CAMBRIDGE, ON, Feb. 16 /CNW/ - ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. today announced that a major pharmaceutical company has placed a U.S. $2.2 million (CDN $2.9 million) order for two high-speed, fully automatic ATS machine vision inspection systems. This is the first of a number of standard-technology based automation systems ATS is currently developing specifically for the pharmaceutical industry and the order represents a breakthrough for ATS in pharmaceuticals. "ATS has made major headway in the healthcare industry over the past four years by applying its knowledge to solve customer challenges," said Klaus Woerner, ATS President and Chief Executive Officer, "but now, we've gone a step beyond by developing proprietary standard technology platforms that specifically address the pharmaceutical sector. This order demonstrates that we have the solutions that pharma is looking for, and most important, that we can give this particular customer a platform that significantly outperforms existing inspection technologies. "This extension of ATS's existing technology base has been extensively prototyped over the last nine months. As such, we know it achieves yields for major faults and false reject rates that are far superior to anything on the market today."These ATS machine vision systems will inspect prescription pharmaceutical products in one particular product format. However, they have been designed as a standard platform, capable, with minor modification, of inspecting product over a range of common formats including vial, plastic ampoule or pre-filled syringe packages."By making standard, configurable platforms available, and supporting these systems with other forms of custom automation technology and our line integration capabilities, ATS provides a total solution for pharmaceutical customers," said Mr. Woerner. "Our solution improves productivity, product quality and offers a very rapid return on investment."It is anticipated that these first orders will be the foundation for a long term supply relationship with this client. The customer has indicated that it intends to tender for additional machine vision systems over the next few months, with the potential for even more units in future.This order is in addition to the $54 million in new order bookings obtained during the first five weeks of the Company's fourth quarter as announced on February 5, 2004. ATS In Healthcare ATS targeted healthcare as a new market five years ago and since then has generated more than $285 million in revenue in the sector from the world's leading healthcare, medical device and pharmaceutical companies. These assignments have included the Company's machine vision capabilities for package integrity inspection, labeling, lot number and expiry date code inspection and other important applications.The Company's decision this fiscal year to develop proprietary high- speed, fully automated vision inspection systems was based on an intimate understanding of customer requirements and, said Mr. Woerner, "our belief that there is a substantial market for next-generation automated inspection technology in pharmaceuticals."Because regulatory authorities require all regulated drug products to be thoroughly inspected, and in many cases this is still done manually or semi- automatically, pharma is a new, high growth industry for us. ATS's ability to supply a next generation fully automated solution which substantially improves throughput and ensures the utmost precision, is expected to drive demand over a range of applications for our newest standard platform. In fact, we are already in discussions with several other pharma companies who are keenly interested in our new vision inspection system and we are confident that additional orders will be placed over the next few months."Improved manufacturing technology and yields are a major preoccupation in the drug industry today. Both branded drug companies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regard manufacturing productivity improvement as the next opportunity to lower costs and maintain margins in the face of increasing competition and government cost containment initiatives. The pharmaceuticals industry represents about two thirds of the estimated $550 billion global healthcare product market, and is forecast to grow 12% annually over the next 5 years.ATS has over two decades of experience in developing and applying machine vision to many other industry sectors where it is considered the market leader. The name of ATS' client and contract details for the new standard platform cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality requirements. About ATS ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (www.atsautomation.com) is the industry's leading designer and producer of turn-key automated manufacturing and test systems, which are used primarily by multinational corporations operating in a variety of industries including: automotive, electronics, healthcare, and consumer products. The Company also makes precision components and sub-assemblies using its own custom-built manufacturing systems, process knowledge and automation technology. Through Photowatt International S.A., and Spheral Solar Power Inc., ATS is an emerging leader in the rapidly growing market for solar energy cells and modules. ATS employs approximately 3,800 people at 26 facilities in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Company's shares are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ATA. Certain forward looking statements are made in this news release, including statements regarding possible future business. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of ATS' products, technologies, customer requirements and other risks detailed from time to time in ATS' periodic reports filed with Canadian regulatory authorities.
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