Meet the Team | Nathan Wuttke - Automated Solutions Australia

Nathan Wuttke has been part of the ASA family for almost a year now, working as a Paint Process Automation Engineer. What really drives Nathan is the variety his role brings – one day he’s working on the next generation of front wheel drive sedans, the next it’s bulky commercial vans, or fibreglassing solutions for the Australian industry. Each project comes with its own unique challenges, and Nathan thrives on the diversity of robot setups he gets to work with, from pedestal mounted arms to rail based systems for both interiors and exteriors, and everything in between. No two jobs are ever the same, and that keeps things interesting.

One standout moment for Nathan was joining a team on-site at a major automotive plant focused on increasing line speed. It was a chance to roll up his sleeves and dive deep into real-world troubleshooting. He managed to solve some stubborn faults that had plagued the plant for years, making a real difference for the whole team.

A typical day for Nathan depends on where he’s working, sometimes overseas, but his mornings always start with some quiet reflection and reading, followed by a strong coffee before the busy day begins. Whether he’s programming offline or on-site with his paint suit ready, he makes sure to back up everything first. That way, if anything goes wrong later, there’s always a safe fallback. The rest of his day is about keeping the robots running fault free and fine tuning their paths to hit production targets without missing a beat. Clear and constant communication with his team is vital to keep things moving smoothly and avoid duplicated effort.

When asked about his favourite robot, Nathan doesn’t hesitate, the P-1000 paint robot tops the list. It’s a complex machine with a 7th axis in its elbow that helps reduce the size of the paint booth required – an important consideration when understanding the overall cost of the zone. While the addition of another degree of motion creates more complexity in programming, the capabilities this creates in terms of programming far outweigh it, and Nathan admits – the units look pretty cool.

Looking ahead, Nathan is excited about how robotic automation continues to transform manufacturing. Faster, smarter, and safer production means people can work away from hazardous environments, and factories become more efficient. For him, being part of this Industry 4.0 revolution is both rewarding and motivating.

Of course, it’s not always smooth sailing. Nathan recalls a tough night shift when some newly introduced functions didn’t work as expected during physical testing. He stayed late, replicated the problems in simulation, and teamed up with colleagues to fix the programming remotely. The solution worked perfectly, proving the power of teamwork and persistence.

Nathan’s problem-solving abilities and initiative shone through when resolved a frequent fault that had been a headache for years for one of our customers. This change eased the maintenance team’s workload and improved overall production reliability.

Nathan’s advice for those interested in Automation Engineering? Most of the work happens at a computer rather than detailed design, but the projects and companies you get to work with are truly impressive. Being able to say you’ve worked on advanced automation solutions is a real badge of honour and, of course, working with robots is pretty cool.

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