1. No category

COVER SHEET FOR PROPOSAL TO THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT/SOLICITATION NO./CLOSING DATE/If not in response to a program announcement/solicitation enter NSF 00-2
FOR NSF USE ONLY
NSF PROPOSAL NUMBER
NSF 00-2
FOR CONSIDERATION BY NSF ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT(S) (Indicate the most specific unit known, i.e., program, division, etc.)
DATE RECEIVED
NUMBER OF COPIES
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ASSIGNED
EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (EIN) OR
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FUND CODE
DUNS # (Data Universal Numbering System)
SHOW PREVIOUS AWARD NO. IF THIS IS
FILE LOCATION
IS THIS PROPOSAL BEING SUBMITTED TO ANOTHER FEDERAL
A RENEWAL
AGENCY?
YES
NO
IF YES, LIST ACRONYM(S)
AN ACCOMPLISHMENT-BASED RENEWAL
NAME OF ORGANIZATION TO WHICH AWARD SHOULD BE MADE
ADDRESS OF AWARDEE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING 9 DIGIT ZIP CODE
Team Orange – ODU CPI
4700 Elkhorn Avenue
Room 3300 E & CS Building
Norfolk, VA 23009-0909
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NAME OF PERFORMING ORGANIZATION, IF DIFFERENT FROM
ABOVE
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IS AWARDEE ORGANIZATION (Check All That Apply)
(See GPG II.D.1 For Definitions)
FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
SMALL BUSINESS
MINORITY BUSINESS
WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS
TITLE OF PROPOSED PROJECT Sous Chef
REQUESTED AMOUNT
100,000
PROPOSED DURATION (1-60 MONTHS)
REQUESTED STARTING DATE
3
8/29/05
SHOW RELATED PREPROPOSAL NO.,
IF APPLICABLE
months
$
CHECK APPROPRIATE BOX(ES) IF THIS PROPOSAL INCLUDES ANY OF THE ITEMS LISTED BELOW
BEGINNING INVESTIGATOR (GPG I.A.3)
VERTEBRATE ANIMALS (GPG II.D.12) IACUC App. Date
DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (GPG II.D.1)
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or IRB App. Date
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (GPG II.D.10)
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HISTORIC PLACES (GPG II.D.10)
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FACILITATION FOR SCIENTISTS/ENGINEERS WITH DISABILITIES (GPG V.G.)
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY AWARD (GPG V.H)
PI/PD DEPARTMENT
PI/PD POSTAL ADDRESS
Janet Brunelle
PI/PD FAX NUMBER
3300 E & CS Building 4700 Elkhorn Ave. Norfolk, VA 23009-0909
757-565-9000
NAMES (TYPED)
High Degree
Yr of Degree
Telephone Number
Electronic Mail Address
MS
1987
757-566-9001
[email protected]
BS
2005
757-566-0002
[email protected]
PI/PD NAME
Janet Brunelle
CO-PI/PD
Michael Schaefer
CO-PI/PD
CO-PI/PD
CO-PI/PD
NSF Form 1207 (10/99)
Page 1 of 2
CERTIFICATION PAGE
Certification for Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators
I certify to the best of my knowledge that:
(1) the statements herein (excluding scientific hypotheses and scientific opinions) are true and complete, and
(2) the text and graphics herein as well as any accompanying publications or other documents, unless otherwise indicated, are the original work of the
signatories or individuals working under their supervision. I agree to accept responsibility for the scientific conduct of the project and to provide the
required project reports if an award is made as a result of this proposal.
I understand that the willful provision of false information or concealing a material fact in this proposal or any other communication submitted to NSF is a
criminal offense (U.S.Code, Title 18, Section 1001).
Name (Typed)
PI/PD
Signature
Social Security No.*
Janet Brunelle
Date
123-45-6789
4/3/05
0987-65-4321
4/3/05
Co-PI/PD
Michael Schaefer
Co-PI/PD
Co-PI/PD
Co-PI/PD
Certification for Authorized Organizational Representative or Individual Applicant
By signing and submitting this proposal, the individual applicant or the authorized official of the applicant institution is: (1) certifying that statements made herein
are true and complete to the best of his/her knowledge; and (2) agreeing to accept the obligation to comply with NSF award terms and conditions if an award is
made as a result of this application. Further, the applicant is hereby providing certifications regarding Federal debt status, debarment and suspension, drug-free
workplace, and lobbying activities (see below), as set forth in the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 00-2. Willful provision of false information in this application
and its supporting documents or in reports required under an ensuing award is a criminal offense (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001).
In addition, if the applicant institution employs more than fifty persons, the authorized official of the applicant institution is certifying that the institution has
implemented a written and enforced conflict of interest policy that is consistent with the provisions of Grant Policy Manual Section 510; that to the best of his/her
knowledge, all financial disclosures required by that conflict of interest policy have been made; and that all identified conflicts of interest will have been
satisfactorily managed, reduced or eliminated prior to the institution’s expenditure of any funds under the award, in accordance with the institution’s conflict of
interest policy. Conflicts that cannot be satisfactorily managed, reduced or eliminated must be disclosed to NSF.
Debt and Debarment Certifications
(If answer “yes” to either, please provide explanation.)
Is the organization delinquent on any Federal debt?
Is the organization or its principals presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible,
or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal Department or agency?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Certification Regarding Lobbying
This certification is required for an award of a Federal contract, grant or cooperative agreement exceeding $100,000 and for an award of a Federal loan or
a commitment providing for the United States to insure or guarantee a loan exceeding $150,000.
Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements
The undersigned certifies, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, that:
(1) No Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of the undersigned, to any person for influencing or attempting to
influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in
connection with the awarding of any federal contract, the making of any Federal grant, the making of any Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative
agreement, and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.
(2) If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or
employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, and officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this
Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying
Activities,” in accordance with its instructions.
(3) The undersigned shall require that the language of this certification be included in the award documents for all subawards at all tiers including
subcontracts, subgrants, and contracts under grants, loans, and cooperative agreements and that all subrecipients shall certify and disclose accordingly.
This certification is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when this transaction was made or entered into. Submission of this
certification is a prerequisite for making or entering into this transaction imposed by Section 1352, Title 31, U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the
required certification shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.
AUTHORIZED ORGANIZATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE
NAME/TITLE (TYPED)
SIGNATURE
DATE
Sheis Boss
4/3/05
TELEPHONE NUMBER
ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS
FAX NUMBER
757-565-9999
[email protected]
757-565-9998
*SUBMISSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS IS VOLUNTARY AND WILL NOT AFFECT THE ORGANIZATION’S ELIGIBILITY FOR AN AWARD. HOWEVER, THEY ARE AN
INTEGRAL PART OF THE NSF INFORMATION SYSTEM AND ASSIST IN PROCESSING THE PROPOSAL. SSN SOLICITED UNDER NSF ACT OF 1950, AS AMENDED.
Page 2 of 2
A. PROJECT SUMMARY
Sous Chef is a project that revolves around the Computer Productivity Initiative (CPI) at Old
Dominion University and Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR). The goal of Sous Chef is to
solve an important problem that concerns many grocery shoppers today and to help grocery stores
improve their profit margins. Many grocery shoppers go to the grocery store unprepared. They do
not know exactly what they want to eat, what they already have in their home, what kinds of meals
they can prepare with the goods provided by the grocery store, which meals cater to their diets and
tastes, and how to prepare these meals. Grocery stores would benefit from a system that helps its
shoppers in making all of these decisions. In addition, our solution will help grocery stores in
advertising the items they need to push, thus “building the shopper’s basket.” Sous Chef will be able
to do this in real-time.
Sous Chef is a system that incorporates a database of recipes with the grocery store’s database of
goods. With the combined data from these two databases, Sous Chef will be able to match recipes to
items that need to be advertised, and to recipes that grocery shoppers want. The output of Sous Chef
is an electronic, touch-screen kiosk that incorporates a simple, yet powerful graphical user interface.
From the kiosk shoppers will be able to log in if they choose so that Sous Chef may remember a
grocery shopper’s tastes, needs, and shopping patterns. Shoppers will be able to plan a number of
meals; from merely that night’s meal to a set of meals for the entire week (Planning meals for a
month would require the shopper to be at the kiosk probably longer than they would want to stand
there. Also, the store may have problems with lines of frustrated shoppers waiting to use the kiosk).
Another feature of the Sous Chef system is that a shopper will be able to access his or her profile and
plan meals from home through a web-based interface. During the planning process, a customer may
input various preferences. Sous Chef will return a list of recipes that complies with the preferences,
factoring in any special items that the grocery store would like to sell that week (or day, or month). If
a customer runs across a recipe instruction that he or she does not recognize, a short instructional
video may be viewed for clarification. After the meals are planned, the customer may print out recipe
instructions, grocery list, and even coupons. The grocery shopper leaves the kiosk confident in what
he or she will be having for dinner. The grocery store is happy that it can push the products it wants
to and that the shopper will return to use the store’s convenient kiosk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
For font-size and page-formatting specifications, see GPG Section II.C.
Total No. of
Pages in Section
Section
Page No.*
(Optional)*
Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207) (Submit Page 2 with original proposal only)
A
Project Summary (not to exceed 1 page)
1
B
Table of Contents (NSF Form 1359)
2
C
Project Description (including Results from Prior NSF Support)
(not to exceed 15 pages) (Exceed only if allowed by a specific
program announcement/solicitation or if approved in advance by the
appropriate NSF Assistant Director or designee)
13
D
References Cited
1
E
Biographical Sketches (Not to exceed 2 pages each)
2
F
Budget
(NSF Form 1030, plus up to 3 pages of budget justification)
3
G
Current and Pending Support (NSF Form 1239)
1
H
Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources (NSF Form 1363)
1
I
Special Information/Supplementary Documentation
1
J
Appendix (List below)
Include only if allowed by a specific program announcement/
solicitation or if approved in advance by the appropriate NSF
Assistant Director or designee)
37
Appendix Items:
1.PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................................................................................... 23
2. EVALUATION PLAN ............................................................................................................................... 29
3. MARKETING PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 30
4. FUNDING PLAN ...................................................................................................................................... 32
5. RESOURCE PLAN ................................................................................................................................... 33
6. STAFFING PLAN ..................................................................................................................................... 35
7. SCHEDULING PLAN ................................................................................................................................ 43
8. BUDGET ................................................................................................................................................. 46
9. RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN .................................................................................................................... 57
10. SOUS CHEF KIOSK GUI SCREENS ........................................................................................................ 60
*Proposers may select any numbering mechanism for the proposal. The entire proposal, however, must be paginated. Complete
both columns only if the proposal is numbered consecutively.
NSF Form 1359 (10/99)
46
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. PROJECT SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................. I1
B. TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................... I2
C. PROJECT DESCRIPTION......................................................................................................................... 1
PART 1: IDENTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INNOVATION ...................................................................... 1
Poor Planning....................................................................................................................................... 1
Dietary Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 2
Lack of Knowledge.............................................................................................................................. 2
PART 2: BACKGROUND AND PHASE I TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES ............................................................................ 5
PART 3: PHASE I RESEARCH PLAN .................................................................................................................. 7
PART 4. COMPANY INFORMATION ................................................................................................................. 11
PART 5. COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL ................................................................................................................ 11
PART 6. CONSULTANTS AND SUBAWARDS/SUBCONTRACTS ............................................................................. 11
PART 7. EQUIVALENT OR OVERLAPPING PROPOSALS ...................................................................................... 12
E. REFERENCES CITED.............................................................................................................................. 13
D. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.................................................................................................................. 14
MICHAEL SCHAEFER – PROJECT MANAGER ..................................................................................................... 14
JASON CLARKE – PRODUCT RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................. 14
TIFFANY EMERSON – FINANCIAL MANAGER ..................................................................................................... 14
EDWARD HILL – MARKETING & SALES MANAGER ............................................................................................ 14
ELLEN PAK – TECHNICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT / WEB MASTER ............................................................. 14
ADAM SAMPSON – TECHNICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................. 15
F. BUDGETS (ALSO REQUIRED FOR EACH SUBAWARD(S)) ................................................................ 16
G. CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT................................................................................................... 20
H. FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND OTHER RESOURCES........................................................................ 21
I. SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS........................................................................................................... 22
1.LETTER(S) OF TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT ....................................................................................................... 22
2.COMPANY COMMERCIALIZATION HISTORY ................................................................................................... 22
J. APPENDIX: ............................................................................................................................................. 23
1.PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN ................................................................................................................... 23
2. EVALUATION PLAN .................................................................................................................................. 29
3. MARKETING PLAN ................................................................................................................................... 30
4. FUNDING PLAN ....................................................................................................................................... 32
5. RESOURCE PLAN ..................................................................................................................................... 33
6. STAFFING PLAN ...................................................................................................................................... 35
7. SCHEDULING PLAN .................................................................................................................................. 43
8. BUDGET ................................................................................................................................................. 46
9. RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN......................................................................................................................... 57
10. SOUS CHEF KIOSK GUI SCREENS ............................................................................................................ 60
I3
C. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
PART 1: IDENTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INNOVATION
Sous Chef is a sophisticated and interactive meal planning web site for use at home through a
web browser or in a grocery store at a kiosk.
Grocery stores do not provide meal-planning assistance to the unprepared shopper in the store.
Grocery store shopping is more difficult for current consumers due to lack of planning. Another
factor, which makes shopping more troublesome, is the fact that many American’s have special
dietary needs and requirements. This is complicated by the fact that many shoppers do not know
about the nutritional contents of the foods they buy and prepare.
POOR PLANNING
One of the major problems facing grocery shoppers today is the fact that families do plan meals
and therefore plan for what they need to purchase at the grocery store.. A University of Indiana study
revealed that seventy percent of consumers do not know what they are having for dinner at four in
the afternoon. The study continued to show that over two out of three (68%) food purchases are
based purely on impulse.
65
64.7
60
00
20
95
19
90
19
55
85
56.6
19
Mothers and fathers, those who are
responsible for meal planning, are spending an
increasing amount of time at work. In 1977, dual
earning couples with children worked a
combined 81 hours a week at work according to
69.7
80
Women with children in the home (under
the age of 18) have been steadily entering the
workforce since at least 1980 according to a study
by the US Department of Labor, Women’s
Bureau. In 1980, 56.6% of mothers were part of
the workforce in 2003 that number was up to
72.9%.
70
19
Women and men at work find little time to
come home, plan meals for the family.
% of Women
In America in the 1950’s women were seldom found in the workplace. They stayed at home
and planned and cooked dinners for their families, but as women started to enter the professional
workforce meal planning and cooking began to suffer due to lack of time. One may think that they
are no longer the one’s preparing the meals, but
according to the US Department of Women’s
Women In the Workforce
Labor meals are planned and prepared in 75% of
(with children under 18)
homes by women. The problem is they do not
have time they used to have. In 1900 women
spent forty-four hours a week preparing meals,
75
72.9
but by 1975 this number was down to under ten
hours.
Figure 1- Women in the Workforce
a study by the Families and Work Institute. In 2002, this number was up ten hours a week to 91
hours. This additional time at work means less time to plan and prepare meals.
DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Besides lack of time another major problem facing grocery shoppers today is the varied and
complicated dietary requirements needed by all members of the family. Cholesterol, fat, carbs, fiber
and many other nutrients are some of the special dietary requirements that almost every American
faces today.
According to a Food Market Institute study 87 % of consumers are “very concerned” or
“somewhat concerned” about nutrition. To further demonstrate this point another study showed
that “…55% try harder to eat healthier these days up from 45% in the year 2000”
(FactsAndFigures.com).
Individuals are concerned about what they are eating, health concerns and weight problems are
driving are dietary needs and requirements. These needs complicate grocery shopping and meal
planning. This is further complicated by individuals’ lack of knowledge and understanding of what
fulfills these requirements, and finding foods and meals that meet these requirements and are
appetizing.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Shoppers lack the knowledge to shop efficiently and correctly to fulfill their families’ dietary
needs. Many individuals see cost and confusion as barriers to eating better. In other words, shoppers
do not know how to save money on the items their families need to eat better. The Sous Chef is
designed to aid shoppers with this shopping problem. Sixty-percent of shoppers report that there is
too much confusion in the news about nutrition (FactsAndFigure.com).
40%
Confused
Not Confused
60%
- http://www.factsfiguresfuture.com/archive/october_2004.htm
Figure 2 - Shopper Confusion of Nutrition and Health
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Everyone would like to save money when shopping for groceries and this can be accomplished
in many different ways. Almost seventy-percent (69%) of shoppers list price as a “very important”
factor in their food selection (AC Nielsen Home Scan). Shoppers use several techniques to
economize their grocery spending.
One of the most popular techniques is the participation in supermarket frequent shopper or
savings club programs. Eight-one percent of shoppers participate in one of these programs and Sous
Chef will take advantage of this fact to provide shoppers with quick access to their profile.
Other saving techniques that shoppers use are outlined in Diagram ??????. The Sous Chef will
offer shoppers a variety of ways to save money. Sous Chef will use weekly in store specials in its
recipe selection so shoppers can more easily find recipes that correspond with the specials.
Figure 3 - Consumer Cost Saving Techniques
Another popular method that Sous Chef will employ to help shoppers save money is the
coupon. Not only will Sous Chef give customers coupons but those coupons will be for items that
are ingredients in their recipe selections. This makes coupon selection easier than the troublesome
cutting coupons out of the newspaper or other flyer.
The shopping list has always been a good technique to not only organize shoppers but to save
money. Shopping list help shoppers save money by helping them to only buy items in which they
need. Sous Chef will provide shoppers with a shopping list which includes all the items they need for
the various recipes they select. This list can be organized by store sections and put in a logical order
according to store layout.
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Sous Chef plans to solve all the above problems associated with meal planning in grocery stores
by providing stores a meal planning tool for their patrons in the store. The Sous Chef will also be
able to store recipes and customer preferences consumers store at home, via a common web
browser, and can then shoppers can pull up their stored information once they are in the store. The
in store interface will be provided using a touch screen kiosk with multiple easy to use and intuitive
screens for query criteria.
The shopper will enter the system using their frequent shopper card. They will swipe the card at
the kiosk via a bar code reader and this will access their profile. Their profile includes any previously
stored recipes or meal plans and their last set of stored preferences. The preferences include diet
restrictions. Sous Chef has planned to include several diet preferences which are: Weight Watchers;
Low Carbohydrate; Atkins; South Beach; Low Sodium; Diabetic; Low Fat. Diet trends are constantly
changing in modern society and Sous Chef will adapt to these changes and stay on the cutting edge
of diet trends to continue to offer shoppers the information and choices they desire.
Other query selection criterion includes the difficulty of the recipe (i.e. easy, moderate, expert)
and the length of time it takes to prepare. Shopper can then restrict the recipes returns even further
by requesting the type of meat in the recipe; this selection will also include a vegetarian choice.
After the shoppers enter in their recipe criteria they will be given a selection of recipes to choose
from that meet all their criteria. Shoppers then choose the recipe that sounds good to get more
detailed information. This information includes nutritional information as well as cooking
instructions and ingredients. The shopper can also find add-ons such as wine suggestions, side item
recipes and dessert suggestions that accompany their entrée.
When they have finished all their meal planning they will be provided with recipe specific
coupons that correlate to items they have selected, as well as an itemized shopping list for use while
shopping. In addition the Sous Chef will provided quick and easy cooking instructions for shoppers
on various cooking techniques that they may be unfamiliar with. These video lessons can be
accessed in the store or at home for more convenience.
The Sous Chef will aid shoppers by providing nutrition information for each and every recipe
they choose. In addition users can select query criteria that will filter for recipes needed for specific
dietary and nutritional needs. In addition, shoppers can take advantage of many money saving
techniques that the Sous Chef will provide, including utilizing in store specials for recipe selection,
coupons, and providing a shopping list.
The goal of the Sous Chef is to provide the grocery shopper with shopper specific recipes, and
coupons that correlate directly to those recipes. In addition, Sous Chef makes shopping easier by
providing a shopping list which is itemized and organized by the store layout. Sous Chef also offers
the customer the ability to quickly find drink, side item and dessert accompaniments, as well as view
quick cooking instructional videos for techniques to aid them in meal preparation.
To provide stores with the Sous Chef several objectives must be met. A large database with
thousands of recipes must be built and be able to query on several criteria. The data process must be
designed and constructed to efficiently and accurately query thousands of recipes. User interfaces
that are quick, easy and intuitive will need to be designed and constructed not only for the kiosk
touch screen but also for the common web browser. The system will have to be integrated with the
grocery store system as well to easily receive customer information form the card swipe as well as
weekly specials, coupons and other information from the grocery store. These are the main
objectives needed to bring Sous Chef to the market place.
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PART 2: BACKGROUND AND PHASE I TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES
The goal of Phase I is to produce a laboratory prototype demonstrating the principles of basic
operation of Sous Chef. Our goal is to prove that the Sous Chef project is technically feasible by
producing a laboratory prototype. What follows is a list of the technical objectives in Phase I, then a
detailed description of each objective.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Build a sample recipe and customer preference database schema.
Create a database implementing this schema.
Fill the database with sample test data.
Design standardized queries on the database.
Create a programmatic interface to this database.
Develop a mock-up of the web and/or kiosk UI.
Connect the mock-up to the programmatic interface.
Determine if query speeds are adequate.
Build a sample recipe and customer preference database schema
The first part of building the laboratory prototype is to design the database schema for the
recipe and customer preference database. The recipe portion of the database must include ingredient
lists, preparation instructions, instructional videos, nutritional information, categorical classification,
and a photo of the desired result. The schema must also take into account proper indexing in order
to improve query performance. The customer preference portion of the database must also be
designed to take into account customer dietary preference, and user history.
Create a database implementing this schema
The next step is to build the databases that implement the designed schemas. The tables must be
created and stored procedures made to perform the basic CRUD (create, retrieve, update, delete)
operations on entities in the databases. The databases will also use transactions in order to secure
database integrity.
Fill the database with sample test data
Because the actual recipe data is not available in Phase I, we will have to create some sort of
recipe generation routine to create a number of recipes at least as big as expected. The recipes need
not be actually usable, but they need to be characteristic of the real recipe database.
Design standardized queries on the database
In order to accurately measure and tune performance, a set of standard queries must be chosen.
These queries will also be the backbone of the user interface, so they must be chose carefully so that
neither their functionality overlaps, nor are there insufficient queries to implement the desired
functionality.
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Create a programmatic interface to the databases
In order to access this database from software, a programmatic interface must be created to
perform the standardized queries. This is also where we will have to decide on how tightly coupled
the database should be to the code.
Develop a mock-up of the web and/or kiosk UI
Though both are important, they both are planned to expose the same functionality, so either
interface can be implemented. The web interface will be mocked up in ASP.NET while the kiosk
interface will be designed using the Windows Forms toolkit as a Windows application.
Connect the mock-up to the programmatic interface
Once the user interfaces are sufficiently designed, they can be connected to the programmatic
interface designed. Then they will be able to access the database and run the standardized queries in
order to expose functionality.
Determine if query speeds are adequate
Once the UI is mocked up and connected to the database, we can begin performance analysis to
determine whether or not the project is technically feasible. If query performance is too low, the
database implementation can be adjusted to improve performance. If the performance cannot be
improved to sufficient levels in the six months provided, then the project will be deemed technically
infeasible and abandoned. If the performance is sufficient, then the project will move on to Phase II.
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PART 3: PHASE I RESEARCH PLAN
Sous Chef will provide grocery stores with a sophisticated meal planning tool for use by grocery
store patrons. Currently grocery stores do not provide shoppers with an in store system to aid in
meal planning and make shopping easier. Sous Chef wants to provide this ability to the grocery
stores while giving shoppers a unique ability to plan meals, search and find recipes that fill their
specific needs while being fast and easy to use.
Figure 4 - Sous Chef Meal Planning Process
Research was done initial to better understand current American eating and grocery store
shopping habits. In addition we researched current solutions to examine their offerings and abilities,
none of which are usable in the store itself. Upon better understanding the needs of current
shoppers and current solutions we devised the Sous Chef alternative. One of the major advantages
of the Sous Chef is its ability to be used not only at home from a web browser but can be used in the
store.
This led Team Orange to develop a high level meal planning process (see Figure 4). This
provided us with a solid framework to design a meal planning tool which is useful and meets the
requirements that shoppers need today. We made sure to make the process was fast to step through
and had shortcuts to further expedite the process. We also wanted to make the process short so it
can be walked through repeatedly in a short period of time so shoppers can plan multiple meals and
get multiple recipes. After defining the process that shoppers need to make shopping easier and
more meaningful, we then moved on to develop the system to implement our solution.
The system architecture is designed to ensure scalability and robustness of a system which we
expect to grow quickly. The architecture also is designed with internet security in mind by separating
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the database from the user via three tier architecture (see Figure 5). This design ensures the security
and the scalability and robustness of our system thus mitigating several project risks. Our phase I
prototype will simulate parts of this process.
The database side of Sous Chef will be implemented using SQL Server. We will consult with
Figure 5 - Sous Chef Hardware Architecture Diagram
a database expert to ensure that our design will meet the products needs in terms of speed, reliability
and accuracy. The database will be located on the data tier separated from the internet by to tiers
(web tier and middle tier) to help insure the security of our system and mitigate the risk of internet
corruption. The database for Sous Chef will be large due to the number of recipes; however its
length is in a vertical nature. This creates challenges in terms of processing query time, but should
make actual construction time a less formidable task.
The heart of Sous Chef is called the Sous Chef Data Process. The Data Process is located in the
middle tier from an architecture standpoint, but it is the most critical component of Sous Chef. The
Data Process is responsible for gathering all the user input and creating queries to run on the
database. It then collects all the information resulting form the queries and provides that
information back to the user via the GUI interfaces (kiosk & web browser). The data process
consists of SQL queries which run on the database to return results to the user both quickly and
accurately. This will require a highly tuned query design which is critical for success of Sous Chef.
We will consult with a database expert early in the design process to help mitigate this risk and
continually examine and tweak performance to ensure customer satisfaction.
The Sous Chef Data Process is also responsible for gathering information for the Grocery store
database. This information includes weekly specials, inventory information and potentially coupons
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offered by the store. The Sous Chef team will implement an integration system that will allow the
team to import data from a database regardless of its source. At the beginning of the integration
process, database schemas will be exchanged with the grocery store. After the field properties are
discussed and agreed upon, the store will send us an updated data in a flat file format at the
scheduled times via an ftp process. We will place a batch job to grab these files and write storedprocedures to translate, validate and import the data into the appropriate tables of the Sous Chef
database.
Figure 6 - Sous Chef System Flow Diagram
Another facet of the Data Process is to provide stores with a data summary for analysis of trends
and shopping habits. This information will include statistical data about the shopper preferences and
download recipe & ingredient information. This information will help the stores analyze customer
desires and allow them to better serve their customers. This information will be custom formatted
for the store to satisfy their needs.
The look and feel of the Sous Chef is extremely important in its long term success. Great care
has been taking in the development of the basic process and this will help in keeping the GUI both
simple and streamlined yet functional. Upon completion of the Sous Chef Meal Planning Process
work began on designing the interface design for the Sous Chef, we utilized the use of rapid
protyping as well as an interface flow diagram.
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The rapid prototyping was used to get idea of the look and feel of the GUI, this helps to keep
the design clean and simple (Supplementary Documents). We can also use these rapid prototypes in
early marketing and sales presentations. The interface flow diagram was used to develop the actual
flow between the various screens of the interface.
The interface flow diagram was used to develop and examine how the user will navigate thru the
various GUI screens to step through the meal planning process. This was an easy way to demonstrate
the shortcuts and flow a user can take in the GUI design. Sous Chef uses several shortcuts to speed
up the meal planning process. These include storing the user preferences so they do not need to
enter this information every time they use the Sous Chef. Navigation is also aided by the use of the
back button to go back to the previous step if the user wishes to change the criteria entered. The
interface flow diagram also demonstrates how the user gets to the various reports (i.e. shopping list,
recipe).
After determining what the final Sous Chef product will be we begin to construct a design for
the prototype. This prototype’s goal is to prove the feasibility of the project. We also began work
developing a management plan, which includes several other plan documents. These documents
include: the funding plan; evaluation plan; marketing plan; scheduling plan; organization plan; and
risk management plan (all these plans are available in the supplementary documents section).
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With a solid system design in place and designs to make a working system prototype, as well as a
well constructed and complete management plan. The Sous Chef project is aligned to be successfully
completed and implemented
PART 4. COMPANY INFORMATION
The Computer Productivity Initiative (CPI) was created in 1995 as part of the Computer Science
Undergraduate Degree Program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The goal of CPI
was to identify and implement modifications to the curriculum that would help students better
understand how to apply their education to real world problems. CPI is made up of two concurrent
semester long courses, CS410 and CS411. In CS410, students would develop solutions to real world
problems and take the necessary steps to develop a solution and show that it is feasible. The Sous
Chef was created as one of these solutions and seeks to develop a new solution to a real world
problem using the knowledge gained from the Computer Science program at Old Dominion
University.
Team Orange was born as a team in the ODU CPI curriculum and consists of six team members
all currently serving different roles to ensure comprehensive project coverage.
PART 5. COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL
Once our operational testing is complete, we will team up with a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the
Hampton Roads area. We will begin beta testing in this location. Due to the type of product and
service we are offering beta testing must be preformed in the marketplace. We project beta testing to
be completed within a years time.
Wal-Mart has been selected as our primary target market due to several factors. Wal-Mart has
seen large growth in the grocery market, yet it is only holds about an 11% share of the grocery sales
market. Wal-Mart has shown interest in assisting and empowering their shoppers by installing selfcheckout kiosks. Wal-Mart currently does not provide any meal-planning assistance, online or instore, for their shoppers.
We will be offering Sous Chef at little or no cost to Wal-Mart during the beta testing. This will
allow us to have a stable testing ground and provide a base for our marketing promotion. We will
promote Sous Chef, to shoppers, within our initial Wal-Mart Supercenter by the use of store fliers
and web-site advertisements and links. Promotion of Sous Chef to other Wal-Mart Supercenters will
be done through marketing representative contacts.
Once beta testing is complete we will begin expanding to local Wal-Mart Supercenters in
Hampton Roads and then to all of Virginia. We will continue our marketing research and select
which section(s) of the United States in which it would be best to integrate Sous Chef into first.
PART 6. CONSULTANTS AND SUBAWARDS/SUBCONTRACTS
Experts and representative resources in this project are defined as any services that are required
from outside the boundaries of the team’s knowledge and skill set, but do not incur any cost. On the
contrary any resource labeled as a consultant result in a contractual agreement for services offered.
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Currently those consultants include legal services and outside technical advice, as well as any
services that are required to create the product. Legal services have been included as part of our
financial plan; they would be required to ensure both the validity and the safety of the final product
in phase I. Upon completion of phase I our team will be seeking patents and copyrights of our
product which should be handled by our legal consultant.
Since Sous Chef uses pre-constructed kiosks, we will have to have a contract from a kiosk
wholesaler. They will provide us with the kiosk hardware which we will setup with our custom
software.
Outside technical advice may be required for network, database, touch screen and web
application advice if questions arise that are not apart of the group member’s current skill sets. This
outside advice would be solicited from specialists in the required field. After Phase I and the
completion of our system requirements we fell that, other than legal subcontracts, all of the work
task can be handled in house by our team members. If problems arise we can recontact consultants
to aid in problem solving.
PART 7. EQUIVALENT OR OVERLAPPING PROPOSALS
None.
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E. REFERENCES CITED
Women and Men in the United States: March 2002, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and
Statistics Administration, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
Us Dept of Labor, Women’s bureau
Food Market Institute, http://www.fmi.org/
Facts Figures and the Future, newsletter, http://www.factsfiguresfuture.com/archive/
Generation and Gender in the Workplace, Family and work institute, 2002
HIGHLIGHTS of THE NATIONAL STUDY OF THE CHANGING WORKFORCE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, Family and work institute, 2002
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan2000/frjan2000d.pdf
http://www.census.gov/
http://www.dol.gov/wb/
http://www.summit-res.com
http://www.coinstar.com
http://www.supermarketguru.com
www.careerjournal.com/salaryhiring/computers/20040209-it-web-tab.htm
http://www.baselinemag.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=118634,00.asp
ACNeilsen Homescan, Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket, 2000
Salary.com
Monster.com
Affordable Kiosks- http://www.affordablekiosks.com/
Existing Farm Fresh Grocery Store Kiosk
Press Release for Farm Fresh Kiosk - http://www.healthnotes.com/About/press/2004.cfm
10 Ways Kiosk Has Changed The Way Business Gets Done http://www.kiomag.com/perspectivesoct03
Kiosk Market Growth - http://www.kiomag.com/mff2002
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D. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MICHAEL SCHAEFER – PROJECT MANAGER
Michael Schaefer is the Project Manager of Sous Chef. He is a Senior Computer Science Student
at Old Dominion University and a member of the Navy ROTC unit. Michael will graduate in May of
2005 and soon after will be a commissioned officer in the United States Navy. He has been selected
for a commission in the Surface Warfare community and has been assigned as a division officer on
the USS James E. Williams (DDG-95).
JASON CLARKE – PRODUCT RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Jason Clarke is the Product Research and Development Manager for Sous Chef. He is a senior
Computer Science Major with plans to graduate in December of 2005. He is currently working parttime as a Co-op for Northrop Grumman Information Technology, the largest defense contractor in
the United States. The position he currently holds is in production planning as an SAP ABAP
programmer. Before Jason came to ODU he spent several years coaching collegiate basketball. He
has a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education from Virginia Tech and a Master's Degree from
AASU in Health Science.
TIFFANY EMERSON – FINANCIAL MANAGER
Tiffany Emerson is the Finance and Accounting Manager for Sous Chef. She has eight years
active duty with the US Navy. She is currently a senior at ODU and is involved heavily with the
NROTC unit there. She is graduating in December 2005 with a major in Computer Science and a
minor in Military Leadership. Tiffany loves to read; she enjoys fiction, non-fiction, and anything in
between. She is happily married with two dogs.
EDWARD HILL – MARKETING & SALES MANAGER
Edward Hill is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Sous Chef. He is a senior at Old Dominion
University majoring in Computer Science with an Information Technology Minor. He is originally
from Florida and also attended college at St. John’s River Community College and The University of
North Florida from 1993 to 1995. Edward then elected to serve his country by enlisting in The
United States Marine Corps. He served on Active Duty as an Aviation Electrician from 1997 to 2002.
He hopes to find a position in the computer science field upon graduation.
ELLEN PAK – TECHNICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT / WEB MASTER
Ellena Pak is a part time senior at Old Dominion University (ODU). She works full time as a
Computer Systems Analyst for Naval Operational Logistics Support Center (NOLSC-Norfolk). She
has also worked for Defense Information Systems Agency-Europe (DISA-Europe) and Norfolk
Southern Corporation's IT department. She held a position in the Student Senate at ODU as the
chair of University Affairs Committee and as the Administrative Vice President. Her interests include
web development and teaching Pilates. She is the Technical Development Manager as well as the
Web Master for Sous Chef.
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ADAM SAMPSON – TECHNICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Adam Sampson is the Technical Research and Development Manager for Sous Chef. He is
currently a senior at Old Dominion University majoring in Computer Science, with a minor in
Computer Engineering. He has worked as a system administrator and network architect for Sampson
and Associates, Architects, P.C. as well as working as a database developer, website designer, and
webmaster for Supercow Import Toys. He plans to work in the software development industry upon
graduation.
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F. BUDGETS (ALSO REQUIRED FOR EACH SUBAWARD(S))
During the first two weeks of each phase, the Project Manager (or Junior Project Manager) will
assemble the remaining members of the Sous Chef team. The team members needed are outlined in
the personnel section of this proposal (Appendix 6). The annual salary for each employee has been
determined based on the salary range provided by www.salary.com for each position. The salary for
each intern has been determined based on the amount Old Dominion University Computer Science
Department pays undergraduate student interns.
The budget for each phase will be shown in three parts, personnel, hard resources and total
budget.
Phase I
Personnel
The days worked for each employee have been determined based on the Work Breakdown
Structure. The employee cost has been determined based on the annual salary given for each
employee and the number of days each employee will be needed. The employee overhead is forty
percent of the total employee salary. This figure is based on Old Dominion’s employee overhead.
Personnel Cost
Employee
Janet Brunelle
Mike Schaefer
Adam Sampson
Jason Clarke
Tiffany Emerson
Edward Hill
Ellena Pak
TBA
Lee White
Jim Kreyenhagen
TBA
TBA
Employee Salary
Job description
General Manager
Project Manager
Database and Network Lead
Quality Assurance Manager & Research
Lead
Finance & Accounting Manager
Marketing and Sales Manager
Webmaster & GUI Development Lead
Database Expert
Wal Mart Representative
All Recipes Representative
Network Expert
Web Application Expert
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
51
51
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$4,896
$4,896
51
51
51
51
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$4,896
$4,896
$4,896
$4,896
306
$29,376
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
$11,750
Total Personnel Cost Phase 1
$41,126
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Hard Resources
A description of each resource along with the price and source for each resource listed can be
found in the Hard Resource portion of the proposal (Appendix 5). The number of workstations,
development software, and network cables are based on the number of employees that will be
working at the same time. While the consultants are assisting the junior personnel, they will share
workstations with the junior personnel.
Hard Resources
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Desktop Machine
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server Machine
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
Qty
1
2
3
1
4
4
1
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$449.00
$109.00
$2,210.00
-
Total Hard Resources Phase 1
Total Cost
$499
$898
(included)
$109
$8,840
(included)
Free
$10,346
Travel
The Sous Chef team is all located in the same geographic location. This location is also the site
of our proposed office space. For these reasons, the only budget item for travel is the trip to Project
Manager will make to the agency granting funding to our project. The funding for this trip is based
on information received from expedia.com
Travel Cost
Cost
Days
4
3
4
Rental Car
Hotel
Meals
Total Travel Cost Phase 1
Cost/day
$40.00
$100.00
$50.00
Total Cost
$160
$300
$200
$660
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Total
The total Sous Chef budget for Phase 1 is determined based on the hard resource cost and
personnel cost shown below.
Sous Chef Phase 1 Total Budget
Personnel Cost
Hard Resource Cost
Travel Cost
Total Phase 1 Budget
$41,126
$10,346
$660
$52,132
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FOR NSF USE ONLY
|
SUMMARY PROPOSAL BUDGET
ORGANIZATION
PROPOSAL NO.
DURATION (MONTHS)
Team Orange – ODU Computer Productivity Initiative
Proposed
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT DIRECTOR
Granted
AWARD NO.
Michael Schaefer
A. SENIOR PERSONNEL: PI/PD, Co-PIs, Faculty and Other Senior Associates
NSF-Funded
List each separately with name and title. (A.7. Show number in brackets)
Person-months
CAL ACAD SUMR
Funds
Funds
Requested By
Granted by NSF
Proposer
$
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. (
) OTHERS (LIST INDIVIDUALLY ON BUDGET EXPLANATION PAGE)
7. (2) TOTAL SENIOR PERSONNEL (1-6)
B. OTHER PERSONNEL (SHOW NUMBERS IN BRACKETS)
1. (0) POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES
2. (0) OTHER PROFESSIONALS (TECHNICIAN, PROGRAMMER, ETC.)
3. (0) GRADUATE STUDENTS
4. (6) UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
5. (0) SECRETARIAL - CLERICAL (IF CHARGED DIRECTLY)
6. (0) OTHER
TOTAL SALARIES AND WAGES (A + B)
C. FRINGE BENEFITS (IF CHARGED AS DIRECT COSTS)
TOTAL SALARIES, WAGES AND FRINGE BENEFITS (A + B + C)
D. EQUIPMENT (LIST ITEM AND DOLLAR AMOUNT FOR EACH ITEM EXCEEDING $5,000.)
(If Different)
$
29,376.00
29,376.00
11,750.00
41,126.00
TOTAL EQUIPMENT
E. TRAVEL
1. DOMESTIC (INCL. CANADA, MEXICO AND U.S. POSSESSIONS)
2. FOREIGN
F. PARTICIPANT SUPPORT
1. STIPENDS
$
2. TRAVEL
660.00
3. SUBSISTENCE
4. OTHER
TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS (1)
G. OTHER DIRECT COSTS
1. MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES
2. PUBLICATION/DOCUMENTATION/DISSEMINATION
3. CONSULTANT SERVICES
4. COMPUTER SERVICES
5. SUBAWARDS
TOTAL PARTICIPANT COSTS
10,346.00
6. OTHER
TOTAL OTHER DIRECT COSTS
H. TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (A THROUGH G)
I. INDIRECT COSTS (F&A) (SPECIFY RATE AND BASE)
10,346.00
TOTAL INDIRECT COSTS (F&A)
J. TOTAL DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS (H + I)
K. RESIDUAL FUNDS (IF FOR FURTHER SUPPORT OF CURRENT PROJECT SEE GPG II.D.7.j.)
L. AMOUNT OF THIS REQUEST (J) OR (J MINUS K)
M. COST SHARING: PROPOSED LEVEL $
PI/PD TYPED NAME AND SIGNATURE*
660.00
51,132.00
$51,132.00
$
Michael Schaefer
AGREED LEVEL IF DIFFERENT: $
DATE
FOR NSF USE ONLY
INDIRECT COST RATE VERIFICATION
ORG. REP. TYPED NAME & SIGNATURE*
DATE
Date Checked
Date of Rate Sheet
Initials-ORG
Janet Brunelle
NSF Form 1030 (10/99) Supersedes All Previous Editions
*SIGNATURES REQUIRED ONLY FOR REVISED BUDGET (GPG III.C)
G. CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT
None.
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H. FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND OTHER RESOURCES
Phase I helps to establish the feasibility of the project. The Sous Chef team will need one
development machine and a copy of the Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003 software in order to
develop a laboratory prototype. The team will also use Windows XP (included in the development
machine purchase) and a copy of the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine, which is free to use.
Electricity, internet access, and general meeting rooms and office space will be provided by Old
Dominion University for the entire six months of Phase I.
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex
GX280)
Desktop Machine
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server Machine
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
TOTAL
Qty
1
2
3
1
4
4
1
Use
Software development, testing, server and kiosk
simulation
Kiosk simulation and desktop web client
Operating system
Software development
In-store, web, middle-tier, database
Operating system
Database software
Cost
$499
$898
(included)
$109
$8,840
(included)
Free
$10,346
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I. SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS
1.LETTER(S) OF TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
None supplied
2.COMPANY COMMERCIALIZATION HISTORY
Not applicable
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J. APPENDIX:
1.PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
1
PROGRAM IDENTIFICATION
This Project Management Plan (PMP) is for the Sous Chef (SC). The program will deliver the
SC hardware, software and documentation for the Sous Chef. The Computer Productivity Initiative
group is responsible for the integration, acceptance testing and training of the Total Computing
Environment.
1.1 Project Management Overview
Execution of the Program will be performed in accordance with the processes defined by the set
of planning documents. These documents include Program Management Plan, Development Plan,
Evaluation Plan, Marketing Plan, Scheduling Plan, Organizational Plan, Financial Plan and Risk
Management Plan (see Figure 1). The responsibilities of the Program Team, the capabilities of the
system, and the Program deliverables are detailed under the contractual provisions, as well as the
Sous Chef group’s technical, management, and cost proposals.
Project Management Plan
Marketing Plan
Evaluation Plan
Funding Plan
Scheduling Plan
Risk Management Plan
Organizational Plan
Figure 1. Program Management
This Program Management Plan describes the management philosophy, program organization,
schedule, and major milestones that serve as the guide for execution of the Program. The PMP also
provides the customer and the quality team with the information they need to monitor and evaluate
the progress of the effort. This plan provides the following pertinent information:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corporate Organization
Program Team Organization With Areas of Responsibility
Work Breakdown Structure
Program Planning
Progress Reporting and Team Management
Detailed Program Schedule and Milestones
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The Program Management Plan provides guidance for the content and execution of the
following plans:
•
•
•
•
Risk Management
Financial
Evaluation
Development
1.2 Corporate Structure
The Computer Productivity Initiative (CPI) began as a research project that was supported by
the National Science Foundation as the first attempt of tying together a Computer Science set of
curricula courses by providing a project based course sequence that required the knowledge and skills
previously learned. Since the completion and reporting of the research success, several courses of a
similar nature have been developed and placed in use as part of the curricula of other universities.
The following is the Computer Productivity Initiative Sous Chef Corporate Organizational
Structure:
•
•
•
Old Dominion University.
General Manager, Computer Productivity Initiative.
Sous Chef Program Office. Sous Chef Program Office will execute the program and
provide day-to-day senior management supervision, management, engineering, and
administrative resources necessary to manage and administer the Sous Chef program.
1.3 Management Approach
The Sous Chef group’s management goal is to work closely with the customer to fully
understand the system requirements and field a system that meets those requirements. The
management approach to executing contracts at SC is based on the philosophy that successful
Programs are delivered by goal-oriented teams. A Program Manager (PM) will lead the Sous Chef
team. The PM is responsible for all planning, programmatic, technical and financial aspects of the
Program. The PM is the primary Point of Contact (POC) for the customer. The primary duties
include supervision of all planning, scheduling, financial, and technical activities, and customer
liaison. The PM is responsible for all Program-related decisions and commitments with approval, as
required from the Corporate Management Team.
A key element of the Sous Chef group’s program management approach is to be directly
involved with the customer in every step of the process. The SC team encourages the customer to
retain an active role in monitoring the program effort from proof of concept, to critical design, and
continuing into production and the out years. The customer is encouraged to discuss technical
details directly with members of the Program team, provide planning and schedule
recommendations, and assist in resolution of technical and programmatic issues. In order to
facilitate customer involvement, the SC group will provide access to program information including,
but not limited to:
•
•
Program Plan and Schedules
Program Status
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•
•
•
Profit
Formal Review Material
System Drawings and Documentation
1.4 Program Team
The Program Team is committed to provide the best value by delivering real world solutions
utilizing advanced easy-to-use, low risk solutions at the lowest cost. This commitment is attainable
because it is based on the re-use of existing technology that is field proven. Through strategic
teaming and an extensive system selection process, the Computer Productivity Initiative has
assembled a cohesive Program Team that is experienced with the implementation of each
component that will comprise the Sous Chef Total Ship Computing Environment.
Project Manager (PM)
Overall management responsibility for the SC is assigned to a Project Manager who is
responsible for planning and coordination of the day-to-day aspects of the program. The Project
Manager is responsible for making sure the tasks are evenly distributed and that each of the team
members is playing a vital role in the main project goal. The PM’s principal assistants are:
•
•
•
•
•
Database and Network Lead - Responsibilities include researching the latest database
development technologies and network technologies. Develop and implement policies and
procedures for ensuring the security and integrity of the database. Implement data models
and database designs. Communicate with the database and network experts when a problem
or questions arise in the project. Act as a liaison between the experts and the team leads.
Webmaster and GUI Development Lead - Develops and maintains the company's portal.
Performs backups and ensure user accessibility to the site. Monitors site traffic and helps
scale site capacity to meet traffic demands performance. Designs the look and feel for the
site. Designs and develops a number of GUI screens to be used in test product.
Quality Assurance Manager and Research Lead - Develops, publishes, and implements
test plans. Writes and maintains test automation. Develops quality assurance standards.
Defines and tracks quality assurance metrics such as defect densities and open defect counts.
Finance and Accounting Manager - Responsible for managing the general accounting
function. Designs and analyzes budge, accounting and purchasing. Responsible for
purchasing and negotiating materials, equipments and supplies from vendors. Evaluates
vendor quotes and services to determine most desirable suppliers.
Marketing and Sales Manager - Manages and executes new sales/service initiatives for a
particular market. Responsible for marketing acquired media contracts and implement
marketing strategies for the target demographics.
1.5 Program Duration
The Sous Chef program is a three-year project that is planned to span exactly 592 business days.
The program is divided into four phases. Phase 0 is conception of the project and will last 61
business days. Phase 1 is Proof of Concept where a lab prototype will be built along with the
creation of several documents including a user’s manual. Phase 1 will last for 51 working days.
Phase 2 is the Critical Design phase, where the program will develop and prepare the Sous Chef for
the final phase. Phase 2 will last 215 working days. Phase 3 is considered to consist of producing a
final product for sell to the target market. While Phase 3 will last 265 working days, it is understood
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that Phase 3 is production and out years which means the program will review its current state and
plan for the future implementations and support.
2
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
The program Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) reflects the budgeted cost versus resources
required to complete each task. The WBS phase numbers are integrated as part of the master
program schedule. Assuming the funding of SBIR, the budget is carefully planned out against the set
deadlines set by SBIR proposal guidelines. The budgets are created by the Financial and Accounting
Lead, reviewed by the SC project team and set by the Program Manager. The WBS will be used to
mark the different milestones throughout the phases and to make sure the team is on time and under
budget at every possible mark. The WBS management tool that SC will use is Microsoft Project.
3
PROGRAM PLANNING
The Sous Chef Program Manager will maintain the program master schedule. The master
schedule contains a line item for each WBS element and will be used to track the progress of each
element. All deviations from the master schedule must be coordinated with the project team. It is
the responsibility of each team member to call attention to possible schedule deviations at the earliest
opportunity. The Program Manager will coordinate the program schedule with Computer
Productivity Initiative. The program will be developed in phases. Within each phase, formal reviews
will be announced in advance of the starting date.
Sous Chef will take a “top-down approach” to the Program Schedule, meaning that we will pace
our workload to fit the overall Program requirements. Particular attention will be given to timely
milestone completions. It is recognized that the schedule is particularly tight, containing critical
program milestones throughout all four phases, and adequate personnel will be available in order to
keep the program moving forward.
4
PROGRESS PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
All Sous Chef Team members will participate in progress reporting and team management. Sous
Chef will track technical and financial progress of the program. Progress reviews will be held, as
mutually agreeable by the Sous Chef Team and Computer Productivity Initiative, whenever
necessary.
•
•
•
•
•
Report on progress to date
Present work to be performed during the next period before review
Present status of all deliverables and review planned delivery dates
Plan and coordinate activities, including date of next review
Discuss technical or programmatic issues as necessary
In preparation for the meetings, the Sous Chef Program Manager will collect the status data on
all relevant ongoing activities, progress against schedule and budget, and planned activity for the next
reporting period. Quality reviews of all program documentation and procedures will be held
periodically. Peer editing groups will hold continual quality reviews, which will be set by the PM. In
particular, the Quality Assurance Lead will be involved with program deliveries and milestones and
will work off of the master program schedule to plan program audits. Technical, financial and quality
progress and status reporting will be conducted according to the following general guidelines.
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4.1 Technical Progress and Reporting
The schedule for the program is established during the planning phase and monitored
throughout the performance period. The schedule contains an entry for each WBS element. The
percentage of completion for each WBS element is determine as necessary to manage program
progress and is reviewed before and after each milestone is completed.
4.2 Financial Management and Reporting
The financial profile for the Program is established during the planning phase and monitored
throughout the performance period. Assigning a specific budget to each WBS elements generates
this profile. A master budget is prepared in accordance with the proposed funds and the WBS.
The PM is provided with an information package that identifies the spending budgets in relation
to the WBS, in addition to the overall budget for the program, and a synopsis of all major
deliverables and milestones. The PM uses this information to track the overall financial progress of
the program on a weekly basis. The Financial and Accounting Lead automatically provide an
updated budget on a monthly basis, or upon the request from the PM. The PM uses the financial
summary in conjunction with his assessments of technical progress to track the overall status of the
efforts.
4.3 Profits and Cost
Profit will be viewed as all those monies incurred above and beyond the overall cost of the
program. Profit will be reviewed upon later phases to monitor the financial success of the program.
Cost is calculated by the following formula:
Cost = Labor Costs * Time + Direct Costs + Indirect Costs
4.4 Evaluation Plan
Each phase will be evaluated based on the evaluation checklist for that phase. Evaluation will
occur every 3 months or as deemed necessary by the PM. The evaluation checklist consists of five
subcategories. They are as follows:
•
Personnel Factor: each member of the team will be evaluated based on technical,
communication, management (if applicable), and overall impact to the group.
•
Administrative Factor: scheduling and task breakdown analysis is included in this
evaluation factor.
•
Financial Factor: the scheduled budget for the current phase will be evaluated for cost
efficiency, and funding allocation.
•
Marketing Factor: the current target market and an updated list of competitors will be
validated.
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•
Technical Factor: the components of the software, hardware and overall system will be
evaluated for completion, testing, and integration.
4.5 Monthly Progress Report
The Sous Chef team will submit a monthly progress report. The report shall cover, at a
minimum, the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Progress Summary
Milestone Deliverables, planned, actual and forecast
Cost and Profit report
Dependencies: a ‘critical items list’ of all items which could jeopardize timely completion of
the work or any significant parts of the program
Risk Status
Look Ahead (Future action and Forecast)
Work Package/Activities planned, actual and forecast status
Milestone/Deliverables planned, actual and forecast status
Quality Actions (Reviews, audits)
5 Monthly Progress Report
Reviews will play an integral part in the management and monitoring of all phases of the Sous
Chef Program. Informal reviews with the Program team members will be held at all levels on a
weekly basis to ensure that the program stays on track. Formal technical reviews will be held to
ensure that the program is proceeding as planned. The PM will meet with each team section and
ensure that they are up to speed with the course of the project. In turn, the team members will
timely report all successes and difficulties they have encountered that have had any effect on the
course of the project. Formal reviews will be completed at least every three months. The formal
reviews will deal with those issues that can be fixed in the future, and will also use the evaluation plan
as a way of gauging the success of the program through the current time.
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2. EVALUATION PLAN
The Sous Chef team will employ necessary evaluation techniques for each of the phases of the
project, including phase 0. The evaluation plan will help us determine when each of the phases of the
project is complete.
Phase 0
Phase 0 is used mainly for research of the topic. In phase 0 we have certain deliverables:
feasibility, milestones, and final presentations, as well as this SBIR phase 1 proposal document.
Evaluation for phase 0 takes the form of making sure our research is correct, especially the research
for how to build our product, how much it will cost, who we will sell it to, and how much we will sell
it for. When we know the project well enough to keep the ambiguity of it near nil we will know that
we are done with phase 0. We will then submit our SBIR phase 1 proposal.
Phase 1
In Phase 1 we will start to focus more on how to build Sous Chef, and this requires a lot of
testing. We will use the resources we specified in the budget section to actually build Sous Chef. Each
module will be tested individually to make sure it is doing its job, including: separate databases,
database interfaces/controlling software, and the GUI front end. Then we will connect the modules
and test more to make sure it works. Our lab prototype will be complete when we know that we have
proved Sous Chef is a viable hardware and software solution. Phase I will be complete when we are
comfortable with moving on to the production prototype.
Phase 2
In Phase 2 we will order our kiosks and servers and build the production prototype of Sous
Chef. We will test the prototype in-house until it is ready to be installed in the Wal-Mart beta-site
location. Once we install the system there we will conduct rigorous tests to make sure Sous Chef can
withstand the demands of a Wal-Mart Super Center and its shoppers. We will be ready for Phase 3
and full-scale production when both our team and Wal-Mart feel comfortable with Sous Chef.
Phase 3
By Phase 3 we will be comfortable with the Sous Chef system and with its installation into a
typical Wal-Mart Super Center. We will then focus on training our team to maximize the efficiency of
installation during the first year of Phase 3. By the end of Phase 3 we hope to outfit all 11 local WalMart Super Centers with Sous Chef. By the second year our team will be very comfortable with the
system installation and we will begin to ramp up production so that we can install Sous-Chef into all
Virginia Wal-Mart Super Centers by the third year of Phase 3.
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3. MARKETING PLAN
Initial Research: Our initial research showed that many Americans do not plan their meals and
therefore frequent restaurants and fast food for their meals. It also showed that if we could simplify
meal planning and provide coupons or discounts on desired items, then shoppers would be more
likely to use our product and frequent the associated grocery store. Research also showed that the
average shopper will usually shop at 2.2 different grocery stores per week.
Initial Target Market: Wal-Mart Super Centers (As of Jan 31, 2005 Wal-Mart Inc. has a total of
1713 Supercenters. 242 of these stores were added in the 2005 fiscal year.)
We decided on Wal-Mart as our Primary Target Market based on the follow information: Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. is large corporation that is interested in new innovative ways of providing the shopper
with what it wants and needs. “Whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a schoolteacher with a
great idea – we’re always looking for partners who can bring great merchandise to our customers.”
2005 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Annual Report
Wal-Mart currently does not have any internet or technology based assistance for their shoppers in
the grocery section of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart currently has a small portion of the grocery market and
we feel that our product will allow Wal-Mart to become more competitive and increase their
presence in this market.
Secondary Target Market: Major Grocery Store Chains
We decided on making Major Grocery Store Chains our Secondary Target Market based on the
following information:
Most Major Grocery Store Chains already have some internet or technology based shopper
assistance; this makes them less likely to invest in Sous Chef at this time. Their current technology
lacks what we have to offer and will make them prime targets once Sous Chef has assisted Wal-Mart
in gaining a larger portion of the grocery market. These Major Grocery Store Chains may feel the
need for Sous Chef to regain lost sales.
Preliminary Marketing Strategy: A single Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Hampton Roads Area will
be our first step in reaching our goal of having Sous Chef in every Wal-Mart Supercenter. We will
use this Wal-Mart as our beta-testing ground. We will supply the Wal-Mart with the kiosks at a
reduced or no lease fee for the first year, or until preliminary testing is complete, whichever comes
first. After several rounds of testing we will determine the status of Sous Chef. If acceptable, we will
expand to multiple Wal-Mart Supercenters in the Hampton Roads area. Once Sous Chef is well
established in the Hampton Roads area, we will expand to selected areas, from further market
research, where we feel Sous Chef will have the largest impact. We will continue to add Sous Chef to
Wal-Mart Super Centers until there is a Sous Chef presence in almost all areas of the United States.
We will then approach Major Grocery Store Chains if they have not already attempted to contact us.
Product/Service: Our service and products that we are providing are as follows:
• Sous Chef Database of Recipes
• Sous Chef Database of shoppers information (this database will be populated as shoppers
begin using Sous Chef)
• Sous Chef Kiosks
• Sous Chef in-store Servers
• Sous Chef Web Site connection
• Sous Chef Tech Support
• Regular Instore Maintenance of Kiosk and Server
• Sous Chef Integrated Recipe Selection Software
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Place
HeadQuarters: We are planning to place our headquarters in TBA. We will have Marketing Reps
that will travel to individual stores to assist in Sous Chef marketing. We will have Tech Training
Reps that will travel to individual stores to train Wal-Mart employees on most aspects of Sous Chef
Kiosk repair. We will have Kiosk Repair Techs that will travel to individual stores for major repair
problems with Sous Chef Kiosk malfunctions. We will also provide 24-hour Sous Chef Tech
support by phone and web chat.
Kiosk Placement: We recommend that at least one Kiosk be placed at the main entrance area to
the grocery store. Additional Kiosk placement will vary depending on the store’s layout.
Promotion: Due to the type of service we are offering we must make direct contact with Wal-Mart
by means of a Marketing Representative. We will need well trained Marketing Reps to approach,
persuade, and educate the Wal-Mart managers that our service will increase grocery sales, by
increasing shopper loyalty and increasing the amount of items that the shopper purchases. We may
also provide a low cost or free, trial period to entice early Supercenters to place Sous Chef in their
stores.
Price
Cost To Provide: Our costs to equip a single Wal-Mart Supercenter with 2 Kiosks and Servers and
Sous Chef Network access is $ 6190.00.
Cost For Customer: It will cost a single Wal-Mart $75,000 - $80,000 for us to install our system in
the store and $3,000 a month for leasing 2 Kiosks and to maintain access to the Sous Chef Network.
Return on Investment: From our calculations it will take 2 years to begin seeing a profitable return
on investment once we begin marketing Sous Chef. The following is a breakdown of costs and
income by Phases and then by year once complete Phase 3. Once we outfit all 54 Wal-Mart
Supercenters in Virginia we will break even. We are confident that we can complete this in the first
two years of production.
Income (Phase3) for 2 years
Projected year 1 sales
Projected year 2 sales
Total Sales
Projected year 1 maintenance
Projected year 2 maintenance
Total Maintenance Fees
Total Income
Stores
Expenses
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3 year 1
Phase 3 year 2
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Cost
$80,000
$80,000
11
54
$36,000
$36,000
Total
$800,000
$3,440,000
$4,240,000
$396,000
$1,944,000
$2,340,000
$6,580,000
Total
$52,132
$743,395
$1,683,010
$1,909,232
Total Expenses
$4,387,769
Net Income (Income - Expenses)
$2,192,231
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4. FUNDING PLAN
The Sous Chef team will be seeking financial assistance from the National Science Foundation
for the first 2.5 years of its existence. In order to accomplish this we will apply through Small
Business Innovative Research (SBIR). Through SBIR we hope to receive $100,000 for phase I (6
months) and $750,000 for phase II (2 years). Sous Chef is an innovative design idea that will help
grocery stores increase their profits by “building their shoppers’ baskets.” It will also help grocery
shoppers effectively and efficiently plan out daily meals, which in turn will bring those shoppers back
to the store. Sous Chef qualifies for SBIR because it is a small, independently owned business
designed to make a profit. We understand the requirements for building our product, and have
budgeted accordingly. We also understand that the deadline for SBIR phase I submission is
December 15, 2005.
Following phase I we complete a laboratory prototype of Sous Chef that will prove that the
concept works. For phase II we will build a full-scale production prototype and begin to work with
our customers in beta testing Sous Chef. Following phase II we will acquire financial support from
our parent company and/or private investors to start production of Sous Chef.
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5. RESOURCE PLAN
Phase I
Phase I helps to establish the feasibility of the project. The Sous Chef team will need one
development machine and a copy of the Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003 software in order to
develop a laboratory prototype. The team will also use Windows XP (included in the development
machine purchase) and a copy of the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine, which is free to use.
Electricity, internet access, and general meeting rooms and office space will be provided by Old
Dominion University for the entire six months of Phase I.
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex
GX280)
Desktop Machine
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server Machine
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
TOTAL
Qty
1
2
3
1
4
4
1
Use
Software development, testing, server and kiosk
simulation
Kiosk simulation and desktop web client
Operating system
Software development
In-store, web, middle-tier, database
Operating system
Database software
Cost
$499
$898
(included)
$109
$8,840
(included)
Free
$10,346
Phase II
In Phase II, the Sous Chef team will build a working prototype of the Sous Chef system that
will demonstrate that such a device can be built using the technology proven in Phase I. For this
phase, the Sous Chef team will use the same computer and software for development as in Phase I,
but will also require four servers and a kiosk system in order to build a working prototype. A copy of
Microsoft SQL Server will also need to be purchased for the database server. The team will also
require electricity, internet access, and offices to house the equipment, hold meetings, and to work on
the project.
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
In-Store server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Production Kiosk
Facilities
Recipe Database
TOTAL
Qty
14
10
10
6
1
7
3
2
-
Use
Software development
Operating system (development)
Software development
Web, middle-tier, database servers
In-store server
Operating system (servers)
Database software
In-store kiosk
3000’ sq., utilities, internet access
From AllRecipes.com
Cost
$6,986
(included)
$981
$6,630
$2,210
(included)
$2,731
$4,590
$150,000
$11,000
$185,128
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Phase III
In Phase III, the Sous Chef team will put their project into production and begin working
with Wal-Mart to place kiosks into stores all over America. For this phase, the Sous Chef team will
require six total servers, three of which can be reused from Phase II, and ten development machines,
each with a copy of Microsoft Visual C#.NET. The team will also require a number of production
kiosks based on Wal-Mart’s demand and an in-store server for each store. The team can use the
facilities (electricity, internet access, office space) used in Phase II as well as requiring a new set of
facilities to house the web, middle-tier, and database servers.
Year 1
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Microsoft Windows XP
Server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities
Recipe Database
TOTAL
Qty
3
3
11
11
22
11
-
Use
Software development
Operating system (development)
In-store servers (11 stores)
Operating system (servers)
In-store kiosk
Database software
3000’ sq., utilities, internet access
From AllRecipes.com
Cost
$1,497
(included)
$24,310
(included)
$45,000
$10,013
$150,000
$132,000
$362,820
Year 2
Name
Server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities
Recipe Database
TOTAL
Qty
43
43
86
43
-
Use
In-store servers (11 stores)
Operating system (servers)
In-store kiosk
Database software
3000’ sq., utilities, internet access
From AllRecipes.com
Cost
$95,030
(included)
$172,860
$39,141
$150,000
$132,000
$589,031
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6. STAFFING PLAN
The personnel needed for Sous Chef will change as the project progresses. The personnel
needed fore each phase are shown below.
Phase 0
During this phase, the Sous Chef team will consist of six students in the Computer Science
department at Old Dominion University. They will be responsible for developing the idea for this
project and proving its feasibility. Additional members of the team include our General Manager,
Janet Brunelle, a professor in the CS department of ODU.
Phase I
Once the project has been approved and funded, the team for Phase I will consist of one project
manager, one database and network lead, one webmaster and GUI development lead, one quality
assurance manager and research lead, one finance and accounting manager and one marketing and
sales manager. The students in the Computer Science department at Old Dominion University will
fill these positions. We will also need one database expert, one web application expert, one network
expert, a Wal-Mart representative, and an All Recipe representative. Marketing and legal fees for this
phase will be provided by Old Dominion University. Job descriptions and requirements of each
position are outlined below.
Project Manager:
Responsibilities include assembling the team, contracting with vendors for necessary supplies
(Kiosk supplier, Dell, Microsoft), assign tasks to team members, oversee project to ensure it is on
time and budget, assist in the development of the product when needed, ensure all necessary
deliverables and milestones are met, act as liaison between project team and upper management.
Require skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior level
status preferred. Previous experience in project management, personnel management, and scheduling
preferred.
Database and Network Lead:
Researches the latest database development technologies and network technologies. Develops
and implements policies and procedures for ensuring the security and integrity of the database.
Implements data models and database designs. Communicates with the database and network
experts when problems or questions arise in the project. Act as a liaison between the experts and the
team leads.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior
level status preferred. Previous experience in database and network development a plus.
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Webmaster and GUI Development Lead:
Develops and maintains the Sous Chef's web portal. Performs backups and ensures user
accessibility to the site. Monitors site traffic and helps scale site capacity to meet traffic demands and
performance. Designs the look and feel for the site. Leads development effort for all web and kiosk
screen design. Works with the Program Manager, Database and Network Lead to ensure
requirements are being met. Designs and develops a number of GUI screens to be used in test
product.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior
level status preferred, working knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, SQL, graphical design and GUI
development a plus.
Quality Assurance Manager and Research Lead:
Leads research efforts in phase 0 and 1. Develops, publishes, and implements test plans. Writes
and maintains test automation. Develops quality assurance standards. Defines and tracks quality
assurance metrics such as defect densities and open defect counts. Directs efforts of network,
database, interface and system integration testing.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior
level status preferred; experience coding in C, C++ and Java a plus. Academic knowledge of quality
assurance methodologies such as CS350 is a must. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and
accomplish goals.
Finance and Accounting Manager:
Manages the general accounting function. Designs and analyzes budget, accounting and
purchasing. Purchases and negotiates materials, equipments and supplies from vendors. Evaluates
vendor quotes and services to determine most desirable suppliers. Maintains budget and provides
Program Manager and General Manager with monthly financial reports. Tracks cost and labor on a
weekly basis.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior
level status preferred, working experience in Microsoft Excel a must; previous experience in general
accounting a plus.
Marketing and Sales Manager:
Manages and executes new sales/service initiatives for a particular market; implements marketing
strategies for the target demographics. Manages and executes new sales/service initiatives for a
particular market.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science. Senior
level status preferred, experience in marketing and sales a plus. Good verbal and communication
skills a must.
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Database Expert:
Assists Database and Network Lead in development of database and security measures for
database, assists in creation of data flow diagrams and decomposition diagrams, reviews final
database plan for possible flaws in design or implementation.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor’s degree in computer science with at least two years
experience in developing and maintaining databases. Has experience in writing SQL, RDBMS,
packages and functions.
Network Expert:
Assists Database and Network Lead in developing a robust network plan, assists in developing a
security protocol, review final network plan for inconsistencies and possible problems.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor’s degree in computer science with at least two years
experience in setting up and testing internal networks. Working experience in network protocols a
plus.
Phase II
By Phase II the members of the Sous Chef team will have received a bachelor’s degree in
Computer Science. In addition to Webmaster and GUI Development Lead, Quality Assurance
Manager and Research Lead, Finance and Accounting Manager, Marketing and Sales Manager, whose
job descriptions are mentioned in Phase I, we have to hire additional staff to meet the development
timeline and to assist in the development of the system. The new staff will consist of one network
engineer, one software engineer, one junior programmer, two web programmers, one touch screen
programmer, one SQL/DB programmer and one software engineer who specializes in testing.
During this phase, the legal and marketing assistance will be provided by Old Dominion University.
Job descriptions and requirements of each new position are outlined below.
Software Engineer:
Designs, modifies, develops, writes and implements software programming applications.
Supports and/or installs software applications/operating systems. Participates in the testing process
through test review and analysis, test witnessing and certification of software. Participate in Alpha &
Beta coordination/support.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline. C, C++, C# and other programming languages a must.
Network Engineer:
Plans and evaluates network systems and makes recommendations for resources required to
maintain and/or expand service levels. Provide highly skilled technical assistance in network
planning, engineering and architecture. Develops technical standards and interface application;
identify and evaluate new products; provide solutions for network problems; interfaces with
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customers to determine system needs. Build Sous Chef network tiers and set up development
network.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline, or equivalent work experience desired. 4+ years of data
communications experience required. Advanced network skills, experience with firewall setup and
maintenance and networking concepts required.
Junior Programmer:
Responsibilities include developing interfaces between input and output devices, developing
sensor scanning and recognition software, testing of individual components of system, and complete
prototype testing.
Required skills and experience: Undergraduate student majoring Computer Science. Senior level
status preferred, experience in C++, C#, SQL, and other programming languages a must.
Web Programmers:
Designs, develops, and implements software packages for web sites. Troubleshoots, debugs
and implements software code. Reviews and analyzes programming systems including encoding,
testing, debugging and documenting for Sous Chef. Supports and/or installs software applications.
Participates in the testing process through test review and analysis, test witnessing and certification of
software. Configures the software and website. Develops, implements, and maintains firewall
technologies that secure Sous Chef’s website. Defines network security issues, develops plans and
procedures, and ensures safety and privacy of the newly developed Internet and Intranet sites.
Creates, modifies and deletes user profiles and other access controls. Reviews security logs and
violation reports.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline. Minimum of 3 years of experience in Web application development
a must. Has knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures within web development
field (i.e., SQL, C++, C#, HTML, CGI and JavaScript).
Touch Screen Programmer:
Designs, develops and test kiosk applications using a number of visual components. Designs and
develops several interface touch screens for Sous Chef kiosks. Integrates GUI screens with existing
database. May participate in the testing and enhancing of components.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline; 1-3 years of experience in GUI development; C, C++, C# language
programming, XMotif programming interfaces and GUI API packages a plus.
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SQL/DB programmer:
Reviews, evaluates, designs, implements and maintains Sous Chef’s database[s]. Identifies data
sources, constructs data decomposition diagrams, provides data flow diagrams and documents the
process. Writes codes for database access, modifications, and constructions including stored
procedures. Reviews and analyzes programming systems including encoding, testing, debugging and
documenting for Sous Chef data process and database. Supports and installs database applications.
Participates in the testing process through test review and analysis.
Develops technical
specifications.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline; minimum of 3 years of experience in database development
required. Experience with MS SQL DTW/Stored Procedures, MS SQL Server, and MS2000 SQL
Suite a plus.
Test Engineer:
Review codes, test results and produces test result documentation. Evaluates, recommends, and
implements automated test tools and strategies. Develops, maintains, and upgrades automated test
scripts and architectures for application products. Also writes, implements, and reports status for
system test cases for testing. Analyzes test cases and provides regular progress reports.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or other related
scientific or technical discipline. A minimum of 2 years of experience in either software testing or
development; C, C++, C# code is required. Must have experience in system level testing including
test planning, test cases design, test execution and test automation. Familiar with test case tracking
tools and test management systems, like TIMS. Excellent interpersonal and sound written
communication skills are essential.
Dietician:
Assist and oversee Sous Chef’s recipe development and provide advice on recipe nutrition
information.
Required skills and experience: Requires a bachelor’s degree and is a registered dietician with 0-2
years of experience.
Phase III
Phase III is the actual production of our product. During this phase, the necessary
personnel become more customer oriented rather than technology oriented. In addition to
Webmaster and GUI Development Lead, Quality Assurance Manager and Research Lead, Finance
and Accounting Manager, Marketing and Sales Manager, whose job descriptions are mentioned in
Phase I, and Software Engineer and Network Engineer, whose job descriptions are mentioned in
Phase II, Phase III requires one Technical Support representative, Customer Service Representative,
Customer Field Representative, Field technician and Sales representative. We will also need a
Network Engineer, Database Administrator, Software Engineer, Web Master, Document Specialist
and a Lawyer. Descriptions of each new title are listed below.
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Technical Support Representative:
Provides support to end users on a variety of issues, identifies, researches, and resolves
technical problems, responds to telephone calls, emails and personnel requests for technical support,
documents, tracks and monitors the problem to ensure a timely resolution
Required skills and experience: An associate's degree in a related area and 0-2 years of
experience in the field or in a related area.
Customer Service Representative:
Manages telephone call inquiries, and promotes Sous Chef products and services, researches
and resolves complaints to ensure customer retention and satisfaction.
Required skills and experience: A minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent and 0-2
years of experience in the field or in a related area.
Customer Field Representative:
Handles customer relations and Promotes Sous Chef products and services off-site,
researches and resolves complaints to ensure customer retention and satisfaction.
Required skills and experience: A minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent and 0-2
years of experience in the field or in a related area
Field Technician:
Installs and performs maintenance on kiosks and servers. Travel from site to site to resolve
problems. On-call shifts including weekends and holidays are possible.
Required skills and experience: Requires a minimum of high school degree with 1-3 years of
experience in related field. Kiosk troubleshooting and maintenance experience a plus.
Sales Representative:
Develops new prospects and interacts with existing and potential customers to increase sales of
Sous Chef’s products and/or services.
Required skills and experience: A minimum of an associate's degree or its equivalent with 0-2
years of experience in the field or in a related area.
Network Engineer:
Provide rapid recovery of Sous Chef network. Works to ensure that the site network and
network management environment is reliable and that performance exceeds expected service level.
Uses established commercial best practices to develop templates and documentation to improve
operational procedures. Responsible for the implementation of engineering process that provide for
a timely and appropriate integration of all engineering disciplines to ensure a network system meets
all requirements including Service Level Agreements. Identifies and evaluates problems. Determines
the risk areas and mitigates their impact. Implement and maintain management systems to support
fault detection, correlation, performance metrics, and reporting to support service level agreements.
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Reviews and maintains configuration standards for network equipment. Serves as an escalation point
for network issues, including backbone routing, customer router configuration, and Internet related
services. Provides mentorship and guidance to technicians with implementation and maintenance of
the network.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university
with a major in Computer Science or equivalent experience in related field. 3-5 years experience
that includes operational support, hands-on implementing and configuration of network devices such
as servers, routers, hubs, switches, UPS, desktop computers, and cabling in LANBAN/MAN/WAN
environment. Strong knowledge of trouble ticketing software and network monitoring solutions.
Strong communication, writing and editing skills needed to transfer information to individuals
involved, in the networking process. Strong problem solving and troubleshooting skills required.
Ability to lift up to 50 lbs a must.
Database Administrator:
Manages development of database projects. Administers, maintains, develops and implements
policies and procedures for ensuring the security and integrity of the company database. Supports
application developers in planning preparations, load analysis, and backup and recovery of data.
Implements data models and database designs, data access and table maintenance codes; resolves
database performance issues, database capacity issues, replication, and other distributed data issues.
Develops, implements, and maintains database back-up and recovery procedures for processing
environments; and ensures data integrity, security, and recoverability are built into the database
applications.
Required skills and experience: A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or
university with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or
other related scientific or technical discipline. Must have at least five years of experience with
database management systems, system design and analysis, operating systems software; and
internal and data manipulation languages.
Software Engineer:
Contribute to project planning prior to Execution Commit (e.g. schedules, equipment
needs/costs, strategy, understand scale, performance, inter-operability and RAS objectives). Develop
solution level test strategies and test plans, based on Product requirements, System Functional
Specification documents and customers deployment scenarios. Design & write test cases reflecting
the documented test plan. Execute test cases per test plan, collecting data on faults and reporting.
Regularly assess progress and prepare test status report for management. Support the design team in
debugging issues; isolate root cause of issues and partner with design team on resolution. Plan
regression strategy. Complete automated regression scripts per test plan. Interface with Customer
Eng., Marketing and Sales to understand customer problems and requirements and provide raw
material for training and documentation. Review documentation material and provide input to
solution design guides etc. Work with development teams across the organization and identify gaps
in overall testing for the solution.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent
programming experience is desired, 3-4 years of experience in programming languages such as C,
C++, C# and development tools a must. Strong verbal and written communication required.
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Webmaster:
Develops and maintains the Sous Chef's portal. Performs backups and ensures user
accessibility to the site. Monitors site traffic and helps scale site capacity to meet traffic demands
performance. Improves the application's efficiency and designs the look and feel for the site.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor's degree in Computer Science or in a related area
of specialty and 2-4 years of experience in Web application development. Has knowledge of
standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field (i.e., SQL, C++, HTML, CGI
and JavaScript). .
Lawyer
Creates, writes, negotiates and reviews hardware and/or software licensing contracts, purchasing
contracts for required materials, and production and development contracts for Sous Chef. Works
with the Sous Chef team in establishing agreements that reflect the interests of the company. Also
works on copyright and patent documentation.
Required skills and experience: Must be a graduate of an accredited law school with 5-8 years of
experience and admitted into the state bar. Experience in Information Technology field a plus.
Dietician:
Oversee Sous Chef’s recipe development and provide advice on recipe nutrition
information. Assist developing recipes, inspects food to ensure portions adhere to set restrictions
and dietary standards.
Required skills and experience: Requires a bachelor’s degree and is a registered dietician with
0-2 years of experience.
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7. SCHEDULING PLAN
Phase 0
Phase 0 is not a real SBIR phase but for our class (ODU Computer Science 410) it counts as
the “Project Inception” phase. It spans the entire semester, in this case Spring 2005. In CS410 we
learn how to create a professional and effective SBIR Phase I proposal.
As shown in our Phase 0 Gantt chart, we follow a structured timeline in order to prove feasibility
of our project, Sous Chef.
- Feasibility Presentation – Prove feasibility
- Milestones Presentation – Convey our knowledge of major project milestones
- Final Presentation – Submit Sous Chef proposal
Phase 1
We continue into Phase 1, assuming we receive funding. In phase 1 we will prove that the
concept of Sous Chef works through a working laboratory prototype. We also write up thorough
documentation for how the prototype works, and submit it along with an SBIR Phase 2 proposal.
The Phase 2 proposal will show that we have proven that Sous Chef will work.
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Phase 2
In Phase 2 our team will build a production prototype of Sous Chef and install it in a Wal-Mart
store that will serve as a beta site.
Phase 2 involves software development and testing, hardware testing, total system evaluation,
tremendous marketing efforts, and publishing of the final user manual.
By the end of Phase 2 our testing will be complete and we will be ready to roll out Sous Chef
into more Wal-Mart locations.
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Phase 3
Phase 3 consists of main production of Sous Chef and product roll-out to all 11 local Wal-Mart
locations within the first year of this phase.
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8. BUDGET
During the first two weeks of each phase, the Project Manager (or Junior Project Manager) will
assemble the remaining members of the Sous Chef team. The team members needed is outlined in
the personnel section of this proposal (Appendix 6). The annual salary for each employee has been
determined based on the salary range provided by www.salary.com for each position. The salary for
each intern has been determined based on the amount Old Dominion University Computer Science
Department pays undergraduate student interns.
The budget for each phase will be shown in three parts, personnel, hard resources and total
budget.
Phase I
Personnel
The days worked for each employee have been determined based on the Work Breakdown
Structure. The employee cost has been determined based on the annual salary given for each
employee and the number of days each employee will be needed. The employee overhead is forty
percent of the total employee salary. This figure is based on Old Dominion’s employee overhead.
Personnel Cost
Employee
Job description
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
Janet Brunelle
General Manager
Mike Schaefer
Project Manager
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
Adam Sampson
Database and Network Lead
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
Jason Clarke
Quality Assurance Manager & Research Lead
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
Tiffany Emerson
Finance & Accounting Manager
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
Edward Hill
Marketing and Sales Manager
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
Ellena Pak
Webmaster & GUI Development Lead
51
$24,000.00
$4,896
TBA
Database Expert
Lee White
Wal Mart Representative
Jim Kreyenhagen
All Recipes Representative
TBA
Network Expert
TBA
Web Application Expert
Employee Salary
306
$29,376
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
$11,750
Total Personnel Cost Phase 1
$41,126
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Hard Resources
A description of each resource along with the price and source for each resource listed can be
found in the Hard Resource portion of the proposal (Appendix 5). The number of workstations,
development software, and network cables are based on the number of employees that will be
working at the same time. While the consultants are assisting the junior personnel, they will share
workstations with the junior personnel.
Hard Resources
Name
Qty
Cost/Unit
Total Cost
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
1
$499.00
$499
Desktop Machine
2
$449.00
Microsoft Windows XP
3
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
1
$109.00
$109
Server Machine
4
$2,210.00
$8,840
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
4
-
(included)
Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
1
-
Free
$898
(included)
-
Total Hard Resources Phase 1
$10,346
Travel
The Sous Chef team is all located in the same geographic location. This location is also the site
of our proposed office space. For these reasons, the only budget item for travel is the trip to Project
Manager will make to the agency granting funding to our project. The funding for this trip is based
on information received from expedia.com
Travel Cost
Cost
Days
Cost/day
Total Cost
Rental Car
4
$40.00
$160
Hotel
3
$100.00
$300
Meals
4
$50.00
$200
Total Travel Cost Phase 1
$660
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Total
The total Sous Chef budget for Phase 1 is determined based on the hard resource cost and
personnel cost shown below.
Sous Chef Phase 1 Total Budget
Personnel Cost
Hard Resource Cost
Travel Cost
Total Phase 1 Budget
$41,126
$10,346
$660
$52,132
Phase II
Personnel
All personnel required for Phase II are shown below along with their perspective salaries and
amount of time needed. During this phase, all employees will hold at least a bachelor’s degree in
their perspective field. There will not be a need for consultants during this phase.
Personnel Cost
Employee
Janet Brunelle
Mike Schaefer
Adam Sampson
Jason Clarke
Tiffany Emerson
Edward Hill
Ellena Pak
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Employee Salary
Job description
General Manager
Project Manager
Database and Network Lead
Quality Assurance Manager & Research
Lead
Finance & Accounting Manager
Marketing and Sales Manager
Webmaster & GUI Development Lead
Dietician
Network Engineer
Software Engineer
Junior Programmer
Web Programmer 1
Web Programmer 2
Touch Screen Programmer
SQL/DB Programmer
Test Engineer
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
180
66
$80,000.00
$50,000.00
$57,600
$13,200
115
103
102
85
45
55
398
38
113
108
113
78
121
1720
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$45,000.00
$54,000.00
$50,000.00
$44,000.00
$57,500.00
$57,500.00
$70,000.00
$47,000.00
$90,000.00
$23,000
$20,600
$20,400
$17,000
$8,100
$11,880
$79,600
$6,688
$25,990
$24,840
$31,640
$14,664
$43,560
$398,762
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
$159,505
Total Personnel Cost Phase 2
$558,267
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Hard Resources
During Phase II, there will be a total of 15 employees. For this reason, we need workstations,
development software, and network cables for them. We will also require servers and 2 kiosks for the
beta testing. To ensure that the testing phase is effective we will need to purchase the recipe
database for one month and secure facilities to house our resources for one year. We have selected a
single Wal Mart in the Hampton Roads area to serve as our beta testing site. This site will receive
two kiosks, a server, required cables, and the software bundle for this purpose.
Hard Resources
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
Production Kiosk
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1
month)
Total Hard Resources Phase 2
Qty
14
10
10
6
1
7
3
2
-
Total Cost
$6,986
(included)
$981
$6,630
$2,210
(included)
$2,731
$4,590
$150,000
$11,000
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$98.10
$1,105.00
$2,210.00
$910.33
$2,295.00
-
$185,128
Total
Sous Chef Phase 2 Total Budget
Personnel Cost
Hard Resource Cost
Travel Cost
Total Phase 2 Budget
$558,267
$185,128
$743,395
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Phase III Budget Projection
After six months of production, the Sous Chef team will evaluate the progress of production
and the success of the project. At this time, the team will estimate the budget for the following year.
Based on a successful initial production period, the Sous Chef team estimates the annual production
budget to be as follows:
Personnel
We have calculated an expected budget for 2 years of phase 3 operations. During the first
year of operation, we will supply Sous Chef to the eleven Wal-Mart Supercenters in the Hampton
Roads area. During the second year of phase three we will bring online the other 43 supercenters in
Virginia.
Personnel Cost
Employee
Janet Brunelle
Mike Schaefer
Adam Sampson
Jason Clarke
Tiffany Emerson
Edward Hill
Ellena Pak
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Job description
General Manager
Project Manager
Database and Network Lead
Change & Maintenance Manager
Finance & Accounting Manager
Marketing and Sales Manager
GUI Maintenance & Development
Dietician
Network Engineer
Technical Support Representative
Customer Service Representative
Customer Field Representative
Field Technician
Database Administrator
Web Master
Software Engineer
Sales Representative
TBA
Lawyer
Employee Salary
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
Total Personnel Cost Phase 3
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
$80,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$45,000.00
$64,000.00
$43,500.00
$34,500.00
$32,000.00
$64,000.00
$80,000.00
$62,000.00
$50,000.00
$70,000.00
$160,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$90,000
$64,000
$87,000
$69,000
$64,000
$128,000
$160,000
$124,000
$100,000
$140,000
2
$100,000.00
$200,000
$1,886,000
$754,400
$2,640,400
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Hard Resources
Year 1
In order to outfit eleven Wal-Mart Supercenters, we will need to purchase kiosks, servers
and miscellaneous hardware for each store. We will also need to provide additional workstations and
the accompaniment equipment. We will need to lease our office space and the recipe database of
10,000 recipes for the duration of this year.
Hard Resources Phase 3 Year 1
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1
year)
Total Hard Resources Phase 3 year 1
Qty
3
11
22
11
-
Total Cost
$1,497
$24,310
$44,990
$10,013
$150,000
$132,000
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$2,210.00
$2,045.00
$910.27
-
$362,810
Year 2
In order to bring the rest of Virginia’s Wal-Mart Supercenters online, Sous Chef will need to
purchase additional kiosks and servers. We will also need to continue to lease our facilities and
recipe database.
Hard Resources Phase 3 Year 2
Name
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1
year)
Total Hard Resources Phase 3 year 2
Qty
43
86
43
-
Total Cost
$95,030
$172,860
$39,142
$150,000
$132,000
Cost/Unit
$2,210.00
$2,010.00
$910.27
-
$589,032
Total
Sous Chef Phase 3 Total Budget
Personnel Cost
Hard Resource Cost
Travel Cost
Total Phase 3 Budget
$2,640,400
$951,842
$3,592,242
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Total Budget (Phase I through III)
The total budget for Phase I through Phase III is based on the total budget for the Phase I,
Phase 2 and two years of Phase III.
Personnel Cost
Phase 1
Phase 2
$41,126
$558,267
Phase 3 (2 years)
$2,640,400
Total Personnel
$3,239,793
Travel Cost
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Total Travel
Total Sous Chef Budget
Resource Cost
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3 Year 1
Phase 3 Year 2
Total Resource
$660
$$$660
Personnel Cost
Resource Cost
Travel Cost
Total Budget
$10,346
$185,128
$362,810
$589,032
$1,147,316
$3,239,793
$1,147,316
$660
$4,387,769
Product Cost
Sous Chef will include two kiosks, a server, the software bundle, and associated set-up
hardware. The total cost for this package per store set-up is $8,500.
Hardware required for one store
Qty
Kiosk
Server
Software
Miscellaneous hardware
Cost
2
1
1
-
Total hardware cost per store
$2,295
$2,210
$1,000
-
Total
$4,590
$2,210
$1,000
$700
$8,500
Each store will be charged an initial set-up fee of $80,000, which will include the initial
consultation, the install and the training of the equipment and database usage. There will also be an
annual fee of $36,000 for access to the Sous Chef database as well as maintenance and
troubleshooting of the system. The development costs of Phase I, phase II, and the first two years
of phase III are $4,387,769. The team plans on recouping the production costs during the second
year of phase III. In order to achieve this goal we will need to bring one store per month online for
the first year of phase III, then increase to four stores per month during the second year of phase III.
Once the initial development costs have been recouped, the development costs will be
approximately $1,909,232. This amount will be made up each year by the maintenance fees. If we
successfully reach our goal during the second year of phase III, our profit will be $2,192,231.
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Income (Phase3) for 2 years
Stores
Projected year 1 sales
Projected year 2 sales
Total Sales
Projected year 1 maintenance
Projected year 2 maintenance
Total Maintenance Fees
Total Income
Expenses
Cost
10
43
$80,000
$80,000
11
54
$36,000
$36,000
Total
$800,000
$3,440,000
$4,240,000
$396,000
$1,944,000
$2,340,000
$6,580,000
Total
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3 year 1
Phase 3 year 2
$52,132
$743,395
$1,683,010
$1,909,232
Total Expenses
$4,387,769
Net Income (Income - Expenses)
$2,192,231
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Sous Chef Phase I Budget
Personnel Cost
Employee
Janet Brunelle
Mike Schaefer
Adam Sampson
Jason Clarke
Tiffany Emerson
Edward Hill
Ellena Pak
TBA
Lee White
Jim Kreyenhagen
TBA
TBA
Employee Salary
Job description
General Manager
Project Manager
Database and Network Lead
Quality Assurance Manager & Research
Lead
Finance & Accounting Manager
Marketing and Sales Manager
Webmaster & GUI Development Lead
Database Expert
Wal Mart Representative
All Recipes Representative
Network Expert
Web Application Expert
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
51
51
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$4,896
$4,896
51
51
51
51
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$24,000.00
$4,896
$4,896
$4,896
$4,896
306
$29,376
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
$11,750
Total Personnel Cost Phase 1
$41,126
Hard Resources
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Desktop Machine
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server Machine
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
Qty
1
2
3
1
4
4
1
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$449.00
$109.00
$2,210.00
-
Total Hard Resources Phase 1
Total Cost
$499
$898
(included)
$109
$8,840
(included)
Free
$10,346
Travel Cost
Cost
Days
4
3
4
Rental Car
Hotel
Meals
Total Travel Cost Phase 1
Cost/day
$40.00
$100.00
$50.00
Total Cost
$160
$300
$200
$660
TOTAL PHASE 1 COST
$52,132
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Sous Chef Phase II Budget
Personnel Cost
Employee
Janet Brunelle
Mike Schaefer
Adam Sampson
Jason Clarke
Tiffany Emerson
Edward Hill
Ellena Pak
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Employee Salary
Job description
General Manager
Project Manager
Database and Network Lead
Quality Assurance Manager & Research
Lead
Finance & Accounting Manager
Marketing and Sales Manager
Webmaster & GUI Development Lead
Dietician
Network Engineer
Software Engineer
Junior Programmer
Web Programmer 1
Web Programmer 2
Touch Screen Programmer
SQL/DB Programmer
Test Engineer
Days
Salary/Yr
Cost
180
66
$80,000.00
$50,000.00
$57,600
$13,200
115
103
102
85
45
55
398
38
113
108
113
78
121
1720
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$45,000.00
$54,000.00
$50,000.00
$44,000.00
$57,500.00
$57,500.00
$70,000.00
$47,000.00
$90,000.00
$23,000
$20,600
$20,400
$17,000
$8,100
$11,880
$79,600
$6,688
$25,990
$24,840
$31,640
$14,664
$43,560
$398,762
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
$159,505
Total Personnel Cost Phase 2
$558,267
Hard Resources
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003
Server (Dell PowerEdge 800)
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
Production Kiosk
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1
month)
Total Hard Resources Phase 2
TOTAL PHASE 2 COST
55
Qty
14
10
10
6
1
7
3
2
-
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$98.10
$1,105.00
$2,210.00
$910.33
$2,295.00
-
Total Cost
$6,986
(included)
$981
$6,630
$2,210
(included)
$2,731
$4,590
$150,000
$11,000
$185,128
$743,395
Copyright©
Sous Chef Phase III Budget
Personnel Cost
Employee
Job description
Janet Brunelle
General Manager
Mike Schaefer
Project Manager
Adam Sampson
Database and Network Lead
Jason Clarke
Change & Maintenance Manager
Tiffany Emerson Finance & Accounting Manager
Edward Hill
Marketing and Sales Manager
Ellena Pak
GUI Maintenance & Development
TBA
Dietician
TBA
Network Engineer
TBA
Technical Support Representative
TBA
Customer Service Representative
TBA
Customer Field Representative
TBA
Field Technician
TBA
Database Administrator
TBA
Web Master
TBA
Software Engineer
TBA
Sales Representative
TBA
Lawyer
Employee Salary
Employee Overhead (40% of Salary)
Total Personnel Cost Phase 3
Days
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Salary/Yr
Cost
$80,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$50,000.00
$45,000.00
$64,000.00
$43,500.00
$34,500.00
$32,000.00
$64,000.00
$80,000.00
$62,000.00
$50,000.00
$70,000.00
$100,000.00
$160,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$90,000
$64,000
$87,000
$69,000
$64,000
$128,000
$160,000
$124,000
$100,000
$140,000
$200,000
$1,886,000
$754,400
$2,640,400
Cost/Unit
$499.00
$2,210.00
$2,045.00
$910.27
-
Total Cost
$1,497
$24,310
$44,990
$10,013
$150,000
$132,000
$362,810
Cost/Unit
$2,210.00
$2,010.00
$910.27
-
Total Cost
$95,030
$172,860
$39,142
$150,000
$132,000
$589,032
Hard Resources Phase 3 Year 1
Name
Development Machine (Dell Optiplex GX280)
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1 year)
Total Hard Resources Phase 3 year 1
Qty
3
11
22
11
-
Hard Resources Phase 3 Year 2
Name
In-Store server(Dell PowerEdge 800)
Production Kiosk
Microsoft SQL Server
Facilities (3,000 sqft. for 1 year lease + utilities + internet)
Recipe Database (10,000 recipes from Allrecipe.com for 1 year)
Total Hard Resources Phase 3 year 2
TOTAL PHASE 3 COST (2 YEARS)
Qty
43
86
43
-
$3,592,242
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9. RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Sous Chef Team acknowledges that there are certain risks involved in our project. After
careful analysis, the Sous Chef team has identified six distinct risks that will affect the project’s
success. Our risks were addressed on two main factors, which are the probability and the impact.
They were ranked 1-5 with 5 being the most severe, multiplied together, and then were placed on the
risk matrix (shown below). Our risks, in order of severity are as follows:
1. Database Integration
- Probability:
4
- Impact:
4
Integrating with an unknown database is a complicated task due to the difference in table layouts,
missing required data, and extraneous data. That is why integrating with the store’s database for
customer information, inventory, and sales is a major risk. The probability is 4 because this is very
likely to happen, and the impact is also 4 because if we are unable to integrate the database, we
cannot deliver a system with all of Sous Chef’s features.
Mitigating this risk seems like a daunting task at first, but upon closer examination, the task is not
that difficult. The Sous Chef team will implement an integration system that will allow the team to
import data from a database regardless of its source. At the beginning of the integration process,
database schemas will be exchanged with the grocery store. After the field properties are discussed
and agreed upon, the store will send us an updated data in a flat file format at the scheduled times via
an ftp process. We will place a batch job to grab these files and write stored-procedures to translate,
validate and import the data into the appropriate tables of the Sous Chef database.
2. Database Performance
- Probability:
2
- Impact:
4
Having a database is useful, but if the database does not perform well, its usefulness declines
rapidly. The database needs to be designed with the system’s complexity in mind. The traffic coming
in and out of the database will be high due to the number of users accessing the system and queries
requested daily; therefore, the database must be designed with performance as a high priority. The
probability of this risk is 2 because the database will be designed with high performance in mind at
an early stage. However, the impact is 4 because if the developer fails to create a robust database, the
system will suffer and customers will be unhappy due to its slow performance.
The Sous Chef team plans on mitigating this risk by focusing on database performance at the
beginning of the product’s developmental stage. We will consult a database expert during the
development process who will assist, analyze and suggest a plan to create a well designed and robust
database structure that can handle the heavy load of data processing.
3. Database Scalability
- Probability:
- Impact:
2
3
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In order for Sous Chef to be successful, the database must also be flexible to handle many
concurrent users and an increasing number of users. The ability of a system to handle both small and
large numbers of users is called its scalability. If Sous Chef is not scalable, the store’s use for Sous
Chef is not scalable. Due to the possibility of a large user increase over a short period of time, the
probability is 2. However, the impact is only 3 because the problem can be resolved quickly without
any significant impact on the system or the budget.
We plan on mitigating this risk by designing the database and associated servers to be
interchangeable and load-balancing. That means that servers can be added as needed and the load
will be equally distributed amongst all the servers. That will increase scalability by increasing the
ability of the overall system to bear the load of more users.
4. Test Data Consistency
- Probability:
3
- Impact:
2
Because we will not be purchasing the recipe database until Phase II, we will be creating a set of
pseudo recipes for database testing in Phase I. We plan to write a program to generate a set of
pseudo recipes in order to test the system. The risk in generating pseudo data is that the data
characteristics might not be consistent with the real data. The probability of this risk is 3 because we
do not have the domain knowledge to know the distribution of recipe information. However, the
impact is only 2 because the recipe data characteristics can be changed without too much difficulty in
Phase II.
This risk can be mitigated by conforming the testing to data processing and performance and
not to the properties of the recipe information.
5. FDA Guideline Changes
- Probability:
1
- Impact:
3
The FDA has been known to change its dietary recommendations, especially in recent years.
This could affect Sous Chef adversely if the FDA requires a new piece of nutritional information that
we do not already have stored in our database. The probability for this risk is only 1 because the
FDA does not change their dietary recommendations frequently. Also, we will be able to modify our
database to adapt to the changes before it adversely affects the product. The impact can be as high as
3 because we might be giving our customer incorrect or incomplete data and the changes might
require the database tables to change.
We plan to mitigate this risk by contracting the recipe company to be responsible for modifying
the recipes according to FDA’s rules and regulations and supply us with an updated recipe database.
We will also have a full time dietician in Phase 3 who will ensure that our recipes are up-to-date with
all the FDA’s dietary guidelines and recommendations.
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6. Database Storage
- Probability:
- Impact:
1
2
If our database has inadequate storage, we will be unable to store all of the recipes or customer
information. This means that the database will not be able to solve the problem. The risk probability
is only 1 because we estimate the database storage requirement to be about 2 gigabytes while each
database server, of which there are two, has 80 gigabytes of storage. That means we have a total
storage capacity of 160 gigabytes. The impact is a 2 because we can simply add more storage to our
servers to solve the problem with only a minimal impact to the budget.
This risk is mitigated by carefully analyzing the hardware need for when the product is fully
implemented and functioning. After the analysis, we will purchase adequate hardware to
accommodate future storage increase. We will also monitor and analyze the system usage frequently
to prevent any inadequate resource problems.
RISK DIAGRAM
Impact
Probability
1
4
3
6
2
5
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10. SOUS CHEF KIOSK GUI SCREENS
The GUI for the kiosk was designed with simplicity in mind, catering to the target market and
avoiding any complicated windows or functions that could confuse or mislead the user. The driver is
mainly menus and a touch screen capability that can be used to navigate through the system.
The first screen is a welcome screen for the user. The user is asked to swipe the reward card to
access the customized setting. If the user does not have a reward card, he or she can choose to access
the system by touching the “Enter” button.
The second screen is the main menu. It welcomes the user by using the user’s name. This
information is obtained when the user swipes the reward card at the beginning of the transaction.
The user is asked to make a choice from various course options. The user can also choose to go to
the user’s previously saved recipes by using the “My Recipes” button. The “Next” button takes the
user to the next screen. The user can choose to cancel the transaction by touching the “Cancel”
button.
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The next screen allows the user to choose a main ingredient. The user has the ability to go back
to the previous screen by touching the “Back” button, cancel the transaction by touching the
“Cancel” button or go forward by touching the “Next” button. The user can also skip this category
by touching the “Skip Step” button. If the user chooses to skip this category, the result will include
all of the choices in the category.
The next screen allows the user to choose a health specific category. The user has the ability to
go back to the previous screen by touching the “Back” button, cancel the transaction by touching the
“Cancel” button or go forward by touching the “Next” button. The user can also skip this category
by touching the “Skip Step” button. If the user chooses to skip this category, the result will include
all of the choices.
In the near future, Sous Chef plans to partner with well-known diet plans such as Atkins and
Weight Watchers and include these as one of the categories.
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This screen shows the last step before the customized recipe list is generated. This screen
provides the user with an option to choose from time saving recipes or choose the degree of
difficulty of the recipe. The user can choose to bypass the step by touching the “Skip Step” button.
If the user chooses to skip this category, the result will include all of the choices. The user has the
ability to go back to the previous screen by touching the “Back” button, cancel the transaction by
touching the “Cancel” button or go forward by touching the “Next” button.
After choosing the categories provided in the previous four screens, the user will get a customized
list of recipes in the following screen with a brief description of each recipes. The user can scroll
through the recipes and select a recipe for further information by touching the recipe name.
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This is the final screen. It provides the user with a picture of the recipe. It allows the user to
watch a video streamed cooking instruction. The user can browse through the ingredients, shopping
list, various tips and accompaniment suggestions. The user can also browse through the available
coupons for this recipe. When the user is finished looking through the available information on the
recipe, the user can choose to search again, go back to the previous list of recipes, save the recipe or
print all the available information on the recipe including the coupons.
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This is the prototype printer output. It provides the user a prepared picture of the recipe,
ingredients, shopping list, cooking instruction with pictures, money and time saving tips, nutrition
information and much more. The user can use the output to shop for the necessary ingredients in
the store.
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