ATI Industrial Automation Breaks Ground on Operations Expansion, More Than Doubling Their Manufacturing and Inventory Capacity
Apex, North Carolina: ATI Industrial Automation, a world-leading engineering-based developer of robotic peripheral equipment, including Robotic Tool Changers, Multi-Axis Force/Torque Sensing Systems, Utility Couplers, Robotic Deburring Tools, Robotic Collision Sensors, and Compliance Devices, breaks ground for an operations expansion at its corporate headquarters in Apex, North Carolina. Driven by high demand for ATI's end-effector products, the expansion more than doubles their current manufacturing and inventory capacity while allowing 50 new employees to be hired. Keith Morris, CEO, states, "Global pressure for ever-higher manufacturing productivity continues to drive demand for our products. This facility expansion will carry us well into the future, enabling us to continue to reduce lead times while providing a superior level of quality." The expansion is planned for completion in early 2012.
ATI was established in 1989 out of a small office in Garner, NC, by three engineers and current ATI employees, Keith Morris, CEO; Robert Little, COO; and Dwayne Perry, Chief Sensor Technologist. Their mission, to produce the best robotic productivity tools available. Over the last 22 years, ATI has grown from a handful of employees to over 150, with their corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Apex, N.C. and offices in Michigan, China, and Brazil. Since 1998, ATI has increased its revenue tenfold and has become a market leader in robotics products. The driving force behind their success over the years has been their dedication to engineering excellence. Their accomplished mechanical, electrical, and software engineers continue to raise the bar in quality, innovation, and productivity.
Recognized throughout the world for quality and reliability, ATI products are improving productivity in an array of industries, including Robotics, Aerospace, Biomedical, Automotive, Electronics, Applied Research, Academics, Nuclear, and Governmental. ATI's Robert Little, COO, credits the company's strong revenue growth to the diversity of customer applications that ATI serves. He said, "This diversity in customer-base coupled with our focus on product innovation and customer service has allowed us to succeed in a sluggish global economy despite lower-cost competition from overseas. Over forty percent of our sales are exported to the world. We've hired over 30 new employees since 2009. Our new expansion will enable us to hire an additional 50 employees."
ATI has received a variety of accolades and awards over the years including the 2009 and 2011 Progressive Manufacturing PM100 Award, which recognizes best-in-class manufacturers from the U.S. and abroad, and for four years in a row, Deloitte & Touche's prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for North Carolina, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in North Carolina. ATI has also been awarded numerous patents for a variety of product innovations and improvements. Manufactured entirely in the USA, ATI's products enable its customers to achieve a high level of flexibility in robotic automation. Their robot end-effector products are found in thousands of successful applications around the world. ATI's flagship product is the Robotic Tool Changer, a robotic wrist coupling that locks and unlocks automatically, allowing a single robot to perform many different tasks. NASA, Ford, Honda, and Johns Hopkins University are just a few of the major customers that choose ATI products for their unmatched quality, reliability, precision, and strength.
