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Original Date: 08/20/2001
Revision Date: 12/14/2006
Best Practice : Proposal Database
Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Surface Systems implemented the Proposal Database to streamline the tracking of proposals from the Request For Proposal stage to submittal of the final proposal to the customer. The database allows for the coordination of all efforts within the process and the ability to track areas for improvement.
Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Surface Systems (NE&SS-SS) previously tracked proposals by using a labor-intensive manual process that relied on the accuracy of several databases which were incompatible with one another. The databases were non-standard and typically had incomplete information on activities. The Contracts Group initiated an internal proposal request based on the Request For Proposal (RFP) received from a potential customer. A dedicated Proposal Group then requested cost, pricing, delivery, and other information from various operations groups; attempted to roll up the information into one package; and forwarded it to the Contracts Group. The result was long proposal cycle times and a difficulty in ascertaining various functions. In late 2000, Lockheed Martin NE&SS-SS developed the Proposal Database.
The Proposal Database (Figure 2-5) standardizes the information throughout proposal activities. All entities work from the same criteria set forth in the RFP, eliminating redundancy of information and input errors that previously occurred. All Operations Groups can easily access and retrieve information from this on-line automated database. The Proposal Database features a mechanism to track various tasks associated with the proposal cycle and identify areas for improvement.
Since implementing the Proposal Database, Lockheed Martin NE&SS-SS reduced its cycle time for proposal preparation by 64%. The on-line database enabled the company to establish reporting capabilities for tracking proposal cycle information and improve communications among all team members in the proposal process.
Figure 2-5. Proposal Database
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