Chet’s Blog

TECHNICAL BASELINE PLANNING ACTIVITIES

The technical baseline process is the first step in matching your solutions

to the government requirements.  This process uses structured engineering

capture sessions that result in products including a spread sheet of all

preliminary approaches and substantiating data and a red lined

specification.

 

The technical baseline will involve all engineering disciplines from both

the company proposal team and team members.  Creating baselines is the

second responsibility of the proposal team after strategy development. 

Each member will have the opportunity to suggest risk analyses and

trade-off studies that will support the final approach.  These studies will

become the backbone of the technical volume, proving to the evaluator that

your company took the best of all possible technical directions.  This

System Engineering approach will also substantiate reliability,

maintainability and supportability of the baselines.  This Technical

Baseline Meeting Template consists of a participant guide, methodology, and

a meeting subject guideline.

 

TECHNICAL BASELINING MEETING PARTICIPANTS

To create synergy and to gain the best ideas for your technical baseline

you must select the right meeting participants.  The following minimum

participation should be available for the sessions: 1.  Program Manager 2. 

Chief Engineer 3.  Proposal Manager 4.  Technical Volume Manager 5. 

Marketing representative 6.  Engineering 7.  Hardware (Mechanical) Engineer

8.  Software Engineer 9.  System Engineer 10. Test Engineer 11. Specialty

Engineering 12. Reliability/Maintainability 13. Human Factors 14. Safety

15. Logistics 16. Training

 

MEETING METHODOLOGY 

Use of a standard format for these meetings gives participants a

consistency of approach.  Keep it simple but also keep it isolated.  You’ll

need to set up a schedule that allows each of your subject matter experts a

minimum of two hour sessions.  During this time they will address the

approach they envision for their part of the solution.  These presentations

allow the rest of the baseline team to come up to speed before addressing

each individual requirement.

 

MEETING OBJECTIVES

The facilitator’s job is to draw out information from the group that can be

used in the storyboard process.  One of the best ways to achieve this is to

put three columns on the flip chart: one for the requirement, two for the

approach and the third,The substantiating data for that approach.

 

Beginning with the subject matter expert’s brief, the facilitator captures

the salient approaches on the chart. Afterwards, the facilitator goes

through each of those captured and exercises the group to see if there is

one, agreement and two, substantiating data for that approach.  Here are a

list of possible considerations when developing solutions to particular

requirements: 1.  Define Product Assemblies/Subassemblies 2.  Detail

internal and external product interfaces 3.  Identify COTS/GOTS/NDI 4. 

Identify Make or Buy decisions 5. Identify areas of technical risk 6. 

Identify competitor strengths in similar product. 7.  Identify and assign

action items.

 

When a sticking point occurs, the chief engineer will draw an assumption

and the team will move forward.

 

Once the approaches have been agreed to, the facilitator has the chart

keyed into an Excel spread sheet.  This piece of the baseline can now be

used by the final Bid/No Bid Committee to decide one or more of the

following: 1.  The current team has the expertise to make a credible

solution for the bid 2.  The current team lacks a particular ingredient to

the solution 3.  There are uncommitted subcontractors to fill the gaps in

the approach 4.  The solution cannot be met with the team regardless of

additional subcontractors or vendors. 5.  To achieve the bid the team must

act as a subcontractor to another prime.

 

 RED LINING THE SPECIFICATION 

Often during the baselining process it is agreed that certain technical

parameters contain high risk.  When answers to questions from the

government do not mitigate these risks it may be wise to red-line the

specification.  When these decisions are made it is important to capture

justifications for each red lined requirement.

 

CREATE A JUSTIFICATION TABLE

Create a red line specification table using your compliance matrix.  Create

a column for the RFP value and one for the red lined value.  Most

important, have a column for the justification.  In this column cite

specifics about the values achieved by your solution.  Be sure to ghost a

weakness in any other competitor who may blindly claim to meet the

specification as is.

 

SUMMARY

This chapter discussed the mechanics of the baseline meeting.  The

facilitator is responsible for keeping the meetings on track and following

up on action items. Results should be carefully documented and entered into

the proposal plan.  All of the information gathered will become a part of

the STORYBOARD DEVELOPMENT process.

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