Sergeant Awarded NZDIA/Defence Relationship Award

Sergeant Awarded This Year’s NZDIA/Defence Relationship Award

Wellington, October 21 2014 – The NZDIA/Defence Relationship Award was won today by Sergeant Mike Wear of the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in Whenuapai.

The award ceremony was held on the first day of the NZ Defence Industry Association’s two-day international forum at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.

Sgt Wear, the component control and planning sergeant for the C130 & 757 aircraft, received the award for his outstanding contribution to Defence/industry relationships.

Sgt Wear said today he was feeling very nervous when he went up to the stage with the other finalists.

“That’s because I am low in the ranks as sergeant and surrounded by senior officers made me very nervous.

“There’s still much work to be done but the changes we have made mean less work and more efficiency and hopefully less admin for both organisations.

“This award has made me honoured and humbled and I would like to thank Safe Air for nominating me.”

Sgt Wear works for Logistics Commander Air (LC(A)) as a team member in the Supply Chain Management business group.

In nominating him, Safe Air Ltd said Sgt Wear has made an outstanding contribution over the past 12 months in the review and rewrite of the Operational Rules and Procedures Manual which supports the main RNZAF support contract with Safe Air.

“Moving from a traditional supplier relationship into a strategic partnership has meant a significant shift in the way RNZAF and SAFE work together,” Safe Air’s customer account manager (defence) Helen Ashworth says.

“Guided by the overarching Alliance Principles, the focus has been on reducing duplication and complexity within the relationship and optimising spare capacity to make positive change for the future.”

This work has affected all aspects of the RNZAF/Prime contractor relationship and has been used as template by Defence Commercial Services on other Defence/Industry collaborative work, Ms Ashworth says.

Sgt Wear has been proactive in suggesting and developing innovative new processes in support of the relationship between Defence and industry and has also been a key member in a collaborative team which has completely re-written the rule book around the financial and tracking transactions associated with component control.

“Although the most junior member of the team, he has led from the front in challenging thinking and working up alternative processes to achieve the required results,” Ms Ashworth says.

Aware of the challenges of working within a strict governance framework, he has worked hard to understand commercial pressures on Safe Air and has actively sought out ‘pinch points’ which have in the past challenged the industry/defence relationship.

His pragmatic and can-do attitude has led to a number of smaller process changes which together have had a measureable effect on the reduction in duplication and complexity across the business.

Two others were also nominated for this award – Sergeant Steven Ansell, RNZAF, employed by the Defence Commercial Services (Northern) organisation at Whenuapai, and Pat Williams, project director, Acquisitions Directorate, Ministry of Defence.

The award, in its second year, is presented to a Defence official, uniformed or civilian, who has made an outstanding contribution to improving Defence/Industry relationships.

ENDS

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