NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 4100.1D Effective Date: July 29, 1999 Expiration Date: July 29, 2013

Subject: NASA Materials Inventory Management Manual (Revalidated 2/9/06)

Responsible Office: Logistics Management Division

Appendix A. Definition of Terms

NOTE: For definitions related to equipment, see NPR 4200.1, NASA Equipment Management Manual; for definitions related to disposal, see NPR 4300.1, NASA Personal Property Disposal Manual.

Activity Address Code. A six-position code, composed of numbers, letters, or a combination of both, assigned for use on requisition documents submitted to Government supply sources, to identify the requisitioner, the consignee, and the payee.

Backorder. A commitment by supply made to a customer and recorded in supply records to issue at a later date an item which was not available upon initial customer demand.

Bench Stock. A stock of low-cost, repetitively used, consumption type supplies, and repair parts, established at or near points of consumption/use to ensure continuous and uninterrupted operations. Bench stocks are generally restricted to maintenance, repair, fabrication type activities.

Consumption Item. Items which are either consumed in use or which lose their original identity during use by incorporation into, or attachment upon, another item. Consumption items consist of such supplies as maintenance parts, raw materials, office or housekeeping supplies consumed in use, or other similar items.

Demand. A request for issue of an item. A demand may be recurring or nonrecurring.

Direct Delivery. The process of acquiring an item from a source of supply and issuing and charging it directly to a user.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ). The amount of an item to buy which fulfills the Economic Order Quantity Principle. The EOQ is expressed in months of supply and is derived from an EOQ table.

Economic Order Quantity Principle. A method for determining replenishment order quantities to minimize the cost to buy an item and the cost to hold that item.

Equipment. An item of real or personal property in the configuration of a mechanical, electrical, or electronic apparatus or tool, normally costing in excess of $50, which may perform a function independently or in conjunction with other equipment or components.

Error. A record to count discrepancies of 10 percent or more, or a dollar variance of 10 percent or more, of the extended value of an inventoried line item.

Excess. Classification assigned to material for which no requirement exists.

Federal Supply Classification (FSC). A system developed in the Federal Cataloging System for use in classifying items of supply. The structure of the FSC consists of groups subdivided into classes within each group. Each class covers a relatively homogeneous area of commodities with respect to physical or performance characteristics, or the items included are usually requisitioned or issued simultaneously.

High Demand Item. An item for which the EOQ is less than a 12-month supply. Applies only in a manual system.

Inventory. Means all material being held by a Center as Stores Stock, Program Stock, or Standby Stock, except for that material actually in process of use or consumption.

Inventory Adjustment. Means a transaction processed to adjust materials inventory record and any imbalances between such records and quantities in stock.

Issue. The process of distributing material from inventory to customer for use or consumption.

Lead Time Demands. The number of times an item is requested during the replenishment lead time.

Long Supply. Items in stock with a level exceeding the authorized stock level, including lead time and safety stock, but excluding quantities declared excess.

Low-Demand Item. An item for which the EOQ is a 12-month-or-more supply. This applies only in a manual system.

Material. As used in this NPR, it means supplies, parts, components, assemblies, and items that do not meet the criteria for controlled equipment that are held in inventory prior to issue.

Periodic Inventory Control. The record for each item does not provide the item's quantitative, on- hand balance except at the time of physical inventory. This applies only in a manual system.

Perpetual Inventory Control. The record for each item reflects every quantitative change for the item providing at any selected time in the system cycle the on-hand balance of that item.

Personal Property. Property of any kind including equipment, materials, and supplies, but excluding real property. Property of any kind or any interest therein, except real property acquired by NASA, including property in transit in Government conveyances or common carriers; storage for stock or disposal; undergoing maintenance, repair, modification or service test; acquired by donations or any other method.

Physical Inventory. The process of physically sighting and counting quantities of materials held in inventory by a Center, reconciling the count with the recorded balance, and processing the necessary documents to adjust the inventory records and the financial accounts.

Pre-expended Material. Pre-expended items are items expended from perpetual inventory control and made available to the user under simplified issue procedures at no direct cost.

Program Stock. Material acquired by direct purchase or by issue from Stores Stock for a specific program or project.

Replenishment Lead Time. The period between initiation of a reorder and its receipt in stock.

Repair Part. A part needed to return a higher assembly or component to a serviceable or operational condition.

Returnable Container. A returnable container is any carboy, cylinder, drum, reel, or other container which is designed to hold materials or products and which is to be returned to a vendor when the contents have been removed or consumed.

Returns. Turn in of unneeded materials from operating personnel for inclusion in the Center`s materials inventory.

Review Point. The point, in units of issue, at which the usage history of an item is analyzed to determine if it should be reordered, or reorder deferred. The review point is usually the sum of lead time stock plus safety stock.

Safety Stock. A quantity included in the normal stockage objective to provide added assurance against stock out conditions.

Sensitive Item. An item which, due to its pilferable nature or the possibility of its being a hazard, requires a stringent degree of control. A sensitive item can be capital or non-capital equipment or materials.

Special Item. An item having such unique qualities, properties, or features as to require special physical and managerial controls.

Standby Stock. Material held to support emergencies.

Stores Stock. Material being held in inventory by the Center which is repetitively procured, stored, and issued on the basis of recurring demand.

Supply Point. Any facility or area, regardless of location, that normally functions as a point at which material is held and subsequently issued or otherwise made available for use or consumption, including warehouses, stockrooms, self service facilities, shop stores, cribs, bench stocks, and sales stores.

Survey Report. A report of administrative action taken to investigate and review the loss, damage, or destruction of Government property, to adjust the property records, to assemble pertinent facts, and to determine the extent or absence of personal responsibility for such loss, damage, or destruction.

Variance. A variance is an error between the count and the record which does not qualify in determining whether an item counted is rejected for sample inventory or for determining overall physical inventory performance accuracy for a complete lot inventory.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS