Page 90 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Using Logic Trees to Construct Your Methodology 81

Overriding question: How should Develop a manufacturing facility strategy
Develop a manufacturing facility strategy
Overriding question: How should
ABC increase capacity to meet its that will provide the capacity necessary to
ABC increase capacity to meet its
that will provide the capacity necessary to
sales forecast? meet forecasted demand.
meet forecasted demand.
sales forecast?
Determine Develop plan to
Develop plan to
Determine
Specify additional
Specify additional
Specify additional
Specify additional
implement selected
Validate market opportunities to resources required to resources required to implement selected
opportunities to
Validate market
resources required to
resources required to
optimize existing
forecast. optimize existing meet forecast. meet forecast. configuration of mfg.
configuration of mfg.
forecast.
meet forecast.
meet forecast.
facilities.
capacity and space. facilities.
capacity and space.
Work with ABC
Work with ABC W/ mgmt.,
W/ mgmt.,
Analyze industry
Review & Analyze industry Define potential Develop costs &
Review &
Develop costs &
Define potential
to modify
to modify
develop criteria
discuss existing & economic forecast, if alternatives for develop criteria benefits for each
& economic
discuss existing
benefits for each
alternatives for
forecast, if
to evaluate
forecast. projections. appropriate. providing req. to evaluate potential
forecast.
projections.
providing req.
potential
appropriate.
potential
alternative.
resources. potential alternative.
resources.
alternatives.
alternatives.
Obtain needed Determine
Determine
Obtain needed
Modify
Modify
production data indicated” space indicated” space Project future
production data “ “indicated” space
Project future
(e.g., bills of & production “ “indicated” space mfg. resource
(e.g., bills of
mfg. resource
& production
& production
material & capacity & production requirements.
material &
capacity
requirements.
capacity.
capacity.
routings). requirements.
routings).
requirements.
Use Gantt chart
Use Gantt chart
Evaluate storage Evaluate ID tasks needed Define resources to display work
Evaluate storage
ID tasks needed Define resources
Evaluate
practices & utilization of As appropriate, Establish current to achieve needed to to display work
needed to
to achieve
practices &
As appropriate,
utilization of
Establish current
Examine current Estimate time to tasks,
Estimate time to
Examine current
tasks,
modify current
existing
modify current
material-
production
selected mfg. complete tasks &
existing
space allocations. material- production space allocations. production selected mfg. complete tasks & complete tasks. completions
completions
space allocations.
complete tasks.
facility
assign
handling
capacity.
assign
production
handling
capacity.
space allocations.
facility
times, &
methods. capacity. configuration. responsibilities. times, &
configuration. responsibilities.
capacity.
methods.
responsibilities.
responsibilities.
FIGURE 5.19 The ABC logic tree, first draftt
FIGURE 5.19 T he ABC lo g ic tr ee , fi rst draf
allocations.” The results implied by these tasks are a review and an examination.
These, you recognize are processes, not end products like deliverables. What, you
must always ask yourself, is the end product of that review or that discussion?
The same is true of tasks you’ve seen in many proposals, tasks such as “to ana-
lyze [something]” and “to evaluate [something].” An evaluation and an analysis
are processes, not end products. You are beginning to understand that an “expan-
sion analysis” just isn’t as specific as “a detailed list of expansion alternatives.” A
“detailed list of alternatives” describes what the prospect will receive, rather than
the process, the analysis, that will produce the deliverable.
Other boxes in the second draft are problematic in another way: They aren’t
necessary for achieving the result implied in the box above them. The task “mod-
ify forecast” is a case in point: It expresses the same result as the box above it.
These “mistakes” confirm to you the power of the logic tree in constructing a