Date: 27 May 2026
Reading time: 4 minutes
My name is Frank van Velzen, and since January 2025 I have been working as an application engineer at ATB Automation in Mijdrecht. In this blog, I would like to share some of my experiences from the past year and a half!
The first period mainly focused on becoming familiar with the products and systems we sell here. That is why I completed several internal training courses, supplemented with a PROFIdrive training from our supplier Stöber and a CODESYS training at Extend Smart Coding in Ridderkerk.
What makes my work so varied is that I constantly switch between theory and practice, while directly seeing what happens on the shop floor at our customers’ facilities.
How do I explain my job at a birthday party or social gathering? In short, my role consists of two main areas: support and projects.
On one hand, together with my colleagues from the Applications department, I provide first-line technical support for customer questions, mainly in the field of motion control. This could range from a customer who has just started designing a new machine to a service engineer at a machine-building company who runs into an issue within an existing process.
On the other hand, we also build complete applications ourselves: from design and programming to testing and commissioning. We do this together with our project team, consisting of colleagues from our offices in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Before joining ATB Automation, I worked through secondment assignments at various companies, often for machine builders and end customers in the food industry. There, I gained extensive hands-on experience: writing software, solving malfunctions and commissioning machines while production continued running.
That experience is extremely valuable in my current role. You quickly discover that something that “works on paper” can be very different from an application that is truly reliable and performs as intended in practice.
What does my average workweek look like? I sometimes say that I have a “blank” agenda. That may sound like there is no planning, but the opposite is true. I always have projects and tasks scheduled, such as programming, testing and development work.
But things can change at any moment. If a customer calls because of a malfunction, that immediately takes priority. My schedule shifts, and I switch directly into problem-solving mode to help the customer.
That is what makes the work so dynamic. You have to set priorities independently and accept that your day may turn out completely differently than planned. One thing is certain: I never get bored.
Recently, I worked on a great project: a complete application with an XYZ-gantry for cleaning industrial components.
Previously, much of the process was done manually. That took time and was inefficient. The customer asked us to fully automate the process. Now they simply place the part into the machine, the operator selects the required program on the display, and the component comes out fully cleaned.
The application was built using several components from Leadshine: AC servo drives, a PLC for machine control and an HMI display that allows the operator to configure the machine. In addition, linear units from Lim-Tec and gear reducers from Wanshsin were used.
The customer had already mapped out the machine process in a flowchart. For us, that forms an ideal starting point. Based on this, I developed the control software and implemented the complete machine control system.
And the best part is that projects like these continuously expand your knowledge.
How do you keep six engineers locked in a room for two full days? By giving them a Stöber-PROFIdrive training!
That probably requires some explanation. Recently, several engineers from Stöber visited our office to provide a training course focused on the integration between Siemens PLCs and Stöber servo drives.
A brief explanation: many machine builders work with Siemens controllers, which previously meant they were often tied to Siemens servos and drives as well. Thanks to the PROFIdrive protocol (based on PROFINET), they are now much more flexible and can switch to Stöber servo drives.
During the training, we hands-on tested our own Siemens-based application combined with Stöber servo drives (SC6 / SI6 / SB6): configuring settings, testing scenarios, programming and understanding how the system behaves in practice.
From a distance, it probably looked quite remarkable: a room full of application engineers intensely staring at demos, code and screens for two days straight.
But that is typical for the way we work. There is a strong sense of focus and dedication because we truly dive deep into the technology. At the same time, there is also plenty of laughter and joking around, because in the end we are simply a group of passionate tech enthusiasts together.
I also share knowledge with colleagues and customers, for example the insights I gained during the CODESYS training. One important topic today is how machine builders can achieve greater programming flexibility using CODESYS.
The reason is simple: hardware suppliers such as Siemens and Allen-Bradley typically work with their own programming environments and ecosystems. Once you program within that environment, you usually stay within that ecosystem. That can be limiting.
CODESYS is based on IEC 61131-3 and is used and supported by many different brands.
In addition, CODESYS supports a wide range of industrial communication protocols, making integration between different brands much easier.
For customers, the advantage is that they can easily switch to our hardware from Leadshine, even if they currently use a Turck or WAGO PLC. It also becomes easier to scale systems and make adjustments, with our support when needed.
Recently, my colleague René and I shared these insights with our colleagues during an internal knowledge session, so they can apply this information in conversations with customers.
We also regularly join our sales colleagues during customer visits, especially when engineers or programmers are involved on the customer side. This ensures the conversation immediately has enough technical depth.
In summary, it is the combination of support, projects and contact with suppliers that makes this profession so interesting. These elements keep you sharp and allow you to continue developing as an application engineer.
Projects act as a sharpening stone: you build something, run into challenges and solve them. The knowledge you gain can then be used again to help other customers with support questions.
And ultimately, that is what it is all about: helping customers move forward with solutions that not only work on paper, but especially in real-world practice.
+31 297 38 05 53
frank@atbautomation.eu
Frank van Velzen has been working at ATB Automation as an application engineer since early 2025. In this role, he is involved in technical support and automation projects. With his knowledge of machine building, he helps customers select and apply motion control components from brands such as Stöber, Leadshine, IAI, Exlar and Lim-Tec.
We supply slewing ring bearings, oscillating mountings, tensioner devices from stock and we also have spiral bevel gearboxes, servo gears and electromechanical actuators in our delivery program.
In addition we also select and offer the right components and systems for motion control solutions, such as servo gear motors, linear servo actuators and complete XYZ cartesian systems.
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