Original Date: 09/15/1997
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Alliant Technologies is a manufacturing company that stores propellant at Tooele Army Depot (TEAD). By cooperating, TEAD and Alliant Technologies now have an excellent working relationship. In the past, many problems existed with the process. For example, receipt and issue coordination was unreliable, no dedicated storage igloos existed, and propellant barrels were received in a loose pack configuration.

Alliant Technologies and TEAD started working together by scheduling specific delivery and shipment dates. Alliant comes to TEAD every Tuesday morning, before any other commercial carriers arrive, to pick up propellant. Every Wednesday morning, TEAD receives a new shipment of propellant. By scheduling, TEAD’s shipping crew is prepared with forklifts and support equipment waiting at the igloo. The propellant leaves TEAD in a First In First Out (FIFO) rotation schedule. Alliant Technologies takes care of all paperwork and record keeping, so the company knows what lot numbers are stored at TEAD and how long they have been there, keeping the FIFO rotation schedule valid.

TEAD’s shipping and storage crew cleaned out 13 storage igloos to be used exclusively for Alliant Technologies’ propellant. This required significant rewarehousing to maximize the storage space available at TEAD. Alliant now palletizes the propellant barrels by using a mesh wrapping. This simple configuration change saved TEAD 182 hours of work per year which equates to more than $14 thousand per year.

Many benefits resulted from the working relationship between Alliant Technologies and TEAD. Operations are now more efficient, inventory control has increased, costs have been reduced, and scheduling has minimized down time.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.