ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - Parts handlers here finding unused items and entering those stock numbers into the Standard Depot System won't be able to account for items the same way come October when the blackout period for implementation of the Logistics Modernization Program begins.

The depot's LMP Office drove this point home Tuesday when it met with production planners during an Inventory Process Information Exchange in the Nichols Industrial Complex.

During the meeting, LMP proponents described the wall-to-wall inventory process occurring throughout 32 buildings housing production operations.

More than 12,000 bins containing parts and components have been validated in preparation for the switch between SDS and LMP, said Joann Swanger, logistics management specialist.

"This is with paper and pencil," said Swanger. "We're going bin to bin, counting parts one-by-one and recording stock numbers."

This current wave of inventory validation began in December 2009 as part of the depot's movement to cleanse data and set the framework for LMP's materials requirements planning, or MRP, operations. MRP is an LMP tool that looks at all parts in the system as "unrestricted assets," said Rod Brodeur, data team lead.

Brodeur said while ANAD has always placed importance on its inventory processes, the difference with MRP comes with the way parts are stored and how they're identified by the system in use. For instance, the current system, SDS, looks at inventory as separate programs, which means the same suspension parts used in the production of both the M1A1 tank and the Assault Breacher Vehicle are identified according to the program and the chassis being repaired or assembled.

Under LMP, inventory items are stored by national stock numbers and are not solely dedicated to a specific program, but rather to the depot's entire stock of parts and supplies.

"As we plan for LMP, we must move to a just-in-time inventory strategy where parts are not waiting to be used," said Brodeur. "This discipline will affect us in October when we go live with the new system and we're no longer able to store material that was dedicated for programs that are now closed."