Flat-panel display supplier places multimillion automation system order with ATS

>ATS Automation Tools Systems Inc. announced recently it has received a $15.5-million order to design and build fully-integrated, automated manufacturing lines for a major supplier of flat-panel display materials.

By Control Engineering Staff September 9, 2004

ATS Automation Tools Systems Inc . announced recently it has received a $15.5-million order to design and build fully integrated, automated manufacturing lines for a major supplier of flat-panel display materials. The systems are scheduled for production and delivery to the customer’s Asian facilities in several stages over the next year. Some of the systems will incorporate new concepts and enhanced vision inspection technology developed by ATS.

According to ATS, flat-panel display shipments are estimated to be worth approximately $32.5 billion annually, currently representing about half the total electronic display market. Through 2007, the company states, forecasts indicate the flat-panel display market will grow at an average annual rate of almost 18% compared to 12% for the total electronic display market. Display materials experienced shipments of $12 billion in 2002 and are projected to grow to approximately $23 billion by 2008.

Klaus Woerner, ATS president and CEO, says the order “will make use of a number of our capabilities, including high accuracy and high-speed vision inspection, precision material handling of highly fragile materials, and state-of-the-art software analysis and process control tools for complex automation.” ATS will use primarily the resources of its U.S. West Coast and Asian operations to build the systems under the contract.

—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com