Automotive News Canada - May 2023 - 22

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* MAY 2023
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You've read about where the industry is headed.
Now listen to Greg Layson, Automotive News Canada's
digital & mobile editor, as he talks with
industry leaders driving it there.
Amid the coming battery boom,
ATS aims to lead the pack
The Canadian
company specializes
in automation that
turns 6,500 cells into
a battery pack
in just 60 seconds
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
AS GLOBAL AUTOMAKERS
make the high-profile transition
to electric vehicles, the Canadian
automation company ATS Corp.
is quietly carving out a niche by
building the assembly lines that
enable automakers to piece together
the batteries.
APRIL 28
Stephen Beatty
Vice-President and
Corporate Secretary
Toyota Canada
APRIL 21
Sandor Piszar
Vice-President of Sales,
Service and Marketing
GM Canada
The battery pack tucked
beneath the floor of a typical EV
has about 6,500 cells, and the automated
lines made by ATS can produce
one of these packs in just 60
seconds, said Udo Panenka, president
of industrial automation
at the Cambridge,
Ont.-based company.
APRIL
14
Steve Milette
President
Nissan Canada
MARCH 31
Brian Kingston
CEO
Canadian Vehicle
Manufacturers' Association
" That means you
have 13,000 welds
that you need to
produce in one
minute, " Panenka
said. " If one weld is
defective, the range
of the vehicle drops
by 1.7 per cent, and
people don't want
to have the range
dropping. "
The stakes are
higher still, given
that many of ATS'
customers run their
automated lines
24/7, producing US
$1 billion to $2 billion
worth of battery
packs per year on
each line.
In 60 seconds, an ATS automated line can turn 6,500 battery cells
into a battery pack that powers an electric vehicle. SUPPLIED PHOTO
mation equipment for gearboxes,
motors and other auto components.
ATS,
founded in 1978, also
makes automated lines for customers
in health care, the food
industry, consumer
products and
energy. It officially
rebranded as ATS
Corp. in 2022, paring
down from ATS
Automation Tooling
Systems Inc.
Panenka: When it
comes to batteries,
" everything changes.
Just one thing doesn't
change, and that's the
launch date. "
FILE PHOTO
FEB. 24
Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario
JAN. 27
Don Romano
President and CEO
Hyundai Canada and
Genesis Canada
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Announcements of big-ticket
battery plants have become commonplace
across North America
only in the past few years, but
ATS has been designing and
building automated battery lines
for about 15 years, said company
CEO Andrew Hider.
As EVs have transitioned from
smaller-scale production to the
mass market, the company has
expanded its core technology and
has been pushed by customers
that need specialized solutions
for their batteries, Hider told
Automotive News Canada.
" Often these customers are
making these big announcements,
and then they've got to figure [execution]
out, " he said.
'SUPERAGGRESSIVE TIMELINES'
With the auto industry shifting
to EVs at high speed, battery projects
involve fast-changing technology
and " superaggressive timelines, "
Panenka said.
" Everything changes, " he said.
" Just one thing doesn't change,
and that's the launch date. "
ATS has delivered more than
110 battery assembly systems to
customers worldwide, with most
of its early orders coming from
Europe before the recent shift to
North America. Decades before
the battery boom, ATS built autoATS
has six manufacturing
plants in
Canada and employs
about 1,400 people.
Globally, it has more
than 50 manufacturing
sites and more
than 6,000 employees.
Growing
battery
business has
added to this tally.
In March 2022, for
instance, the company
opened a pair of
240,000-square-foot
(22,000-square-metre) plants on the
outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, that
will produce assembly lines for
battery modules.
HOW TO PACK A BATTERY
Modules are an intermediate
product in the
EV battery production
process.
A finished EV
battery, which
typically weighs
1,000 to 2,000
pounds (450 to
900 kilograms),
is known as a
pack. It's made
up of a series of
modules, which
are orderly collections
of battery
cells.
ATS steps
in at the module-assembly
stage,
after cells
have been produced
at either
an adjoining or
off-site cell-manufacturing
plant.
Hider:
Automotive
and
battery
companies
often " are
making
these big
announcements,
and
then they've
got to figure
[execution]
out. "
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
The company's automated process,
Panenka said, begins with
validating the incoming cells and
sorting them to ensure only cells
with identical electrical characteristics
are placed together. The
cells are then connected, typically
through high-speed laser welding,
a process that leaves no margin
for error. Once pieced together,
the collection of cells is put in an
enclosure, then cabling is inserted
and cooling devices are installed.
Throughout the manufacturing
process, ATS performs quality
checks.
" You want to find any potential
issues as early as possible, "
Panenka said. Otherwise, you
could get to the end of the line
before discovering a flaw, leading
to as much as $15,000 in wasted
battery material.
ATS meticulously records the
manufacturing data for every
module and pack built, keeping it
to cross-check against any problems
that prompt a vehicle recall
months or years in the future.
The company also services and
updates its assembly lines. Even
small process improvements can
mean huge savings on $2 billion
worth of battery packs per year,
Panenka said.
ATS uses digital twin technology
to simulate changes before
upgrading the robotic code that
runs the automated lines. This
minimizes downtime so that module
and pack assembly can continue
running at capacity.
With battery technology continuing
to evolve, ATS also
designs its lines to be upgradable
for next-generation lithium ion
batteries and the eventual shift to
solid-state battery packs.
CUSTOMERS CONFIDENTIAL
ATS has built automated battery
assembly lines for 12 automakers
and battery manufacturers.
Hider cited confidentiality
in not listing them, but General
Motors is one.
As ATS cut the ribbon at its
new Ohio sites last year, the company
said the plants would initially
build automated module lines
for GM's Ultium batteries.
Hider expects to see further
growth in ATS's battery business
as EV adoption picks up speed
worldwide.
Over the past year, the company
disclosed more than $500 million
in new EV battery system
sales. As of Jan. 1, it had a $887
million backlog of orders in its
transportation division, primarily
driven by the EV segment.
- ANC
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Automotive News Canada - May 2023

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