ATS Automation Tooling Systems


ATS Automation Tooling Systems is a Cambridge, Ontario based Canadian company that designs and builds factory automation systems. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

History

ATS was founded by Klaus Woerner in 1978. Woerner, who immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1974, ran the company until his death in 2005, overseeing significant growth. In 2007, ATS pulled the planned IPO of its solar division, Photowatt. Partially as a result of this, two hedge funds, Goodwood and Mason Capital Management, led a proxy fight against the firm, leading to the a new board of directors and management team. Anthony Caputo became CEO at this time. Photowatt under-performed significantly in the years that followed; the company eventually sold Photowatt's French operations to EDF Group.
In 2011, ATS purchased Sortimat Group, a German life sciences automation firm, for $62 million. In 2013, they purchased German packaging firm IWK for $144 million, and in 2014, they purchased the automation business of German company M+W Group for $362 million. In 2017, Andrew Hider took over as CEO.

Operations

ATS builds automation systems for the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, semiconductor, fiber optics, automotive, computers, solar energy and consumer products industries. As of 2018, they have designed and built 23,000 automation systems. The total cost of ownership over the entire machine lifecycle is at the heart of every process development. Extensive advisory and preautomation consulting is part of the success story of ATS and its worldwide customers.
ATS employs approximately 3900 people worldwide, with 21 facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.
The ATS group is the world's technological leader in high-volume glass syringe assembly in ISO clean rooms.

Standard Products and Platforms



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