Tracking hazardous waste
with bar codes
Bar Code Technology Helps Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems
Jet Ahead in Hazardous Waste Management
At the sprawling Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS)
facility at Air Force Plant 6 in Marietta, GA, they build planes.
Big, powerful, high-tech birds - like the hulking U.S. Air Force
C-i 30J Hercules cargo transport and the sleek F-22 Raptor jet
tighter.
Manufacturing these planes takes millions of pounds of hazardous
materials — like oil, paint, cleaning compounds, lubricants —
a year. The resulting hazardous waste is required to be collected
and tracked through storage. Treatment and disposal in a way that's
environmentally safe and in compliance with a stack of local,
state and federal regulations.
Bar Codes Improve Accuracy
"This facility is huge. Our B1 manufacturing plant alone covers
74 acres under one roof. And the way we handle hazardous waste
must comply with the Federal EPA and Georgia EPD (Environmental
Protection Division) regulations."
To manage the tremendous amount of hazardous waste generated
daily, the cavernous LMAS manufacturing facility is divided up
into three site areas: Flight Line, Industrial, and the B1 or
Manufacturing Building.
"Many manufacturing areas, for example, use cleaning solvents
or paint which are considered hazardous materials," Foster says.
"If a worker takes more than is used, the remainder must be placed
in one of the collection sites."
64 Sites Bar Coded
There are 64 hazardous waste accumulation sites located throughout
the facility; each site has a bar code ID. Fifty-four are satellite
sites and ten are 90-day sites. Containers at the satellite sites
may remain there until full, at which tune they are picked up
and, replaced with empty containers - usually 55-gallon drums.
The full containers are then moved to one of the facility's ten
90-day storage sites where they are prepared for.
"Because of the hazardous waste classifications, wastes at certain
sites must be removed from the plant within ninety days, according
to environmental regulations,' Foster says. "We have to make sure
we know exactly whew they are, what's inside and how much time
we have before we need to skip them out."
To ensure compliance, Foster and her hazardous waste team worked
with Barcode &. Labeling Consultants, Inc., located in Cummings,
GA. The system utilizes bar code labeling and the Mars Electronics
MEQ 530 bar code scanner from Compsee to facilitate the tracking
process. With this, LMAS inspects and tracks hazardous wastes
quickly and accurately.
The process of storage and tracking begins with a bar code label.
"Before we pick up a full drum, I will generate a label for a
new empty drum,' explains Foster.
"Once the label is affixed to the drum, it's in the tracking
system." Imprinted on the label is its location, date started,
date filled. EPA waste code, waste description and a bar coded
serial number.
'Next, the empty drum is taken to the location where the label
is scanned and the site bar code is scanned. The full container
is picked up and taken to one of the 90-day storage lots where
it is scanned and rescanned into its new location.
"Now, we know the first location and the second location where
the container awaits treatment and disposal. The system also adds
its location to our drum inventory and to the manifest for disposal.'
Bar Codes Simplify Inspections
The LMAS hazardous waste team tracks and inspects all sites weekly.
The bar coded label on each container is scanned by the inspector
and the reader prompts the user through a government-mandated
checklist.
In addition to tracking inventory, the history of the container,
it's contents, the number of inspections and other data; Foster
can also answer questions such as "Are the fences locked?" "Closed
lids and bungs on the containers?' "Any Spills?" "Dents, corrosions,
leaks or bulges in the container?" Later, the information is downloaded
from the scanner gun into the computer database. The entire process
takes about 90 minutes compared to a full day —and more employees
- doing it manually.
After the sites are inspected, the system downloads the information
from the hand held units into the system so the data can be tracked.
"Because there's a 90-day window for many sites, its important
to keep a close eye on those drums and make sure they're shipped
out within the required time."
Time, Labor, Cost Savings
The bar code tracking system allows Foster to run a lean operation.
Before they developed this tracking system a few years ago, it
took four administrators to do the job Barbara does alone.
"I have eight employees on two shifts, two PCs, three Sato printers,
a label printer, a manifest printer, a Department of Transportation
printer and an extra terminal to download our scanner guns into
the computer system. The system prints out all our reports. It's
fast, accurate – really, really a wonderful system."
"The old system was labor intensive. We had to do all of this on
paper. The 530s make it simpler and easier. And computerizing the
downloading procedure really saves time," says Foster.
LMAS contracts with outside firms for pickup and disposal of
hazardous waste, but her job doesn't stop there, notes Foster.
"We also have to know where the material goes and whether it's
recycled, buried or incinerated. When treatment and disposal is
complete, we receive written confirmation from the Treatment Storage
Disposal (TSD) firms that the end process is complete.
Award-Winning System
"In the future, I'd like to see the TSD contractors come online
with our tracking system. Several of our suppliers are working
to develop a system that's compatible with ours so we can track
it start-to-finish on our system We hope to see this implemented
in the near future."
How successful is the system? LMAS consistently passes its Environmental
Compliance Assessment and Management Program (ECAMP) inspection
of all 64 sites with flying colors. And in 1998, LMAS was awarded
a prestigious Air & Waste Management Association environmental
award for its Hazardous Waste Management Program.
"This bar code tracking system not only helps us comply with
EPA and EPD regulations quickly and accurately," adds Foster,
"it makes LMAS and Air Force Plant 6 better neighbors to the community
and the environment."
Compsee Reseller:
Bar Code & Labeling Consultants, Inc.
(770) 889-9568 - V
(770) 889-7781 - F
www.barcodelabeling.com
