a material control system to include inspection of delivery and vendor vehicles.

Establish accurate methods of taking physical inventories and accounting of material procurement, usage, and salvage,

Security of Items Requiring Special Handling

Classified items should be kept separate from other material. The most satisfactory method is to store these items in a separate building with a higher degree of physical protection. Where a separate building is not available, a room, cage, or crib may be constructed within a storage building. Spaces containing classified material must be secured by means of an approved locking system.

Pilferable and sensitive items should be stored in a secured area to prevent theft. The storage area could be a vault, cage, or fenced and locked security space. Normally these items will not be stored with classified material. However, when instances require these items to be stored with classified material, the storage area will be classified. In this case, the control applied to these items is equivalent to the highest security classification of any item in storage.

In some cases, pilferable items may require storage in general-purpose spaces. For example, items were received in large banded containers for which secure storage space is not available. In this case, storage in a general-purpose space is permitted. However, when containers are opened to make issues, the residual quantities should be transferred to the specified secured area.

MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT

Material handling is the process of moving material to, from, and through one production area to the other. The method used for moving material may vary but the basic principles are the same. The following information lists some of the guidelines in moving material.

Keep handling of material to a minimum. Minimum handling saves money and manhours and reduces wear and tear of materials and equipment.

Use standardized methods and equipment. Standardization of equipment results in the reduction of costs of operation, in maintenance, repair, storage, and simplified issue procedures.

Select an MHE that can perform a multiple number of applications. Consider flexibility when selecting the type of equipment to be used.

Minimize the use of specialized equipment. Material handling operations requiring special equipment are costly. The operating and maintenance cost of special equipment is higher than the cost for standard equipment.

Minimize the length and number of moves of materials. Study the movement paths for possibilities of reducing "backtracking" and length of moves to facilitate better use of MHE and personnel.

The rated capacity of an MHE must not be exceeded. Overloading causes excessive wear of equipment and creates additional accident potential.

Greater payloads for each handling operation result in less handling cost per piece.

The straight line flow of travel is the shortest distance between production areas.

Preposition materials for MHE operations. This means placing the material in the area that will facilitate pickup and adhere to safety procedures. For conveyor operations, place materials in such a manner as to reduce accidents and lessen equipment damage.

When practicable, move material in a horizontal plane or with the aid of gravity. The ideal lifting point of material is at the waist level. The nearer to the waist the material can be picked up or disposed of, the greater the efficiency.

Material Handling Equipment Requirements

A balanced operation provides for the optimum number of people and MHE to complete a specified workload. Too many personnel and not enough MHE (or vice versa) can cause bottlenecks. To produce a smooth operation, you should know how to determine the MHE requirements for the job.

You should consider several factors when selecting the MHE requirements. If all supplies to be moved are palletized and squared off for stacking, you may need a forklift truck and operator. However, you might need personnel to manually handle some materials. Terrain, location arrangement, design of the building, and extent of the open storage area will also affect MHE requirements. Material characteristics will also affect selection of the required MHE. Some material may require the use of electric or battery-operated forklift trucks.

COMPUTING MHE REQUIREMENTS.- TIhe following factors should be used in computing MHE requirements.

l The volume or size of the operation to be performed (for example, the number of pallet loads to be moved to another area is 48 pallets).

l The number of units of the volume carried in each trip (for example, the number of pallets carried by the forklift truck in each trip is two pallets).

l The average time expended to accomplish a round trip (for example, one round trip takes 5 minutes to finish).

l The allotted time to finish the job (for example, the job should take 2 hours to finish).

The formula for determining the MHE requirement is as follows:

FORMULA: ~xT+AT=R

Explanation of symbols;

V- Volume or size of the operation to be performed

C- Units of volume carried per trip by MHE

T - Average expended time to complete around trip

AT - Allotted time to do the job

R - Equipment requirement

Using the data in the examples above, the computation will be as follows:

~ x 5 + 120 (rein)= 1 forklift truck

NOTE: We use the requirement for forklift trucks in the example assuming the distance of travel is less than 400 feet).