DOING MORE WITH LESS FOR PRIDE

Challenging the oft-held notion that the military is a place bereft of innovation and new ideas, the 22nd MINDEF Productivity & Innovation in Daily Efforts (PRIDE) Day saw more than 130 units, Work Improvement Teams (WITs) and individuals from the Ministry of Defence and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) being recognised for their contributions towards productivity and innovation.

In his keynote opening address on 2 June, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean said: "An SAF that is creative, innovative and able to think out of the box will win decisively in battle."

This year's PRIDE Day, themed Simple Ideas, Big Difference, saw the introduction of the MINDEF Innovation Award - recognising units and project teams that exemplify a strong culture of innovation and creativity. Changi Maintenance Base and three project teams - Morwits, T55 Empire and Problem Raiders from the Army, Air Force and Navy respectively - are the first recipients of this inaugural award.

"Innovation should be an instinctive part of our daily work culture so that our servicemen are always thinking about ways to make things work more efficiently and effectively, and to cut costs," Mr Teo said.

Reiterating the necessity for new ideas, I-LEARN Committee Chairman Rear-Admiral Chew Men Leong, who is also the Chief of Navy, said in his address: "With the (defence) environment constantly and rapidly changing, the ability to generate and develop new ideas and systems is an important capability that MINDEF and SAF personnel must be equipped with."

To inculcate a culture of innovation and thinking out-of-the-box, MINDEF has various programmes in place. The Innovate@Mindef fund, set up in 2004, provides seed funding for prototyping and project trials. To date, 26 experimental projects have benefited from the scheme, 15 of which were funded in 2008.

"Many countries would be envious of what MINDEF and SAF have in place to help your innovators succeed. The presence of so many service chiefs and top management is proof of the commitment to innovation," Mr Glenn Walters told cyberpioneer.

Mr Walters is an ex-US Air Force officer and management expert. He was at PRIDE Day 2009 speaking on best practices for organisational excellence driven by innovation.

The winner of the prestigious Minister for Defence Award (MDA) this year is the Air Logistics Group (ALG)-Fixed Wing 1. Introduced in 1992, the MDA is awarded annually to the top MINDEF or SAF unit that has excelled in the past year of the various components of the PRIDE Movement.

This is the second time that ALG-FW1 has clinched the MDA. "Winning the MDA has certainly demonstrated ALG-FW1's commitment to the excellence journey. It is also a testimony to the strong innovative culture in the unit," said Commander ALG-FW1 Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Ang Hang Guan.

Another one of the accolades presented this year was the Savings and Value Enhancement (SAVE) Award, which recognises efforts to stretch the defence dollar.

Mr Teo explained: "When MINDEF saves money, it is really not for MINDEF, it saves money for all Singaporeans." Through these schemes and their run-off effects, the ministry has achieved cash savings of $139.6 million in Financial Year 2008.

The MINDEF PRIDE movement was started in 1981, with the aim of fostering a culture of innovation and excellence within MINDEF and the SAF.

The 22nd MINDEF PRIDE Day exhibition at HDB Hub is open to the public from 2 to 4 Jun, between 10am to 8pm. More information is available at www.mindef.gov.sg/pride.

Project highlights

Two projects received special mention from Mr Teo as they exemplified the theme of Simple Ideas, Big Difference.

H-Frame

One of the Best Project Award winners was the H-shaped support frame used to support the helicopter blades of a Chinook during off-load and servicing.

Developed by team Tandem Raider from the ALG - Rotary Wing, it replaces the A-shaped frame that was heavy and sharp-edged. The A-shaped frame often damaged the helicopters as it scraped against the blades and the helicopter fuselage. The damages incurred can require as much as 12 man-hours to repair.

Team member Third Sergeant (3SG) Jackie s/o Manojkumar shared: "Sometimes we need to use the A-frame at the end of the work day and it really dampens your morale when you have to carry the unnecessarily heavy and cumbersome frame up the helicopter."

The new H-shaped frame is much lighter and can be transported to the top of a Chinook by two servicemen, something which took three men to do before. In addition, its sharp edges are covered with foam to eliminate the risk of scratching and denting the helicopter.

The A-frame also created storage problems as it was rather large and bulky. The design for the H-frame incorporates a detachable top half that stows away in the bottom half. Having a smaller footprint, the H-frame makes for easier storage and transportation.

Automated gun-barrel cleaning kit

The portable Automated Gun-Barrel Cleaning Kit, developed by the Morwits WIT from 6th Army Maintenance Base makes cleaning big, heavy artillery gun barrels a breeze, simply by using a winch. The project has also won one of seven Best Project Awards at MINDEF PRIDE Day.

Team member First Sergeant (1SG) Desmond Tay revealed that previously, four men had to manually pull a cumbersome five piece rod through an artillery gun barrel to clean it.

"It's a very long and tiring process that required a lot of work space because of the length of the rod," he explained. "There was also a safety issue because the rods were heavy and slippery."

Now it takes just one man, operating a winch that pulls a cleaning device through the gun barrel, to achieve the level of serviceability that artillery gun barrels require - all at the push of a button.

The kit has been so well received that all three Services have started using it. In a collaborative project, Morwits and the Navy created a multi-adapter that allows the kit to be used on the 76mm Oto Melara guns. The kit has also been adapted for use on the Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tanks in the Armour formation.