We handle the complexity, so you don’t have to
At Melbourne Automation, we simplify lighting control and building automation. Our mission is to remove complexity, drive efficiency, and deliver real value for the people who use and maintain these systems every day.
Founded by Jordan Wishart, a qualified electrician with over 10 years’ experience, Melbourne Automation was created to bridge the gap between advanced building technologies and the electricians and facilities teams tasked with keeping them running. While the industry has focused heavily on project delivery, long-term maintenance and usability have often been overlooked. We’re changing that. When issues arise, it’s not the systems that fail — it’s the lack of training, support, and integration. That’s where we step in.
Lighting Control
Our team of certified lighting control and automation experts collaborate with our clients to troubleshoot issues, provide ongoing maintenance solutions, and manage large-scale automation and control infrastructure projects. Our technicians are highly trained and certified in a wide range of systems, including Dynalite, KNX, CBUS, Casambi, ExOr, Steinel LiveLink, Steinel IR, BEG IR, CP Electronics, Axiom, DALI, and Somfy.
Building Management Systems
We provide open, vendor-neutral building automation solutions using industry-standard protocols like Modbus, BACnet, and MQTT. We integrate leading platforms such as Tridium Niagara, EasyIO, and iSMA Controlli, and support systems like Schneider EcoStruxure. Our solutions are scalable, flexible, and future- ready—tailored to meet the unique needs of new builds, upgrades, and complex integrations.
As a system-agnostic, maintenance-driven company, Melbourne Automation delivers end-to-end lighting control and building automation solutions through a highly skilled team of electricians certified across a wide range of platforms. This dual expertise in electrical and control systems enables faster turnaround times and reduced costs for our clients. From fault-finding and system tuning to simplifying integrations and ensuring compliance, we give contractors, facility managers, and end users the confidence to manage smart buildings with ease. With accredited and certified electricians experienced in complex commercial environments, we focus not only on reliable delivery at handover but also on long-term performance, usability, and efficiency. At Melbourne Automation, we don’t just install smart systems — we make them work smarter.
Facilities & Building Managers
We offer a higher rate of first-attendance resolutions, resulting in cost savings by reducing the need for additional trades. Additionally, we can create scheduled maintenance plans to ensure operational efficiency and uptime while helping forecast budgeting needs based on infrastructure lifecycle. Managing a combination of legacy systems and modern technologies can be challenging, but Melbourne Automation specialises in seamlessly integrating both. We make it easy to update or expand your building's automation without disruption, ensuring all systems work together smoothly, saving you time and eliminating headaches. While building automation systems are designed to save energy, configuring them for maximum efficiency can be complex. Melbourne Automation simplifies this by optimising system settings to reduce energy waste and lower operational costs, ensuring your building runs at peak efficiency. We also recognise that automation systems can sometimes be too rigid, causing discomfort due to fluctuating lighting or temperature levels. Our systems intelligently adjust to maintain a comfortable environment while optimising energy use, ensuring that both automation needs and occupant satisfaction are met. Additionally, building automation systems often generate large amounts of data, making it difficult to focus on what matters most. Melbourne Automation addresses this with intuitive dashboards that simplify data analysis, helping you identify key performance indicators and areas for improvement. Our solutions also offer real-time monitoring, providing continuous system updates and immediate alerts for any issues. This allows you to take swift action, resolving problems before they disrupt daily operations and ensuring your facility runs smoothly and efficiently.
Electrical Contractors
Partnering with Melbourne Automation allows you to easily and seamlessly navigate the programming and commissioning aspects of your projects, so you and your team can focus on the electrical work, ensuring a smoother, more efficient workflow and improved profits. Diagnosing issues in complex automation systems can be difficult, but Melbourne Automation supports electrical contractors with in-depth technical assistance. Our experts provide troubleshooting, technical support, and on-site assistance when needed, ensuring that your team can efficiently handle any repairs or upgrades.As an electrical contractor, you often deal with a mix of legacy and new systems. Melbourne Automation specialises in seamless integrations, making it easy to connect old and new technologies. We handle the complexity of combining multiple systems, ensuring that installations are streamlined and hassle-free.By partnering with Melbourne Automation, electrical contractors can access tailored support that makes every project smoother, more efficient, and more reliable. We provide the tools, expertise, and customer support you need to deliver top-tier lighting and automation systems while enhancing the quality of your installations and service offerings to your clients.
Featured Solutions
Whatever your lighting control or BMS situation, Melbourne Automation can deliver a solution
Lighting Control
Supporting a Fluorescent-to-LED Lighting Upgrade with Dynalite Integration
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Melbourne Automation was engaged to support an electrical contractor during a major lighting upgrade, which involved replacing outdated fluorescent fittings with energy-efficient DALI LED lighting. Our role was to ensure the new lighting integrated seamlessly with the building’s existing Philips Dynalite lighting control system. As part of the project, we programmed the new DALI fittings into the Dynalite system, ensuring full dimming and control functionality. We also supplied and installed new Dynalite switch panels to complement the upgraded lighting and improve user interaction. In addition, we reworked the Dynalite visualisation to reflect the changes in lighting layout, providing clearer and more intuitive control for building occupants. To maximise energy efficiency and enhance user comfort, we upgraded the presence detection in the newly refurbished areas. This allowed for responsive, occupancy- based lighting control—ensuring lights operate only when needed. By collaborating closely with the electrical contractor, we delivered a smooth integration process and ensured the lighting upgrade met both functional and aesthetic goals while aligning with modern energy standards.
Metering Upgrades
Upgrading Electrical Metering in Critical Research Facilities
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Melbourne Automation was engaged to upgrade outdated electrical meters across several critical research buildings, replacing them with Schneider Electric’s industry-leading PM8240 power meters. The existing meters provided limited data, restricting visibility into energy usage and system performance. We delivered a complete end-to-end solution—managing everything from the physical installation of the new meters to their full integration into the Building Management System (BMS). This included configuring the meters, establishing communication protocols, and creating custom visualisations within the BMS to give building managers real-time access to detailed power quality and consumption data. Given the sensitive nature of the research facilities, we worked closely with key stakeholders and building managers to carefully plan the upgrade process. Our team coordinated the works to minimise disruption, ensuring that downtime was kept to an absolute minimum and that critical systems remained operational throughout the transition. The result was a significant improvement in energy monitoring capabilities, enabling more informed decision-making, enhanced fault detection, and greater overall visibility across the electrical infrastructure of these essential facilities.
BMS (External Lighting)
Integrating KNX Lighting Control into Tridium Niagara for Centralised Building Management
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Melbourne Automation was engaged to enhance the usability and oversight of a building’s lighting control system by integrating its existing KNX infrastructure into the site-wide Tridium Niagara Building Management System (BMS). Prior to our involvement, the client was constrained by the fragmented nature of their control platforms. While the KNX system effectively managed lighting throughout the building, it operated independently from the Niagara BMS. This forced the building manager to juggle multiple systems for daily operations, scheduling, and monitoring, which proved inefficient and prone to oversight. Using our expertise in both KNX and Tridium Niagara, we successfully integrated the KNX network into the Niagara framework. This allowed the lighting system to be visualised, scheduled, and controlled directly through the central BMS interface. The result was a unified platform where all lighting and automation tasks could be managed seamlessly. The integration delivered immediate benefits. Real-time feedback and intuitive dashboards provided clear visibility of lighting status across the building. Scheduling was streamlined through unified time-based control, supporting energy-saving strategies and automated routines. Most importantly, the building manager could now operate the entire system from a single interface, greatly simplifying day-to-day management and reducing the risk of errors. This project not only improved operational efficiency but also laid the foundation for future scalability—empowering the client with a robust, open, and fully integrated automation solution.
Large Scale Legacy Faults
Stabilising KNX Lighting Control in a High-Stakes Research Facility
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Melbourne Automation was engaged to take over lighting control maintenance for a 10-year-old essential research facility—home to world-leading laboratory work and critical operations. Upon inspection, we found that the KNX-based lighting control system had suffered from years of neglecte d preventative maintenance. This neglect led to widespread failures across the building, affecting both lighting availability and energy conservation monitoring. These issues were not just inconvenient—they posed a risk to the safety of researchers and the integrity of their work. Our team immediately conducted a detailed assessment and identified both the devices that had already failed and those at high risk of failure in the near future. Leveraging our deep understanding of KNX systems, we began a staged replacement of critical components, restoring functionality and stabilising the system. Beyond the technical repair work, we also trained the on-site electricians, giving them the knowledge to identify early signs of KNX failure and respond quickly. This proactive step ensured the building could maintain safe lighting conditions between service visits. This case highlights the importance of both technical expertise and collaboration. By combining responsive fault resolution with long-term planning and knowledge transfer, we helped ensure a safer, more resilient environment for this vital research facility.
Metering Faults
Resolving Energy Metering Faults Through Integrated Electrical and Automation Expertise
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At Melbourne Automation, our dual capability as licensed electricians and automation specialists enables us to tackle complex energy metering issues that others often can’t. In this case, a client experienced data loss from their energy monitoring system, with multiple meters appearing offline and the entire communications bus affected. As a registered electrical contractor, our team was able to safely open switchboard escutcheons and perform detailed fault-finding at the hardware level. We identified that several meters had not only failed but were also disrupting the communication bus, affecting the performance of otherwise functional devices. By isolating and replacing the faulty meters, we were able to restore stable communications across the metering network. We then verified that all operational meters were correctly feeding data back into the Building Management System (BMS). This project demonstrates the value of our integrated approach—combining hands-on electrical work with deep automation knowledge to quickly diagnose, repair, and validate energy metering systems in critical infrastructure.
BMS Faults
Restoring Solar Functionality Through BMS Fault Diagnosis
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When a commercial building’s solar system went offline, the issue was initially unclear. Our team at Melbourne Automation combined our expertise as qualified electricians and automation specialists to investigate and resolve the fault efficiently. Through detailed fault finding, we traced the issue to a non-operational electrical switchboard that was preventing the solar installation from coming online. The root cause was a failed High-Level Interface (HLI) with the backup generator, which disrupted communication between the BMS and the generator. Using our deep understanding of both electrical infrastructure and building automation systems, we worked through the switchboards, engaged directly with the generator manufacturer, and re-established the HLI communications. Once restored, this allowed the solar system to resume normal operation. This example highlights the advantage of our integrated approach—bridging the gap between electrical systems and advanced automation platforms to keep your building’s critical infrastructure running smoothly.
