LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Two technical sergeants from the munitions division of the Air Combat Command Logistics Directorate received the Air Force Productivity Excellence Award during a ceremony at the Pentagon April 8.
Lt. Gen. Richard Newton III, Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Personnel, presented the award to Tech. Sgts. Mathew Ferris and Linda Hughes, command conventional munitions managers.
The Air Force-level award recognizes individuals and small groups of military and civilians who have made substantial improvements resulting in a savings of at least $1 million.
"It was an honor, and it made me realize the impact of what we did and how it helped the Air Force," said Sergeant Hughes.
Sergeants Ferris and Hughes devised a low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf solution to transform existing hard copy Air Force munitions documents to a comprehensive electronic records management solution.
Currently, ACC munitions' units process on average 8,875 accountable munitions transactions per month that require organizing, routing and filing of 213,000 documents per year. Implementation of this new system generated 32,331 electronic records and saved an estimated $646,620 in labor costs from September 2006 through December 2006, according to the award nomination.
"The biggest challenge was dealing with cutting-edge concepts where other Air Force processes didn't address what we were trying to do," said Sergeant Ferris.
Air Force wide implementation has generated 297,554 electronic records and saved $5,951,080 from January 2007 through August 2007 for a combined total savings of $6,597,700 from September 2006 through August 2007. The total cost of system deployment within ACC has been less than $35,000 and has decreased the manpower required to route and maintain documentation, allowing 40 manpower billets to be reallocated within command munitions units to support higher priority warfighting requirements.
The methodical approach used by Sergeants Hughes and Ferris in developing comprehensive policy, administration manuals and training guides resulted in command-wide deployment 130 days ahead of the original goal. System success has been amplified by the adoption of munitions electronic document system across all active-duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units.
The munitions electronic document system placed the Air Force Munitions community on the forefront of establishing and employing electronic records management principles in daily operations.
"Computers have become a big part of what we do, and hopefully, other functional communities could use what we have done as an example for streamlining their own processes," said Sergeant Ferris.
Sergeant Hughes and Ferris examined Congressional, Department of Defense, and Air Force supply management policies to ensure compliance with all governing directives. Operational assessments were performed to ensure the system's design would fulfill the wide spectrum of Air Force mission requirements for munitions units. The examination resulted in creation of the munitions electronic document system, providing a standardized electronic records management solution for ACC munitions units.
A system design built on existing Air Force standard desktop configuration software, Air Force Public Key Infrastructure Common Access Cards and readily available commercial products now provides an agile and secure electronic records management solution available at home station and abroad.
For their accomplishment, Sergeants Hughes and Ferris are authorized the wear of the Air Force Recognition ribbon.