How It Started
It began with a cold email. No warm introduction, no existing relationship, just me writing to a pharma MNC in Malaysia whose other plant was already running our solution and loving it. That site had freed up packers, cut out redundant steps, and reclaimed floor space they didn't know they had. I figured the Malaysia site deserved the same.
A few days later, the supervisor replied. He wanted me to come in.
When It Almost Fell Apart
The first visit went well. I showed them what was possible, and they asked me to step back while they discussed internally. Then silence. A few weeks later, I called. The supervisor was polite but lukewarm, no real interest. I nearly moved on.
Two weeks after that, he called me back. The Operations Director wanted to meet. I went back in, re-presented everything, and this time the brief changed: design a solution that would connect three floors of packing operations into a single, end-to-end process. That was a much bigger ask.
The original automation lead on our side had already resigned. I was effectively running this alone, working with an integration partner I'd only just met a few weeks earlier. We got on Zoom and started designing.
Five Revisions and a Competitor I Didn't Know About
The budget was never comfortable. Every revision meant going back to the drawing board, not to add features, but to find ways to deliver the same outcome for less. We went through at least five rounds.
Midway through the process, I found out a competitor had been brought in to work on something similar. I hadn't been told. That changed the stakes.
When I finally presented the full proposal to the Director, she cut 30% off my price on the spot. No negotiation preamble, just a number, and a look that said take it or leave it. I went back to my integrator. We went line by line through the cost structure. It took time, but we got there: a price that worked for both of us and still made sense for the customer.