Transforming Proposal Management With a Virtual Proposal Center

Case Study

Transforming Proposal Management
for Pratt & Whitney with i3solutions'
Virtual Proposal Center (VPC)

The Customer

And Their Challenge

Pratt & Whitney, a renowned aerospace manufacturer, designs and builds some of the world’s most advanced aircraft engines and auxiliary power systems. The company serves a diverse clientele that ranges from commercial airlines to military and business aviation. Despite their cutting-edge technology and market leadership, Pratt & Whitney faced a persistent challenge: delivering on-time, compliant, and competitive proposals. In the fast-paced aerospace industry, winning contracts often hinges on presenting detailed proposals that stand out for both quality and timeliness.

The lack of a centralized system for managing proposal information led to bottlenecks, delays, and increased risks in Pratt & Whitney’s proposal development process. They needed a solution that would not only streamline this intricate process but also be adaptable to their specific requirements. Essentially, they sought a real-time, centralized proposal management system that could be customized down to the finest detail.

The Solution

i3solutions' Virtual Proposal Center (VPC)

After an exhaustive search, Pratt & Whitney selected i3solutions to build a custom Virtual Proposal Center (VPC) tailored to meet their specific proposal development needs. The VPC serves as a centralized platform where users can access all the resources they need for proposals, including templates, historical data, and best practices. It also offers tools for cross-team communication, enhancing synchronization and coordination among the various departments involved in the proposal process. To further refine the VPC, iSolutions leveraged Business Process Management (BPM) to thoroughly analyze Pratt & Whitney’s existing proposal development workflows. By mapping out each process, our team identified bottlenecks, redundant tasks, and opportunities for automation. Based on these insights, we recommended a series of streamlined processes that not only improved efficiency but also aligned with Pratt & Whitney’s broader business objectives. i3solutions reviewed Pratt & Whitney’s list of requirements to ensure we would deliver the right solution.

Our team committed to addressing all their concerns and needs in order to achieve the best possible results. We understood their working patterns, industry limitations, and both their challenges and potential. Most importantly, our experts considered all parameters that could assist in proposal development and ensure successful delivery. Through BPM, we provided a roadmap for continuous improvement, ensuring the VPC would evolve with the company’s needs and deliver long-term value.

In addition to streamlining processes, iSolutions used BPM to foster greater accountability and transparency across the proposal development lifecycle. By clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and workflows, we enabled Pratt & Whitney to monitor progress in real- time, identify any deviations from the plan, and make informed decisions swiftly. This structured approach not only reduced the time needed to prepare and submit proposals but also enhanced the overall quality and consistency of the outputs. As a result, Pratt & Whitney gained a more agile and responsive proposal process, better equipped to meet the demands of a highly competitive industry.

Technologies

Used in the Solution

Since we aimed to deliver the best, we chose cutting-edge technologies to provide
an ultimate toolkit for the project. i3solutions leveraged several Microsoft
technologies to bring the VPC to life:

Dynamics provides advanced CRM capabilities that aid in tracking and managing customer relationships and engagements. This is their overall system of record that manages the business development pipeline and tracks proposal win/loss ratios.

Power Bl offers interactive visualizations and business intelligence capabilities and is used to generate extensive reports from Dynamics and SharePoint on all business development related tasks. The reports detail the status of opportunities, show the overarching pipeline, and provide the master schedule of due dates.

Office365 integrates existing productivity tools to ensure seamless operations within the application and ‘future-proofs’ the system by taking advantage of the latest Microsoft code updates. It provides web access to the team and allows Pratt & Whitney to apply advanced security rules for SharePoint Online and GCC high.

Flow is used to create and automate workflows and tasks in the cloud for better integrations and workflow management. It controls all data sharing between Dynamics, SharePoint, Teams, Dataverse, 0365 and other internal systems, and is responsible for maintaining the business logic of how the system should function.

Power Apps is used to create custom applications designed to meet Pratt & Whitney’s unique business requirements. This includes the interface that allows them to manage opportunity details such as due dates, task completion percentage, approval processes, workflows, milestone date tracking, and planned vs. actual date reporting and tracking.

SharePoint acts as the backbone of the system to store all proposal and estimate related documentation. It automatically provides a standardized folder structure for each proposal to keep processes/content consistent and serves as a valuable tool for team collaboration.

Teams is used for real-time collaboration and communication across different groups. It is a critical distribution tool that allows access to the full functionality of the system including a unified experience with SharePoint. It also takes advantage of native tools like chat, OneNote, Planner, and more.

One key advantage of the VPC is its future-proof design. Hosted entirely on
Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, the system automatically updates whenever
Microsoft releases new features for the Office 365 platform, eliminating the need for
manual, vendor-specific software updates.

“This process improvement is going to streamline adding users and reduce wasted time all around.”

Visual Communication Project Analyst,
Pratt & Whitney Military Engines

“i3solutions is leading the way and providing functionality essential to sustaining and managing the expanding VPC environments.”

Principal Specialist, Product Management,
Pratt & Whitney Military Engines

Measurable Benefits
and Business Impact

Since its implementation, the VPC has dramatically improved
Pratt & Whitney's proposal development process in several key areas:

Increased
Efficiency

The centralized hub has significantly reduced the time spent searching for information and resources.

Cross-team Synchronization

Real-time communication features have enhanced collaboration among different departments, reducing redundant efforts.

Enhanced
Visibility

The VPC provides instantaneous insights into proposal statuses, aiding in risk assessment and decision making.

Focus on
Priorities

Dynamic workflows help teams prioritize tasks effectively, mitigating the risks associated with proposal schedules.