Global hardware collaboration
My experience working at the intersection of precision manufacturing and global tech companies.
My role wasn’t to design the product. It was to help the right people understand each other: engineers, sourcing teams, and product managers working across languages, time zones, and disciplines.
Overview
Coming from a textile design background, joining PMP was a significant shift. I was suddenly working inside an elastomer and rubber manufacturing environment - the kind of factories that make the watch band on your wrist, the cushion inside a VR headset, or the soft components in your earphones.
Because most projects are protected by NDA, I can't share specifications or product details. What I can share is the coordination layer I worked in - making sure the right people, information, and technical context were connected across teams and cultures.
Global Partners Apple - Watch Band · Power Accessories · NPI
Meta - VR/AR Hardware · Wearables · NPI
Microsoft - Surface Accessories · Peripheral components
Goal
Build and sustain long-term partnership relationships with global tech clients by delivering high-quality, technically credible factory visits and follow-through- ensuring PMP remained a preferred elastomer supplier for next-phase project discussions across Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Role & Responsibilities
Coordination, communication, and a lot of preparation.
Client Preparation & Visit Coordination
Aligned cross-functional teams, prepared comprehensive briefing materials, and managed logistics to ensure visiting clients experienced seamless operations.
Real-Time Facilitation
Acted as the primary liaison during active factory tours, translating complex technical processes into digestible insights for non-technical stakeholders on the fly.
Documentation & Follow-Up
Captured critical feedback, translated action items efficiently, and tracked deliverables ensuring no dropped contexts between global and local engineering units.
Cross-Region Alignment
Bridged cultural and operational gaps, aligning asynchronous project milestones across Pacific timezones to maintain unified development roadmaps.
Process & Solution
Apple | San Jose
Hosting a tooling manager and a brand-new OPM at the same time meant making the same factory tour meaningful for two completely different technical backgrounds. We ran a live color-mixing demo, walked through curing curves on the rheometer, and had our engineer hot-press a rainbow watch band while I narrated for the newcomer. By the end, the tooling manager said it felt like a corporate internship.
A good visit isn't a presentation. It's a conversation.
Meta | San Jose
A procurement visit that was also a competitive evaluation. Meta's lead was deciding between PMP and another supplier- she asked detailed questions about supply chain risk, capacity, material compliance, and client prioritization.
The goal wasn't to impress. It was to bring the right internal experts into the room and let them answer honestly. The visit ended with dinner and a next-steps discussion.
Sometimes the goal isn't to impress. It's to build trust.
Meta AR | Seattle
What started as a small meeting expanded into a room of fifteen engineers: GSMs, mechanical engineers, integration teams, PDs. I coordinated the full presentation across material capabilities, lab equipment, manufacturing processes, and surface treatment. Midway through, one engineering manager pulled out a hardness sample PMP had given him three years earlier. He had been carrying it in his pocket.
That moment said more about long-term relationships than any slide.
Impact & Metrics
Sustained relationships across three major accounts
Built multi-visit continuity with Apple, Meta, and Microsoft teams - each return visit built on documented follow-ups from the last.
Bilingual facilitation at scale
Supported technical discussions between Mandarin-speaking engineering teams and English-speaking clients across 15+ coordinated visits, covering material science, manufacturing process, and supply chain topics.
Cross-region coordination
Every visit involved alignment across US office, Taiwan HQ, and China factory teams - often in different time zones, within tight preparation windows.
Outcome
A preferred supplier relationship, maintained
PMP remained in active NPI discussions with all three accounts through the end of my tenure. The relationships didn't end at the visit- they continued through follow-up documentation, sample tracking, and next-phase project conversations.
From manufacturing PM to digital PM
Standing in factories, discussing design constraints with engineers, and presenting material samples to product teams taught me how many people it takes to build something most users never think about. That lens - technical fluency, cross-functional translation, preparation over charisma - is what I brought into digital product work.
Behind the Scenes
Personal Reflection
Most of the work I did at PMP is protected by NDA. What I can share isn’t the exact specs or designs, it’s the pattern underneath the work.
Showing up prepared.
Reading the room.
Making technical conversations accessible.
Following through after the meeting.
Those skills translate across industries.
Standing inside factories, discussing design constraints with engineers, and presenting material samples to product teams made me realize how many people it takes to build something most of us never think about.
From Manufacturing PM → Digital PM
This experience shaped how I approach product work today.
I’m comfortable in technical conversations. I enjoy translating complexity. And I’m motivated by the moment when someone finally understands something clearly.
The best PM in the room isn’t the loudest voice. It’s the one who made the right conversation possible.