As a supervisor, you will control (1) tools, (2) test equipment, (3) consumables, (4) safety equipment, and (5) other materials specific to your work center. There- fore,  you  must  respect  your  personnel  by  having  the correct  material  available  for  them  to  perform  their preventive and corrective maintenance without delays caused by lack of material. MATERIAL   CONTROL.—   The  most  effective way to control material assets is to maintain account- ability.  Mass  issuing  of  tools  to  all  work-center  per- sonnel represents a major expense, and it usually means the tools will not be available when needed. Loaning test equipment items to every work center that wants to borrow them may mean that the equipment will not be in the correct spaces when you need it. As the  supervisor,  you  should  always  be  willing  to  help others,  but  you  must  have  a  system  to  keep  track  of material  assets. You  may  make  a  simple  equipment  checkout  log containing  item  description,  serial  number,  work  center, name of the person to whom the item is checked out, date loaned out, date returned, and space for the lender’s initials.  Logging  this  information  will  allow  you  to  track tools  borrowed  and  returned.  However,  this  accountabil- ity system works only if everyone uses it. Tools  are  government  property  and,  as  such,  are accountable items. Thousands of dollars are needlessly spent  on  tools  each  year  because  tools  are  misplaced or are carelessly left lying around to be lost or stolen. better  methods  of  arranging  the  workspace.  This,  in turn,  should  result  in  more-efficient  working  conditions. Consider each area on a case-by-case basis. Brack- ets, stowage bins, book shelves, and collapsible work- benches  may  be  installed  in  an  amazing  number  of places   that   previously   may   have   been   overlooked. Involve all your people in the planning. If  you  are  fortunate  enough  to  be  involved  in  the planning  stages  of  a  division  maintenance  area,  you should  consider  the  following  items: Is  adequate  lighting  available? Are adequate 60-Hz and 400-Hz (if applicable) power  receptacles  available? Is the layout of the work center the most effec- tive use of the space? Are special safety devices or safety precautions needed in the work center? Is the parts storage area centrally located to all workstations? These are just a few of the questions that you should ask. The only limits to how well a space can meet your needs are the space available and your ingenuity and imagination. If space is available, you should be able to develop the plans for an efficient work area. TRAINING Space Assets Sometimes it seems as if combat systems/weapons spaces are designed by people who will never have to use them for maintenance. Ashore, the facilities are nor- mally  adequate  to  provide  proper  maintenance.  Aboard ship,  however,  there  is  little  space  that  is  not  dedicated to some vital function. As a supervisor, you may feel there is little you can do  about  the  inadequacies  of  your  division  spaces. Sometimes this may be true; but, in most cases, if you analyze the situation carefully, you can usually devise Training for personnel may be either formal or in- formal, either off site or on site. As a supervisor, you will spend a good part of your time training your work force  or  arranging  for  training.  Much  of  this  training is informal, such as showing a new technician how to align or adjust a radar repeater or how to use a technical manual. A  good  training  program  is  balanced.  The  better trained your work force is, the more readily your divi- sion can perform the required maintenance with which it is tasked. 3-16