CELEBRATING INNOVATION WITH PRIDE

With the team name "Powerpack", the team's ideas sure packed a powerful punch as they saved the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) more than $24million by suggesting a customized circuit breaker replacement.

"We realised that the circuit breakers installed in the Main Switchboards (MSB) across different types of ships, such as the Landing Ship Tank and Missile Corvette, were obsolete and had different brands and compatibility. With the manufacturer no longer making the spares and the RSN's warehouse supplies depleting, we had to find a solution," said team leader Military Expert (ME) 4 Koh Ah Beng.

"After much deliberation, we decided to carry out a customised circuit breaker replacement as it was more cost-effective (than replacing the entire MSB). However, the technical complexity of this method is much higher and integration issues may also crop up due to incompatibility between the older parts and the newer circuit breakers."

The Electrical & Control System Expert from the Naval Logistics Department (NLD) - Engineering Group then led his team on an 18-month in-depth study of the different ship types. During that time, they tested the compatibility of the customised circuit breakers on each ship to ensure proper integration.

The innovative spirit of ME4 Koh and his team saw them clinch the Savings and Value Enhancement (SAVE) Award at the 35th edition of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) PRoductivity and Innovation in Daily Efforts (PRIDE) Day. The awards ceremony, with the theme Smart Defence: Innovation, Science and Technology, was held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 4 Nov. This year, a total of 184 awards were given out. Through their innovations and creative ideas, they recorded savings exceeding $164 million in the last financial year.

The SAVE award serves to recognise teams who helped optimise the military forces' capabilities through cost-saving methods. Other key awards include the Minister for Defence Award (MDA) which serves to recognise MINDEF or Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) units for their contributions in all areas of PRIDE, the Outstanding Suggestor Award and the Best Project award.

In his speech, 2nd Minister for Defence Ong Ye Kung said: "The most valuable achievement of 35 years of PRIDE is this intangible and unmeasurable aspect of building a culture of openness to new ideas in the MINDEF and SAF.

"This is important as today, the imperative to innovate is strong due to falling cohort sizes and conscription numbers. We will need to think ahead on how best to utilise our manpower and complement it with technology so as to stay ahead of new threats such as hybrid warfare ad terrorism."

Leaders in PRIDE
Also speaking at the event was Mr Lim Siong Guan, the pioneer of the PRIDE Movement, who expanded on Mr Ong's point: "We may have the innovation. We may have all the resources put in to create more efficient systems. However, at the end of the day, it is the spirit of the people that matters.

"It is the spirit of our people, the spirit of enterprise, and the spirit of reaching out which will determine how far we will progress.

ME7 Hoo Soo Pin, the commander of 6 Air Engineering and Logistics Group (AELG), agreed with Mr Lim's point on the need for a spirit of innovation and said: "Winning the MDA was due recognition not just for the incumbents, but also for the previous generations of leaders, supervisors and men and women of 6 AELG who believe in making a difference through innovation."

Perhaps, the win was a result of their "Head, Hand, Heart" philosophy that all soldiers in the unit hold close to their hearts.

"'Head' refers to the imparting of knowledge via training and sharing to promote the innovation culture. Soldiers from 6 AELG will gather every three months to share their success stories, learn from others' mistakes and keep abreast of the latest innovations in the unit."

"However, knowledge does not guarantee innovation. In 6 AELG, we also empower the 'hand' with the necessary resources to innovate. We set aside time for people to engage in brainstorming to come up with innovative ideas, and the soldiers are also encouraged to tap on external resources such as the Innovate@MINDEF Fund.

"Finally, to win the 'heart' of our soldiers, we organise regular team-building activities during cohesion to instil the innovation mindset in them."

Innovation at its best
Also embracing the innovative mindset was Best Suggestor Award winner, Mr As'ad Bin Abu. His innovative spirit comes from within as he wishes to see the SAF continue to grow stronger. "The nature of my work also provides me a better opportunity to see how we can enhance the current facilities better to benefit the soldiers."

Mr As'ad has come up with 14 ideas in a year. One of his accepted ideas was to reinforce the oscillating fan cover with cable ties so as to prevent the cover from falling onto the soldiers' heads.

The Facility IC of Headquarter Basic Military Training Camp added: "Our unit also has the 'Innobank' where personnel can leave feedback and ideas to improve our facilities. Then, we will work together with our PRIDE coordinator to come up with viable solutions."

For Major (MAJ) (Dr) James Kwek and his team who won the Best Project award, they are just glad that their hard work has paid off. "The award is the culmination of efforts by not just the Naval Medical Services team, but also our partners from Defence Science and Technology Agency and NLD."

He elaborated: "The idea for the project was conceptualised years ago when we found that the existing medical containers in the SAF were not suited for the shipboard environment. This was because we required a container that could be integrated with the ship's electrical, water and sewage system and be deployed with minimal resources."

This led to the creation of the Rapidly Deployable Maritime Container (RDMC), which is a fully-mechanised and extendable medical container. It is able to accommodate up to two Operating Theatre beds or four Intensive Care Unit beds, while its compact design allows it to be easily transported by cranes.

However, the team does not plan to just stop there. "Currently, a heavy-duty crane is required to load the RDMC onto the ship, thus we are looking at more convenient ways to transport the container. Moreover, we are looking to install a system to allow wireless communications and the uploading of patient information to a mainframe for monitoring."

Commenting on his team's innovative spirit, MAJ Kwek said: "Today, hybrid warfare is increasingly being adopted as the modus operandi for military operations, therefore we should continue to crowd-source ideas to come up with innovative solutions to make sure that SAF stays ahead of the curve."

Also at the event were Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Perry Lim and senior SAF and MINDEF officials.

Mr Ong also officiated the opening of the SGDefence Exhibition which will run from 4 Nov to 8 Nov at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre Hall A.