ea only have these recognized standards been adopted, but by cooperation with national standardizing bodies, such as the American Standards Association, Sandia Laboratory has made a definite contribution to the standards of this country. In addition to this, through a manufacturing engineering type of organization within the Sandia Corporation and their contacts with the AEC manufacturing system, manufacturing comments have been incorporated into designs well in advance of design releases. This early incorporation of manufacturing comments plus the standardization efforts will continue with the result that design specifications will present the best professional expression of a design that it is possible to make. This will result in more efficient pro- curement of weapons and components and will minimize delays. With the growth of the AEC manufacturing system, improved liaison has been developed between the Corporation and the non-nuclear production agencies. For example a Bendix-Sandia Joint Production Committee has been established which develops an early and continuing interchange of information on development and manufacturing situations of mutual interest, to expedite weapons production. With regard to inspection and quality control, the Laboratory has designed and usually has furnished to the non-nuclear manufacturers gauging and production test equipment necessary to control function and interchangeability. It has also developed field and inter- nal inspection agencies which provide inspection control for all of its outside purchases and assembly operations. Quality assurance, in addition to covering Sandia production, has been expanded to all major AEC weapons producers, Quality Assurance and Surveillance Weapons are checked by Sandia Laboratory both before and after they enter stockpile. In July 1950, Sandia Laboratory's quality assurance activity was confined to testing small samples of its own finished product. During the last three years a much more adequate program has been developed. Scientific sampling plans were instituted, definitions of defect classifications were made, and methods of presentation were decided upon. The quality assurance program later was extended to other major AEC weapon production units and defined well enough so that some vendors to the Laboratory are, under Sandia Labora- tory procedures, assembling data on their own product for Sandia analysis. Early in 1952, the first tool-made sample report was published, an event which signalled the beginning of a program to determine the degree of conformance of the product to design intent. The Quality Survey Program, which was designed to investigate and rate vendor capabilities, was begun in mid-1952. Stockpile operations have seen three major increases in activity since July 1950. One of these changes results from a decision to do an increasingly greater amount of repair work at the sites rather than at some manufacturing center. Costs of shipping weapons to manufacturing centers have, as a result, greatly decreased. Another area of activity which has grown since 1950 is a calibration program begun about the middle of 1952. Thirdly, the scope of operation has generally increased, in that five new sites have been built, a much greater variety of weapon types as well as a constantly increasing quantity of weapons have been produced, and an increasing number of weapons have been deployed : - ALOS ALOS to overseas sites. Employment There were 2,046 employees on the payroll as of June 1, 1950, of whom 22 per cent were professional employees, andthis ratio has remained relatively constant during the guia 77