Laboratory's wall-to-wall inventory now in validation phase

The Laboratory this week began the validation process of its wall-to-wall inventory to check the process it used to inventory controlled, personal property.

Auditors from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Nuclear Security Administration are conducting the validation phase by randomly identifying approximately 1 percent of items previously inventoried across the Lab and comparing them with the information in the inventory database, said John Tapia of Property Management (SUP-2), project leader for the inventory.

While the validation phase should be largely invisible to the work force, Tapia said workers should be aware that property in their possession may be randomly selected for physical inspection or documentation review. Tapia said that in most cases, individuals will be notified in advance when their property is to be inspected. The validation phase is expected to be completed Sept. 8.

As of mid-August, 99.6 percent by dollar value of controlled personal property has been inventoried, said Tapia, also noting that the Labwide inventory has proceeded ahead of schedule.

The inventory began Feb. 3 and some 80,000 items were part of the baseline of items for inventory. These items have an acquisition value of about $1 billion.

Tapia said once PriceWaterhouseCoopers and NNSA complete the validation phase, the Lab will report its findings to the University of California and the Department of Energy/NNSA this fall.

Lab workers should periodically review their property accountability statement and verify that it is correct or address discrepancies. Lab Director G. Peter Nanos requested employee cooperation in a memo to the work force in May. "I would like nothing more than to be able to report 100 percent accountability in this year's inventory and that we also brought back into inventory items that previously had been listed as lost or unlocated. Please help us reach that goal," he said.

Tapia said that more than 1,100 controlled, personal-property items have been located that were not part of the inventory baseline. He said these items have been entered into the property database for future inventorying.

As part of the wall-to-wall inventory, property administrators have gone to all accessible labs, office space and storage areas, closets, desks and bookcases to look for and scan bar-coded property subject to inventory.

SUP-2 created a Web page with more information about the wall-to-wall inventory. It can be found at the Wall-to Wall Inventory page online. The Web page includes a list of frequently asked questions related to the wall-to-wall inventory, as well as contact information.

The Laboratory last conducted a wall-to-wall inventory of all bar-coded property in 1998; that inventory met UC and DOE standards.

Lab workers who have questions about the wall-to-wall inventory can contact their property administrator or the SUP-2 property help line at 5-3230 or write to lanlproperty@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Or see the Aug. 18 all-employee memo from Richard Marquez, associate director for administration (ADA). (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)

-- Steve Sandoval

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