Fixed-price projects · €8,000 to €15,000
Three to four weeks, a firm price, and you keep the code
Exactly how an automation project runs, week by week, with what I commit to and what I need from you.
Thirty minutes, no commitment
Describe your flow. I'll tell you what can be automated and where I would start.
A project lasts three to four weeks. That is not a sales argument: it is a constraint I impose on myself, because beyond a month a project loses the support of the people who have to use it. The people in the workshop have seen enough tools announced and then abandoned to stop believing long promises.
The corollary is that the scope has to be narrow. A project deals with one flow — order entry, subcontracting returns, supplier invoices — not your whole company. If your need does not fit into a month, we cut it up, or I point you to someone else.
Week by week
Week 1
On site, inside the real flow
Two days at your premises. I go through the target flow with the people who run it, I collect real data — your last fifty orders, your last three months of invoices, not a test set — and I agree the success criterion with you. That criterion is written down and quantified: « sales admin no longer keys orders from these three customers », not « improve productivity ».
Week 2
Building on your data
I develop against your real data from day one, never on invented examples. That is what surfaces the special cases early — the customer ordering in different purchase units, the part number that exists twice — instead of discovering them in production. You get a short written progress note mid-week.
Week 3
Running in parallel
The old process and the new one run alongside each other for several days. We compare results line by line. Until the two agree, we do not switch over. This is the week that prevents unpleasant surprises, and it is the one most failed projects skipped.
Week 4
Switch-over, training and handover
The actual switch, training for the people concerned — an hour is enough when the tool is well designed, and if it isn't, it is the tool that needs revisiting. Handover of the code, the operating documentation and the credentials. One month of defect correction is included, at no extra charge.
My commitments, written into the quotation
Firm price, set before we start
The fixed price is set after the audit, against a written scope. It does not move. If I estimated badly, that is my problem, not yours — which is precisely why the scope is written down in black and white and why I turn down vague projects.
You own everything you pay for
Source code, operating documentation, credentials. The assignment is written into the quotation. No monthly subscription, no per-machine licence, no closed platform. You can hand the work to another supplier without renegotiating anything with me.
It runs on your systems
On your server or on hosting in your name, in Europe. Your production data, your prices and your customers do not pass through my systems. Where a component needs an external service, you know before you sign.
One point of contact
The person who answers the phone is the person who writes the code and who came to your workshop. No intermediate project manager, no handover of the file, no junior assigned after signature.
One month of warranty, then nothing compulsory
Defects are corrected free of charge for one month after switch-over. After that you can take a maintenance contract, or take nothing at all and call me by the hour when you need to. I do not make delivery conditional on a subscription.
What I need from your side
A one-month project cannot absorb waiting time. Here are the four conditions without which I would rather not start.
- One internal contact who is reachable, who knows the flow and who can make decisions. Without them the project slips — that is the leading cause of delay, well ahead of anything technical.
- Access to real data from the first week, including when it is in a mess. Especially when it is in a mess.
- That the people concerned are told before I arrive, and know why I am there. A tool imposed without explanation gets undermined, politely, and very effectively.
- Access to your ERP's exports or API, or the contact details of your integrator. If the vendor charges for that access, it is at your cost and I tell you before the quotation.
The questions I get asked
What happens if the project goes off track?
The price does not move. If the difficulty comes from something I should have seen during the audit, I finish at my own cost. If it comes from a scope change requested along the way, we write it down and price it separately — but it does not get quietly folded into the original fixed price.
What if we are not satisfied?
The parallel run exists for that: you see the result on your data before switching over. If at that point the result does not hold up, we do not switch and we discuss it frankly. I would rather stop a project halfway than deliver a tool nobody uses.
Do you offer maintenance?
Yes, but it is never compulsory. A light contract makes sense when the flow is critical — order entry, for instance. For the rest, many clients do perfectly well with an occasional call, charged by the hour.
How many projects do you run in parallel?
Three at most, and rarely three. That is the limitation of an independent and I would rather state it than suffer it. If you need a team available at all times, a services firm will suit you better, and I will say so on the first call rather than in the third month.
Do you work with our IT person or our ERP integrator?
Gladly, and it is often the right arrangement. I am not trying to displace your integrator: they know your configuration better than I do. I handle what they do not, and I say so clearly when a request belongs in their scope.
What tools do you use?
Standard, documented components, chosen so that another developer can take the work over without me. I do not publish a technology list on this site because it would tell you nothing useful: what matters is that the result belongs to you and stays maintainable. The question deserves a real answer, and I give it in detail during the call.
Do you charge for travel?
Not in Wallonia and Brussels — it is included in the fixed price. Elsewhere, we agree it beforehand.
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Let's talk for thirty minutes
You describe your flow, I tell you what can be automated, what cannot, and where I would start. If I'm not the right person, I'll say so during the call.