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 DLA TROOP SUPPORT SUBSISTENCE INSPECTION MANUAL4155.6 *

 SUBSECTION 202.1

 DLA TROOP SUPPORT-FTRE *

 AUGUST 2011 *

FORMATION OF LOTS

I. PURPOSE AND SCOPE. This subsection provides procedures for lot formation

and identification and is applicable to Government Quality Assurance Representatives 

(QARs) and other Government personnel performing origin inspection on DLA Troop * 

Support contracts. *

II. PROCEDURES. 

A. General Information.

1. The term lot shall mean “inspection lot” or “inspection batch,” i.e., a

collection of units of product from which a sample is to be drawn and inspected to 

determine conformance with the acceptability criteria. It may differ from a collection of 

units designated as a lot or batch for other purposes (e.g., production lot or shipping lot).

 2. Lot formation and presentation, sampling plan selection, and attendant 

considerations shall be discussed and resolved prior to the production of the contract 

item. All relevant factors, such as: time limitations imposed by specification, 

contractor’s production capacity, contract quantity, and shipping schedules, shall be 

considered in establishing a lot range that permits selection of the largest lot size 

possible. For contracts on Government acceptance inspection, the manner in which each 

lot is presented and identified shall be designated by the Government inspection 

personnel in cooperation with the contractor. For contracts on contractor inspection, the 

Government reserves the right to approve any part of the contractor’s program, or the 

program in its entirety, for lot identification and presentation. The verification inspector 

shall identify and number lots in agreement with the system and method used by the 

contractor.

B. Lot Formation. The product shall be assembled into identifiable lots consisting

of units of product of a single type, grade, class, size, and composition, manufactured 

under essentially the same conditions and agreement pertaining to physical arrangement 

of lots.

 1. When stationary and/or moving lots are present, sampling for testing and 

examination shall be made on a stationary lot basis when practical. Samples for testing 

shall come from samples for examination. Sublotting may be employed when in the best 

interests of the Government.

 2. Product shall be accessible from all portions of the lot for sampling.

 3. The integrity of the lot shall be maintained. No units may be added or removed 

from the lot or sublot after it is offered for Government sampling. Rejected material shall 

be identified and kept separated.

 4. Production scheduled for both export and domestic shipment which is identical 

in all requirements except for the shipping containers and the packaging, packing, 

marking, and strapping thereof, may be identified and inspected as one lot for all 

examinations except for those for packaging, packing, labeling, unitization and marking 

(PPLU&M). Inspection records shall indicate that separate inspections were performed 

for the domestic and the export PPLU&M requirements.

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This Subsection 202.1 supersedes Subsection 202.1, dated APRIL 2010 * 

* Denotes change
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C. Lot Identification.

1. Initial Lots. To simplify lot identification of initial lots, the following 

guidelines are provided:

 a. Julian dates shall be used when possible.

b. Lot identification consists of item nomenclature and a consecutive coding

system, e.g., “MRE Assembly, Lot 1,” “MRE Assembly, Lot 2”. If a Julian date is used 

as a basis for lot numbering, “MRE Assembly Lot 5048,” “MRE Assembly, Lot 5049” 

(the numbers represent the Julian dates of calendar days 17 Feb 1985 and 18 Feb 1985). 

If more than one lot of an item is produced in one day, the lot numbers shall be followed 

by “-1,” “-2,” etc. to identify the first and consecutive lots produced that day. Judgement 

must be exercised to employ the most effective system for each individual set of 

circumstances.

 c. Code designation applied to production lots by contractor may be used as 

inspection lot numbers when only one code is presented for inspection. When more than 

one code is presented as an inspection lot, the lot shall be numbered in accordance with 

paragraph II.C.1.b, and inspection records shall indicate contractor codes represented in 

the inspection lot.

d. Each raw material or packaging and packing component requiring testing,

examination, or both, shall be formed into separate lots sequentially numbered for each 

material, eg., Shortening, Lots 1 and 2, Waxed Paper, Lot 1.

e. When inspecting sub-assemblies that will comprise a finished production

lot, each sub-assembly inspection lot shall have its own unique lot number assigned to it. 

For example, accessory packets for a ration assembly operation shall have their own lot 

numbers unrelated to those lot numbers applied to the complete finished ration.

 2. Two methods the contractor may use in numbering resubmitted lots are 

“separate” (the good items are screened out and submitted as a lot and the nonconforming 

items submitted in a separate lot after rework) or “intact” (the complete lot is resubmitted 

after rework as one intact lot). The QAR shall designate resubmitted lots as follows:

 a. When a nonconforming lot is resubmitted under the “separate” procedure, 

inspection records shall show the original lot number followed by the letter “S” and the 

reworked portion by the letter “R” on the inspection records. For example, Lot No. 16 in 

nonconforming and is resubmitted, the satisfactory portion shall be numbered S16 A,” 

and the reworked portions shall be numbered “R16 A.”

 b. When a nonconforming lot is resubmitted under the “intact” procedure, 

inspection records shall show the original lot number followed by a capital letter; for 

example, Lot No. 16 is nonconforming and resubmitted, the resubmitted lot shall be 

numbered “16A.”