Meridian Manufacturing is a 1,800-employee discrete manufacturer with 5 production plants across the Midwest. We've been their ERP vendor for 7 years — plants 1–3 renewed Sep 30 at $720K over 3 years. The expansion covers plants 4 and 5, two greenfield facilities opened this year. Total deal value with renewal + expansion: $1.1M. The renewal is done. The expansion is the active negotiation. Tom Elias (Plant Manager, plants 4–5) is our champion: he's staked his Q1 2027 go-live commitment to the COO on our implementation timeline. Dana Rourke (COO) signed the renewal and controls the expansion budget — she wants both plants live before Q1 earnings so she can report full ERP coverage to the board. The competitive threat is NetSuite, which submitted an RFP response Oct 3 for plants 4–5. NetSuite's pitch is "greenfield plants deserve a modern stack" — they're targeting the IT Director's preference for consolidation. Our counter is operational continuity: training 400 new plant workers on a second ERP system adds 8–12 weeks of onboarding vs. 2 weeks on our platform, which they already know. Tom Elias has communicated this to Dana. The deal closes Dec 31 or it slips to Q1 — Dana's FY26 capex budget closes at year-end. Missing Dec 31 means re-authorization in FY27 at a likely lower amount. Urgency is real and documented. On a forecast call: "Meridian expansion is a Dec 31 close. Renewal is done. Plant 4 champion is committed, COO is engaged, fiscal deadline is hard. NetSuite is competing on greenfield narrative. Our counter is operational continuity — 400 workers already on our platform. Legal redline needs to land by Dec 12. If it does, we close Dec 22 with COO signature."

[CONFIRMED] Three-plant renewal signed Sep 30 — $720K, 3 years, COO Dana Rourke signature on file [CONFIRMED] Plant Manager Tom Elias confirmed Q1 2027 go-live requirement at Oct 7 steering committee (meeting notes attached) [CONFIRMED] IT confirmed plant 5 infrastructure ready by Nov 30 — email from IT Director Oct 12 [CONFIRMED] NetSuite submitted RFP response Oct 3 — actively competing for plants 4–5 [CONFIRMED] COO verbally confirmed Dec 31 FY26 capex deadline at Oct 15 QBR prep call [ASSUMED] Expansion contract $380K — quoted; COO has not formally approved scope [ASSUMED] Dec 31 close — COO-stated deadline; no signed milestone schedule [AT RISK] NetSuite greenfield argument — IT Director not yet formally aligned with our platform [AT RISK] Dec 31 slip risk — if legal redline misses Dec 12, close shifts to Q1 FY27 at lower budget authority

1. NetSuite greenfield competitive threat Mitigation: Schedule joint session: Tom Elias (champion) + IT Director + COO before Nov 15. Agenda: operational continuity analysis — 400 workers on existing platform vs. dual-ERP training cost. Quantify: 8–12 week onboarding delta × 400 workers × loaded hourly rate = $600K+ transition cost. This reframes NetSuite's "modern stack" pitch as a hidden $600K cost. 2. Legal redline deadline Dec 12 — hard gate Mitigation: Deliver contract draft to Meridian legal Nov 28 — gives 10 business days for review. Use renewal MSA as base (already executed — minimizes redlines). Flag Dec 12 as hard gate to both Tom Elias and Dana Rourke so internal pressure on legal is in place. 3. COO deferral risk if Dec 31 misses Mitigation: Dec 22 is the target signature date — 7 business days before fiscal close. If any delay surfaces after Dec 12, escalate to COO directly with documented FY26 budget impact. Prepare a "Dec 31 or defer to March" framing: missing Dec 31 means re-authorization in Q1 at likely $50K–$100K lower budget ceiling due to FY27 capex competition.

1. Nov 14 — Joint alignment session: IT Director + Tom Elias + COO Owner: AE (Chris Navarro). Present operational continuity analysis — dual-ERP cost model. Objective: IT Director confirms platform preference before NetSuite's follow-up meeting (expected Nov 18). Deliverable: IT Director alignment confirmed in writing. 2. Nov 28 — Deliver expansion contract draft to Meridian legal Owner: AE (Chris Navarro) + Legal (Sandra Kim). Use renewal MSA as base. Flag GDPR / data residency (plant 5 has EU supply chain exposure) as pre-negotiated. Target: Dec 12 legal approval. 3. Dec 22 — COO signature: Dana Rourke Owner: AE (Chris Navarro). Schedule signing meeting Dec 19 as buffer. Prepare summary one-pager: renewal + expansion scope, go-live milestones, FY26 capex impact. If legal slips past Dec 12, notify Dana immediately — do not let fiscal deadline arrive as a surprise.