IDEA earns 327th ACSW member cash award Published Jan. 15, 2009 By Pam Axton 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- The Innovative Development through Employee Awareness program is an incentive program that rewards people for improving their processes and saving the government money. The program rewards submissions at different rates based on the monetary savings of the IDEA and whether it is inside or outside of the submitters regular work area. Mr. Robert Valdez, Vice Director for the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing, recently made a $10,000 presentation to Eugene "Scott" Myers for his IDEA initiative. Mr. Myers, 557th ACSS/GFEAC, recommended at the 2005 E-3 Radar Users Group meeting that the round input power studs be re-designed making them square or rectangle so they would not rotate as they pass through the fiberglass header assembly. The round studs frequently rotated and resulted in an increase in temperature or the leakage of sulfur hexafluoride gas or both. Northrup Grumman Corporation performed the re-design and qualification of the proposed change. This recommended change resulted in a proposed first-year savings of $344,350. The IDEA program uses the IDEA Program Data System to initiate and track suggestions. More than 400 IDEAs were submitted through this system last year. Each organization at Tinker has an IDEA program manager, but questions can also be directed to the IDEA program office at 739-2004.