TVA's materials management system (MAMS) project

Abstract

The system provides support for the typical activities in the materials cycle: identifying materials needed for construction and maintenance projects, procurement and receipt of those materials, management of inventories at storerooms and plant sites, and materials-related accounting functions. It also provides for uniform numbering of TVA materials, and for the collection, computer storage, and use of consistent descriptive and technical information about those materials. The functions of the system depend heavily on daily computer processing and on on-line access to computer files. Several of the computer-stored files are used by multiple subsystems and by multiple TVA organizations. Sharing the data in this way was a major objective of the design and is one of the strengths of the system.