Great ideas result in cold, hard cash Published March 6, 2009 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Two groups of workers at Robins will do some economic stimulating of their own thanks to some big ideas they had. Machinists Terry Walker, Brad Sirmons and David Wright from the 573rd Commodities Maintenance Squadron are sharing a $10,000 award for an idea expected to save nearly $1 million annually. On Feb. 27, Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, presented the group with an oversized check. They will split the monetary award, each receiving $3,333. After that ceremony she went to the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group, where she made a similar presentation to six people who collaborated on an idea estimated to save $388,000 annually. The awards stem from the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness program, or IDEA. The program rewards military and civilian employees for money-saving ideas, with the award ranging from $200 to $10,000. The award is based on the amount of cost savings. The workers in the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group, hailing from different units in the group, collaborated to reduce a $13,000 repair to about $100. Members of the group are Samantha Hutchinson, Donnie Mimbs, Glenn Collins, Mark Berndt, John Fullington and Michael Nolen. They have already each gotten $1,666 as their part of the award. The fix involved the face plate on a Global Positioning Satellite unit used on a variety of aircraft. The face plates on the units were malfunctioning, with the primary problem being the light panel that lights up the control buttons on the unit. They were replacing the entire face plate, which costs $13,000, said Mr. Fullington. But members of the group did some searching and found a place where they could purchase the light panel and replace it rather than replacing the entire face plate. "I want to thank you all so much for having the initiative," General Peyer told the group, as she handed out awards to each one. The idea from the 573rd CMMXS trio will keep a $35,000 part in service. The part is a barrel that anchors the propellers on a C-130. Previously the barrels often had to be condemned when worn bolt holes had been bored out beyond the tolerance level. An average of 29 barrels were being discarded per year. Mr. Walker, Mr. Sirmons and Mr. Wright put their heads together to figure out how the save the expensive part. They came up with the idea to manufacture bushings that could be inserted into the holes to return the holes to the original manufacture size. The bolts hold the two pieces of the barrel together. Now, rather than tossing a $35,000 part, it only costs about $1,000 to fix the problem. Although it is the first IDEA award for Mr. Sirmons and Mr. Wright, Mr. Walker has raked in four major awards and won numerous other smaller awards. He is a former Innovator of the Year. Mr. Walker said there was no conflict about who came up with the idea and who should share in the award. "As a group all three of us put our heads together and came up with a solution and made it work," he said.