ABC Projects outlined a project plan with tentative timelines and cost ranges until discovery was completed. The project plan included the discovery and identification of needs for increased production, as well as identification of affected departments and/or processes if the increase in production were carried out.

ABC Projects knew from experience that other areas besides the manufacturing line would be affected. For example, procurement had a set budget for purchases. The expenditure necessary for materials that were not ready to be used in manufacturing would wreck havoc on cash flow and require consideration of how to store materials until they are ready to be used by manufacturing. Further, additional vendors from which to purchase the materials would need to be identified, should the current vendors be unable to meet procurement’s increased demands. Alternative vendors needed to be in place before any supply issues arose. It was evident that the processes for procurement must be very closely integrated with the manufacturing processes to maintain an ongoing flow of materials to production.

The project team developed a detailed plan for identifying the stakeholders and how they would proceed to gather the data necessary to accurately document the manufacturing processes. The plan included a detailed list of questions to ask each stakeholder to ensure that all interviewers asked the same questions and gathered the same data. The project team knew from experience that documenting processes required a thorough understanding of the business, because, when being interviewed, individuals often unintentionally skipped relevant details. Thus, experienced people were required to extract information needed for an accurate and detailed documentation of processes.

The project team also developed a plan for potential risks and strategies for managing them should