ATS and Bruce Power Celebrate Grand Opening of Advanced Automation Testing Facility

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.

For further information: Sonya Mehan, Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, 519-653-6500

Related Links

www.atsautomation.com