ATI Industrial Automation will celebrate the ground breaking for an operations expansion at its corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Apex, NC, on Friday, October 18th at 4:00 PM. In addition to creating up to 200 new jobs, the expansion will more than double the robotics tool manufacturer’s current operations to 129,000 square feet. High demand for ATI's robotic end-effector products continues to fuel the company's growth. The expansion will occur in two phases with the first phase construction to start immediately and the second phase in 3-5 years. “Global pressure for ever-increasing manufacturing productivity continues to drive demand for our products. This expansion will carry us well into the future, enabling us to further reduce lead times while providing a superior level of quality,” said Keith Morris, Chairman.
ATI was formed in 1989 out of a small office in Garner, NC by engineers Keith Morris, Chairman; Robert Little, CEO; and Dwayne Perry, Chief Sensor Technologist. Since then, the employee-owned firm has grown from a handful of employees to over 200, with corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Apex, NC and additional locations in Michigan, China, and Brazil. Since 1998, ATI has increased revenue tenfold to become a market leader in robotics products. The driving force behind its success is an expansive mechanical, electrical, and software engineering team with a skilled support and manufacturing staff. The local economy will benefit from the company’s makeup as the creation of quality technology and manufacturing jobs continues with the firm’s growth.
Recognized throughout the world for quality and reliability, ATI products improve productivity in an array of industries, including Robotics, Aerospace, Biomedical, Automotive, Electronics, Applied Research, Academics, Nuclear, and Governmental. Robert Little, CEO, credits the company’s strong growth to the diversity of customer applications that ATI serves. He said, “This diversity in our customer base coupled with our focus on 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 world markets. We expect that to increase. We’ve created 50 new jobs since our 2011 expansion and this new expansion will create an additional 200 jobs."
ATI was selected for the 2009 and 2011 Progressive Manufacturing PM100 Award, which recognizes best-in-class manufacturers from the US and abroad. For the seventh time in its history, ATI was named to the prestigious Deloitte &Touche 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 product innovations and improvements.
ATI Industrial Automation is the leading engineering-based world developer of robotic accessories and robot arm tooling, including Robotic Tool Changers, Multi-Axis Force/Torque Sensing Systems, Utility Couplers, Manual Tool Changers, Robotic Deburring Tools, Robotic Collision Sensors, and Compliance Devices. Their robot end-effector products are found in thousands of successful applications around the world. Manufactured entirely in the USA, ATI’s products enable its customers to achieve a high level of flexibility in robotic automation. Their 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. ATI products can be found at some of the world’s most renowned corporations and organizations including NASA, Ford, Honda, and Johns Hopkins University.