Trained as a mechatronics engineer before shifting to sales, Joshua Couturier is happiest when outside of his comfort zone, seeking out new challenges and experiences at every opportunity. 

So when he applied to autonomous forklift and robotics specialist BALYO, he landed squarely in the fast-moving world of materials handling automation and discovered it was the perfect fit—the ideal arena to satisfy his thirst for innovation, travel and continuous evolution.

He talks about his journey across disciplines and across borders.

RC: At university you specialised in mechatronics, robotics, and automation. What drew you to this field initially, and what kept you engaged?

JC: I was always quite technical and logical as a kid, and loved my LEGO sets, so engineering was quite naturally my path. Mechatronics had the most appeal to me because it was a combination of mechanics, electronics and automation, which allowed me to learn and do a bit of everything. 

What kept me going is the fact that this field, specifically robotics, is simply put “the future”. Technology is always evolving and shaping our world so fast, and I want to be part of it. 

RC: You undertook some interesting internships across New Zealand, Italy, and France. Can you share a bit about those experiences. What were your biggest highlights or challenges from this time?

JC: Travelling and experiencing different countries and cultures is probably one of the most important things in my life. It has shaped me into who I am today. 

There was no way I could go through your typical school system in France without getting exposure to other countries. So, I did my first internship in New Zealand, where I learnt what it meant to work fixed hours on a project for someone else.

Then my second internship in Italy put me in the real world, requiring me to solve problems and provide results that would impact consumer products. Quite a challenge to be in a fast-paced Italian working environment while not mastering the language fully, but it sure did improve my communication skills and my resourcefulness!

RC: You started your career with BALYO as a field engineer. What initially drew you to materials handling, and what’s still fuels your interested in the sector six years on?

JC: This may be a bit of an odd story, but I came into the material handling world quite randomly. I was a young graduate applying for several first-time job applications and stumbled upon a field engineer job at BALYO. I remember thinking that the description looked in line with my studies and skills—an engineer working hands-on with robots and doing troubleshooting. I applied without expecting too much. I figured it would be perfect exposure to robotics, and a great first experience to start my career while I figure out what to really do later on. 

A couple of months in I realised it was so far from what I thought the job actually was, and more to the point, that it exceeded all my expectations by far! It was like a dream for me to get to travel to different customer sites in different countries to install driverless forklifts that were the key to future-proofing warehouses. It was a big eye opener into what the supply chain and logistics behind our everyday lives looks like!

RC: In 2021, you pivoted from field engineering to sales, relocating from France to Australia. What prompted that shift, and how have you found the transition both professionally and personally?

JC: As much as I liked my life in France, my heart wanted to discover the world and get out of my comfort zone even more. Australia was on the dream list for many reasons including the way of life, its beauty, and family. 

BALYO knew about it and offered me a position to challenge me even further, spearheading the company’s development in a new country by transitioning me to the sales team to focus on business development. 

One week after that first proposal, I was already on a plane on my way to Melbourne. 

The professional transition to Australia was quite smooth, but also quite a learning process which I loved. My brain is wired to discover new things and to take on new challenges. 

The personal transition went even better: “new country - new me” was the way to go.  I’ve learnt a lot since moving and I’m very proud of the person I have become. 

RC:  What have been the biggest challenges in moving from a technical role into sales? And what do you enjoy most about the sales side?

JC: The biggest challenge was learning how to do sales and business development with an engineering background. I was just never taught the skills, though I had some of them naturally, I guess. 

I had to learn what it meant to follow up so many times with people, to be even more patient, and very clear in my messaging. I had to be very strategic, while focusing on very different targets. 

My biggest role lies in “setting the company up to succeed”, which is a big part of why I really like my job. It sees me playing an important part in the future of BALYO, while having an even bigger impact on the future of my customers. I like that I am building a solution that ensures success for everyone. 

RC: You’ve worked closely with end-users, delivering technical training. What are the biggest concerns customers have when taking their first steps into automation?

JC: Training is indeed a big part of my role whether it is to partners, or to customers. That’s when I realised that every person in a company has different concerns and a different agenda. 

One big concern is, “does it actually work?”, which almost sounds silly. But behind this concern is the perceived complexity of automation, which is always high before you start learning about the standard and simple solutions that can be integrated into most sites. 

Helping customers move through the “fear of change” is also a big part of my role. I take the customer through our user journey to build enough confidence that the solution we build for them will deliver what they need.

I see my role in guiding customers through these first steps as similar to the way I would need guidance from a doctor to solve a health issue. 

RC: You work with customers from first contact through to deployment, what are the biggest challenges for customers when introducing autonomous forklifts in existing brownfield sites?

JC: When at the deployment stage, it’s a whole different set of challenges, which usually requires even more training. 

This is the part of the process where we explain to people on site how the technology works, and where we get some super users trained to understand the system in depth. 

Both are best done as early in the project as possible, usually during the ramp up phase. Although, in reality, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are not that complex to use and interact with, so people get it quite fast, and then learn more by working with them every day. 

Operators adapt quite well to new flows, as it’s exciting. The challenge occurs once your trained users leave the site after a couple of years, and all users are now new to the company. The process becomes sloppy or forgotten. That’s when we sometimes go back on site to fully train the new set of users, or to give a refresher. 

RC: What do you like to do when you are not working?

JC: Since moving to Australia, I’ve been quite a social butterfly: I enjoy hanging out with friends, discovering new food and drink places in Melbourne, and making the most out of a sunny day in Victoria’s natural wonders. I still like to keep challenging myself playing tennis, games, and currently learning Mandarin Chinese.

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