How We Unblocked BOM’s Weather Data Pipeline with n8n for an Insurance Tech Company
When this Australian insurance tech startup hit technical roadblocks ingesting bom.gov.au weather data via FTP and .tar archives, we stepped in with advanced n8n automation expertise and hands-on team coaching. In weeks, we delivered production-ready workflows, optimised their data pipeline to Metabase, and upskilled their lean team.
Overview
WeatherIT is an API-first Australian insurtech startup offering instant, data-driven weather insurance for events, holidays, and outdoor plans. With a lean technical team and an aggressive launch timeline, they initially tried building their own automation layer in n8n to pull and process large weather datasets from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM.gov.au).
Early progress stalled on complex technical hurdles: securely connecting to BOM’s FTP servers, decompressing and extracting .tar archives, transforming thousands of weather files, and reliably loading clean data into Metabase for analytics and risk modelling.
They needed more than just finished workflows — they needed to level-up their internal capability fast, without derailing their go-to-market.
Over a focused four-week engagement, we operated as an extension of their team: delivering battle-tested n8n flows while simultaneously coaching their developers on advanced techniques, error handling, performance optimization, and maintainable workflow design.
By the end, WeatherIT launched on schedule with robust, self-maintainable data pipelines and a team that no longer depended on external help for automation — proving that the right mix of hands-on delivery and knowledge transfer is rocket fuel for early-stage startups.
About
WeatherIT is a small, API-first insurance company servicing Australians with weather-related coverage for events, holidays, and other outdoor plans. They’ve just launched and operate with a lean technical team focused on delivering smart, data-driven insurance products.
Problem
WeatherIT had begun building their own n8n automations but quickly ran into advanced technical roadblocks. Key issues included handling bom.gov.au FTP servers, working with compressed .tar archives, and moving large weather datasets into their analytics platform (Metabase).
They needed coaching, technical escalation support, and workflow optimisation to lift their internal capability without slowing their launch timeline.
Solution
We partnered with WeatherIT as both hands-on contributors and n8n mentors.
Over a short engagement our n8n consultants:
- Completed their complex n8n flows involving FTP extraction, tarball decompression, filtering, and transformation.
- Helped them pipe processed weather data into Metabase cleanly and reliably.
- Coached their team on advanced automation techniques, best-practice workflow design, error handling, and performance tuning inside n8n.
- Reviewed and optimised around five existing workflows to make them cleaner, faster, and easier to maintain.
Results
WeatherIT came out of the engagement with stronger internal automation capability, clearer patterns to follow, and production-ready n8n workflows they could maintain without external support.
The mentoring aspect meant every automation delivered also increased the skill level and confidence of their team.
Key Takeaways
- Early startups benefit massively from pairing delivery with coaching rather than outsourcing everything.
- Building automations the right way early on leads to faster scaling and fewer brittle systems.
- For API-driven products, clean data pipelines and reliable ingestion matter just as much as the frontend experience.
Ready to streamline your operations?
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