Back in early 2024 a contractor out of Western Australia sent Brad a spec sheet for 40 tripod floodlights. Very detailed, lumens, beam angle, the lot. We built exactly what was on the paper, because that is what you do.
About three weeks after they landed, Brad got a call. The lights were too bright. Not broken, too bright. The crew was working in a narrow decline underground and the wide flood beam was bouncing off the wet rock walls straight back into their eyes. The spec asked for maximum lumens and a wide beam, which makes sense on an open surface yard, but underground it was useless.
What they actually needed was a tighter spot beam, lower output, and a way to dim it. The site manager admitted later he'd copied the spec off a surface lighting tender from a different project. Happens more than you'd think.
So we sent over two sample units with a narrower reflector and a three-step dimmer, no charge, and asked them to try it for a week. They came back and reorderd the whole batch in the new config. We ate the cost of the first run as samples basically, kept maybe ten and scrapped the reflectors on the rest.
The thing I took from this is that the spec sheet tells you what the buyer thinks they need, not what the job needs. Now when an order comes in for underground use Brad always asks two questions first: how far away is the work, and are the walls wet. If the walls are wet, you go tighter and dimmer, every time.
Side note, the same contractor later asked us about magnetic inspection lights for their workshop, which is a totally different product, but that's how it goes once someone trusts you. One good batch and they come back for the rest of the catalogue.
We still keep that original spec sheet pinned up near the test bench. Not to embarass anyone, just as a reminder that the best thing you can do is ask one more question before you cut the moulds.
