CAMBRIDGE, ON, Sept. 12, 2018 /CNW/ - ATS Automation
Tooling Systems Inc. (TSX: ATA) ("ATS" or the "Company") an
industry-leading automation solutions provider and Bruce Power will
conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of
the Major Component Replacement (MCR) Integration testing facility
on the ATS Cambridge campus. The ceremony takes place Wednesday, September 12 at 10:00 AM EDT at ATS' headquarters in Cambridge, Ontario.
"The ATS and Bruce Power partnership is one that shares the
common goals of safety, quality, precision, and innovation," said
Andrew Hider, ATS CEO. "Thus, it is
with great pride and excitement that we announce the official
opening of the MCR Integration Facility which embodies all of these
goals as a state-of-the-art automation testing facility."
ATS is Key Supplier in MCR Program
ATS plays a key role in supporting Bruce Power's MCR program by
designing and supplying all of the automation equipment required to
remove the irradiated reactor components including the fuel
channels, calandria tubes and calandria tube inserts. There are
multiple systems required to remove the components; all are highly
automated and controlled remotely. This equipment has been designed
to maximize safety during the removal process while optimizing
operational resources. To this end, the 43,000-square-foot MCR
Integration Facility was designed with geometries and interfaces
identical to the actual Bruce Power reactor vault. This facility's
goal is to ensure that the tools are operating correctly in a
full-scale simulation environment, where production time, budgets
and vault transitions can be verified and optimized to greatly
reduce project risk. Work is already underway in the facility.
"By forming partnerships with key suppliers such as ATS, we are
innovating and creating jobs throughout the province with
Made-in-Ontario solutions for the
components we will need to successfully complete our Major
Component Replacement projects," said Rencheck. "The MCR facility
will see ATS as well as six other supplier companies testing the
tools necessary to execute the project smoothly and
efficiently."
The Bruce Power MCR will begin in Unit 6 in 2020, followed by
Units 3 through 8, extending the life of the site to 2064. Bruce
Power's Life-Extension Program, which includes Asset Management and
MCR, began on January 1, 2016, and
remains on time and on budget.
"Bruce Power's supply chain acquires 90 percent of its goods and
services right in Ontario,
investing $4 billion into the
province's economy annually, while creating and sustaining 22,000
jobs directly and indirectly every year, including here in the
Cambridge area," said Rencheck.
"We are also delivering 30 per cent of Ontario's electricity at 30 per cent less than
the average cost to generate residential power."
ATS and Bruce Power Innovators in Community
"Organizations such as ATS and Bruce Power have helped spur
innovation and economic growth, benefiting Cambridge and the Waterloo Region," said MPP
Belinda Karahalios. "This year, ATS is celebrating 40 years of
being a meaningful part of many local families' lives, providing
highly-skilled employment opportunities while benefiting from the
depth and breadth of the talent in this region."
Amy Fee MPP for Kitchener South-Hespler said, ATS' role in Bruce
Power's Life Extension Program will continue to strengthen the
region's economy and provide opportunities for residents for years
to come.
"I'm excited and very proud to see ATS continue to grow and play
a valuable role in the Waterloo Region," MPP Fee said. "Providing
long-term security for high-level employment right here in our
community brings home the benefits that we see in this kind of
partnership."
"As I've often said, Cambridge
is a city located at the gateway to Canada's Technology Triangle, providing steady
economic growth and addressing the technology challenges of the
future," said Mayor Doug Craig.
"This joint facility with ATS and Bruce Power attests to this
future-looking innovation that is a hallmark of this inventive
community."
In June 2018, ATS announced the
receipt of new enterprise Order Bookings from Bruce Power valued at
approximately CAD $60 million. This
was a follow-on to the original Bruce Power Life Extension Program
announced in December 2016. The
original agreement named ATS as a supplier for strategic tooling
services including key reactor tooling systems for the removal of
fuel channels for Bruce Power's long-term investment program. The
program includes the life extension of six units announced in
December 2016. ATS' long-standing
relationship with Bruce Power has also included co-development of
The Bruce Reactor Inspection and Maintenance System (BRIMS).
About ATS
ATS is an industry-leading automation solutions provider to many of
the world's most successful companies. ATS uses its extensive
knowledge base and global capabilities in custom automation, repeat
automation, automation products and value-added services, including
pre-automation and after-sales services, to address the
sophisticated manufacturing automation systems and service needs of
multinational customers in markets such as life sciences,
chemicals, consumer products, electronics, food, beverage,
transportation, energy, and oil and gas. Founded in 1978, ATS
employs approximately 3,800 people at 20 manufacturing facilities
and over 50 offices in North
America, Europe,
Southeast Asia and China. The Company's shares are traded on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ATA. Visit the
Company's website at www.atsautomation.com
About Bruce Power
Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an electricity company based in
Bruce County, Ontario. We are
powered by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of
our accomplishments and are proud of the role they play in safely
delivering clean, reliable, low-cost nuclear power to families and
businesses across the province. Bruce Power has worked hard to
build strong roots in Ontario and
is committed to protecting the environment and supporting the
communities in which we live. Learn more at
www.brucepower.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Note to Readers:
Non-IFRS Measures:
Order Bookings is a non-IFRS measure and does not have a
standardized meaning prescribed within IFRS and therefore may not
be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
Order Bookings represent new orders for the supply of automation
systems, services and products that management believes are firm.
Order Bookings provides an indication of the Company's ability to
secure new orders for work during a specified period and is an
indicator of future revenues the Company expects to generate based
on contracts that management believes to be firm.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains certain statements that constitute
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of ATS, or developments in ATS'
business or in its industry, to differ materially from the
anticipated results, performance, achievements or developments
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements include all disclosure regarding
possible events, conditions or results of operations that is based
on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of
action. Forward-looking statements may also include, without
limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or
circumstances. ATS cautions you not to place undue reliance upon
any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date they are made. Forward-looking statements relate to, among
other things, the announcement of new Order Bookings. The
risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements
include, among others: impact of the global economy and general
market performance; the customer exercising any right to terminate
the program in whole or in part prior to its completion, thereby by
not allowing ATS to realize the full benefit of the program; and
other risks detailed from time to time in ATS' filings with
Canadian provincial securities regulators. Forward-looking
statements are based on management's current plans, estimates,
projections, beliefs and opinions, and other than as required by
applicable securities laws, ATS does not undertake any obligation
to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to
these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions
change.
SOURCE ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc.