Status of Managing Chemical Inventories Utilizing Radio Frequency Identification at Department of Energy Facilities Introduction Several U.S. Department of Energy facilities have incorporated the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology into their chemical management system and practices. RFID has been demonstrated to be a time and costs saving application for the reconciliation of chemical inventories as compared to barcode or manual reconciliation methods. The cost per RFID tag is more than a barcode label but the ongoing reduction of time and effort in reconciling inventory with RFID more than offsets the initial cost of the RFID tags. EFCOG CLSM RFID Survey Summary The Energy Facilities Contractors Organization conducted a benchmark survey among participating facilities. The survey was titled Chemical Inventory Management and RFID Benchmarking Survey. Survey responses were received from 12 DOE facilities. The responding facilities/entities included the following: Advanced Technologies and Laboratories Hanford (ATL) Ames Laboratory (AL) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Kansas City Plant (KCP) Lawrence Berkley National Lab (LBNL) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Mission Support Alliance Hanford (MSA) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Sandia River National Laboratory (SRNL) Savannah River Nuclear Solutions [SRNS]/Savannah River Site (SRS)
Survey Response Summary General Site and Chemical Inventory Management System Information Summary (Refer to survey for detailed text) ANL AL ATL BNL KCP LBNL LLNL MSA ORNL PNNL SNL SRNL SRS 1.1 What is the primary purpose or mission of your facility? Manufacturing Research & Development Academic Other 1.2 Type of activities and operations that are conducted at your facility: Production Laboratory Construction Decontamination and Decommissioning Other 1.3 Approximate number of employees (including full-time contractors) on-site Number employees/contractor s 3500 400 200 3000 2850 4000 6300 11000 5000 10000 1000 5000 1.4 Do you have a chemical inventory management system? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 1.5 If yes, is it an electronic or paper system? Developed in-house or commercial off-the-shelf? Electronic (E) or E E E E E E E E E E E EP E Paper (P) In-house (I) or Commercial (C) I I I I Both I I I I I I I I 1.6 Characterize your chemical inventory using one or more of the following factors: 1.6.1 Approximate number of unique chemical products in inventory
# unique chemicals 30000 8000 1200 9400 3000 17000 14700 18000 10000 25000 8000 20000 1.6.2 Approximate number of chemical containers in inventory # of chemical containers 90000 12000 5000 45000 15000 70000 90000 24000 11500 0 78000 13500 0 18000 10000 0 1.6.3 Number of storage tanks Number of Storage Tanks? 130 0 2 100 6 20 415 59 300 260 8 100 1.6.4 Do you have a minimum size for storage tanks? If yes, please specify Minimum size for 55G storage tank? 1.6.5 Approximate number of (Material) Safety Data Sheets (M)SDSs (include archived (M)SDSs) # (M)SDSs (in thousands) 105 95 54 15 104 97 215 400 110 48500 (SRS) 48000 1.6.6 Number of chemical storage locations uniquely identified in your chemical inventory system? Number of Storage Locations 1100 1100 20 400 5430 4500 1350 1500 >1000 1.6.7 Estimated number of full-time equivalent employees responsible for chemical inventory system? FTEs for System 3 0.1 1 3 2 1 6.5 4/93 5 8 5 15 1.6.8 Do you use any method of container tracking other than, or in addition to, 1d bar codes? Other than or in addition to barcode Y N Y Y Y N N Y Y Y N N What? RFID (R) or Other (O) R R O R O O RO R R O O 1.7 If an electronic system, do you use barcode? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 1.8 If you use barcode, do you use them on: Individual containers Bulk containers (e.g. tanks) Process tanks/systems
Case lots (one per case) Static inventory (e.g. 1 barcode for predetermined quantity) Compressed Gas cylinders Other 1.9 Do you track chemical inventories to the level of: Group of buildings Building Building zone Room Sub-location within room Other 1.10 Do you use full until empty method for tracking chemical containers (A container is always assumed to be full until used up or disposed? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y YN Y N Y Y Y Y 1.11 Do you exclude any types of chemicals from your chemical management program? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y If yes, what types Bulk containers Compressed gases Inert gases Fuels and petroleum products Nonhazardous chemical products
Biological agents Biological toxins Office products Household cleaning products Other 1.12 Does you chemical inventory management process track the following non-radiologically controlled materials? Welding, soldering filler metals Lead shielding Machine stock of toxic metals Other metals such as stainless 1.13 Do you include chemicals brought onsite by any of the following in your chemical management system? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y N If yes, what types Subcontractors Construction Trades Other facility users/guests 1.14 Do you track secondary (non-manufacturer) containers? Yes (Y) No (N) Sometimes (S) N Y S Y N N S Y N S S N S 1.15 Do you track product components (i.e. mixture ingredients)? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y N Y 1.16 Do you have a method for managing proprietary information in your chemical management system? Yes (Y) or No (N) N N Y N Y N Y Y Y N Y N Y 1.17 Does your chemical management system include access to electronic (M)SDSs? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
1.18 Is your chemical management system linked to a waste management system? Yes (Y) or No (N) N N N Y N Y Y N N N Y N N 1.19 Is your chemical management system integrated with your procurement system? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y N Y Y N Y N Y Y Y N N 1.20 Do medical staff have access to the chemical management system? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N N Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y 1.21 What are the primary purposes for your chemical management system? Environmental Emergency management Worker safety Safety basis compliance Fire code compliance Other 1.22 Identify other tracking features of your chemical management system Regulatory reporting lists Carcinogens Peroxidizables Receive date/chemical age Shelf-life Drug precursors Controlled substances Other 2.0 Physical Inventory Process ANL AL ATL BNL KCP LBNL LLNL MSA ORNL PNNL SNL SRNS SRS
2.1 Does your site conduct a physical chemical inventory? (check field inventory against database) Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 2.2 Why do you perform physical chemical inventories? DOE requirement or contractual Federal, state, local right-toknow Management requirement Risk management Part of inventory accuracy assessment Quality assurance Other 2.3 Who performs physical chemical inventories at your site? Chemical management staff Decentralized: staff, operations Identify who you use Employees Students (interns) Contractors Others 2.4 How often do you perform physical chemical inventories? More than once per year Yearly Every other year Depends on facility Other 3yr 3yr 2.5 Does your facility chemical inventory look for/evaluate the following? Number of found containers Correct number of containers Number of missing chemicals
Number found without barcodes Correct owner Correct location Correct name of chemical Correct labeling Bar code present Bar code accurate Correct volume size Container condition Label condition Chemical matches SDS Other 2.6 How quickly do you update your chemical inventory when there are changes? Real time or daily update Weekly Monthly Quarterly Annually 3.0 Measuring Chemical Inventory Accuracy ANL AL ATL BNL KCP LBNL LLNL MSA ORN L PNNL SNL SRNS SRS 3.1 Do you measure the accuracy of your chemical inventory Yes (Y) or No (N) N N Y Y Y Y Y N N Y Y N Y 3.2 If yes, what is the accuracy of your chemical inventory based on? # of containers accounted for Mass or volume of chemicals Adjust for concentration diff.? Correct location of chemical Correct chemical custodian
Correct name of chemical Correct labeling Bar code present Bar code on correct item Correct volume size Other 3.3 How do you measure accuracy? Routine inventory operations Results from inventory assessment Targeted inventory assessments Administrative assessments Random field verifications Building walk-throughs Review of purchasing records Other 3.4 If yes, what is the accuracy of your chemical inventory based on? 100% of inventory Statistical sample Other 3.7 Do you reconcile your inventory? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 3.8 What are considered acceptable levels of chemical inventory accuracy at your site? % or N/A Not measured or applicable N/A N/A 100 >80 80-100 N/A 97 N/A N/A 90+ >95 3.11 What is your inventory accuracy? Percent accurate N/A N/A 90 >80 99.1 N/A 90 98 Date last measured N/A N/A 11/14 2008 9/14 N/A 2014 2014 4.0 6.0 RFID Equipment Choice, Cost, RFID Scanner, Printer/Encoder, Label Information, Interface
ANL AL ATL BNL KCP LBNL LLNL MSA ORN L PNNL SNL SRNS SRS 4.1 Did your company purchase RFID equipment? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y N N Y Y Y Y Y N N 5.0 Cost to develop and deploy RFID at your facility Total cost ($K) 477 25 175 24 22 55 123 6.1 Did you purchase RFID scanner software? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y N Y Y Y N 6.4 RFID program features Trigger start/stop feature Screen start/stop feature Antenna/scan adjustable power level Visual count reference Location identification entry Requires operator identification Able to scan barcodes Manual barcode entry capable 6.5 Does the RFID scanner have a label locator feature? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y 7.0 Did you purchase RFID encoder designer software? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y 8.1 Did you encode the labels with a facility specific frequency code? Yes (Y) or No (N) N N N Y Y Y Y Y 8.4 Do you print on the RFID label face? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 8.6 What is the cost for each label? Cents each 29 50 26 26 17-25 40 17-25 25-100 8.7 Were the labels bought off the shelf?
Yes (Y) or No (N) N Y N Y Y N Y Y N 8.13 Did the container contents interfere? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y 8.16 Have you encountered problems with RFID reading through walls? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y N Y N N N 9.1 Do you have reader host computer interface? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 9.3 Do you have a reader host computer interface software? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 9.6 Is data transferred to the host computer such as an ASCII data file? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y N N Y Y N Y 9.9 Can you operate multiple scanners in one area? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y 10.1 Did you experience problems associated with using RFID equipment and chemical inventory accuracy? Yes (Y) or No (N) Y Y Y Y N N 10.4 What is the best distance for reading the RFID label? Inches 8 12-24 0-60 12-36 1-72 12-36