Impressive FASTEMS installation at ATA Gears

As a manufacturer of bevel gears for the marine and power generation industries since 1937, ATA Gears is imbued in the complex turning and milling of particularly expensive components that demand significant machining and handling processes. The Finland based company specialises in the design, production and sales of customised spiral bevel gears and it is the installation of a Fastems factory automation system that has supported the growth of this company.

With its headquarters in Tampere, Finland, ATA delivers high-quality gears to marine, vehicle and heavy engineering industries worldwide. To ensure the continuity of supply, an automated Fastems system was a necessity. As Jyrki Tiira, Production Director at ATA Gears says: 'The Fastems system enables us to load tens of parts into the system of all different types and varieties. The Fastems system will store, select and deliver the parts to the machine tool for processing with a fully automated configuration. Automation has improved our competitiveness and it improves profitability, we undoubtedly see more automation for our business in the future.'

With two loading bays feeding two  machining centres, the Fastems system enables two loading stations and two machine tools to be operated by just one shop floor employee. This saving has been achieved whilst delivering a machine utilisation time of over 90%.  This enables the 220 employee business to produce gears up to 3m diameter for its global customer base with exceptional lead times and reliability.