ATS Plant Manager Mark Gardner welcomed Rotarians in attendance and began the tour of the ATS facility by explaining that it is an international company that is
German- and South African-owned. It has two USA plants, two in Germany and one in South Africa. The plants manufacture aluminum wheels for many international automobile manufacturers, including Daimler Chrysler,
BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors.

The Auburn facility started production in October 2004 and manufactures about 500,000 units a year. In about six months, this will increase to about 1.4 million units per year, with an expected maximum at 2.7 million units per year in the future.

Currently, ATS-Auburn has 145 employees, with an anticipated maximum employment of about 250 employees. The plant runs 24/7 and converts 50 tons of
aluminum per day into wheels. The plant receives the raw aluminum and provides all the steps to produce wheels: melting the alloy, degassing, die casting, inspecting with X-ray, heat treating, robot machining, leak testing for micro-pores, painting and final quality checks with their own foundry lab. The lab tests for accelerated corrosion, correct paint application and proper dimensions.

Click here to find out more about the ATS Group.

Mark Gardner (center) is pictured with Club President Debbie Shaw (right) and program host David Watkins (left)