Photo By Alfred Tripolone | Tim Fram sits in front of the custom-built ChIMP 2.0 interface, the hazardous material...... read more read more
The local fire department and the garrison safety inspector respond to a building fire alarm, they navigate to the local building and room number on their phone and, within seconds, accesses the exact hazard details of a nearby chemical container. No binders, no lag time, no guesswork—just precise clarity and control in a potential emergency situation.
That kind of speed and situational awareness is made possible by ChIMP 2.0, the Chemical Inventory Management Process developed entirely in-house at the Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC). A product of innovation, trust, and necessity, ChIMP 2.0 will help the installation move beyond spreadsheets and binders, and into an era of smart, real-time chemical oversight.
NSSC doesn’t operate like a typical Army installation. With more than 100 labs and more than 10,000 containers of hazardous materials—representing 1,500+ unique chemicals—its day-to-day resembles a research university more than a motor pool or training ground. Researchers frequently order their own supplies, use niche or custom-made materials, and need to coordinate across disparate labs and programs. There’s no centralized pharmacy or warehousing system.
In late 2023, Tim Fram was hired as the Hazardous Materials Program Manager and Environmental Protection Specialist. With a background in chemistry and information technology, Fram was recruited not just to manage chemical compliance, but to modernize it.
“The old system was Excel sheets on a SharePoint,” Fram explained. “It worked, but it was clunky and slow. I wanted something better—something that didn’t just store data but made it usable.”
Soon after arriving, Fram proposed building a database using Microsoft PowerApps. He started from scratch and began weaving together over 5,000 individual data points, linking Safety Data Sheets (SDS), product codes, hazard tags, and regulatory documents in a dynamic, interactive platform.
“I’m most proud of how much data it’s able to juggle and stitch together without breaking,” Fram said. “Seven different spreadsheets, thousands of entries—and it just works.”
Before ChIMP 2.0, chemical inventory management meant flipping through binders, running back to office computers, and sending emails for basic safety information. Now, everything’s accessible from your laptop and even your smartphone.
Need to know what PPE is required to handle a certain chemical? Pull up the record. Need the SDS or spill plan? Click the entry. Need to know if another lab has a material in stock before placing a duplicate order? The system can show you that too.
“It’s a game changer,” said Rich Valcourt, the Environmental Division Chief of the U.S. Army Garrison Natick’s Department of Public Works. “From first responders to lab researchers, everyone can get the information they need—fast.”
Speed matters, especially in emergencies. If there’s a chemical spill, responders no longer have to guess or wait on callbacks—they can identify hazards immediately, potentially saving
lives. The system also supports compliance by making it easy to access required documents, complete audits, and minimize waste through material sharing across labs.
“It used to take days to do a full inventory,” said Valcourt. “Now you can do it on a tablet in minutes.”
Valcourt played a key mentoring role when Fram arrived at NSSC but quickly realized that Fram’s tech-forward approach was the future.
“He talked about PowerApps in the first week, and it blew my mind,” Valcourt recalled. “I’m old school—pen and paper, binders—but I gave him the green light. And I’ve never looked back.”
That intergenerational partnership became the cornerstone of ChIMP 2.0’s success.
“It’s a bridge crossed,” Valcourt said. “This is what it looks like when the old meets the new—and the new makes it better.”
Buy-in came quickly. Researchers appreciated the app’s intuitive layout. Safety officers welcomed the faster access to hazard data. Administrators saw improved audit performance. What began as a homegrown workaround became a model for how to solve real problems with in-house talent and modern tools.
Fram is already eyeing his next challenge: a modernization project for energy tracking across the installation. But for now, he’s proud of the work ChIMP 2.0 has done—and of the culture shift it represents.
“It’s been a fun path,” he said. “I was given the freedom to take a crack at this, and it worked. It’s nice to know we built something that people actually use—and that it makes their jobs easier.”
ChIMP 2.0 isn’t just an app. It’s a success story about mission-first thinking, user-centered design, and the value of empowering the right people to solve the right problems.
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2025 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 499502 |
| Location: | NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Bridge Crossed: ChIMP 2.0 Brings Efficiency to NSSC, by Alfred Tripolone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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