AboutAutomated Industrial Tech
Automated Industrial Technologies (AIT) was founded in 1991 in central Virginia by Gary Sill, CEO. Trained as a toolmaker, Sill started by developing machine tool fixtures but quickly found his niche in manufacturing automation. By 1994, the company had grown from a one-man start-up firm to a full-service firm with engineering services, machine shop, and in-house fabrication of automated testing and assembly machines. Early projects included automation solutions for automotive components, electronic products, consumer goods and medical components. Customers included Exxon Chemical, Hermle Black Forest Clocks, and Electronic Design & Manufacturing Company, England’s Stove Works, and Plastics One.
AIT began designing and manufacturing automation machinery for the wood pallet industry in 1999 with the introduction of our M2L Stacker and Unscrambler. Co-developed with Greg Wine, principal of Pallet Machinery Group, Inc., our first lumber stacker has reduced labor costs and increased productivity for hundreds of lumber processing mills. Additional specialized machinery - our high-speed center cut saws, board notcher, board sprayer and a faster stacker, the TS300, have been added to our wood pallet manufacturing equipment line.
For over 20 years, our team has designed innovative solutions for thousands of automation projects. Using advanced solid modeling, rapid prototyping, and our own proprietary concept development methods, we deliver cost-justified designs for innovative production machinery in the automotive, defense, electronics, energy, lumber, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.
Since the beginning, our work has helped all sized companies, including Areva, Dynax America, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, John Rock & Co., Ingersoll Rand, Hanwha Azdel, PalletOne, Parker Hanifin Corporation, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., and Olin Brass, to solve complex assembly problems and increase throughput.
OUR TEAM
Innovative Production Machinery is not just a tag line for Automated Industrial Technologies, we employ and develop a team that delivers what we claim.
Innovation
We don’t get fixated on one solution for your project. Rather we consider several options to reduce waste and simplify processes for end users. We believe the only way to deliver you an optimized machine is to test, refine, fabricate, and document until the project goals are met.
We are collaborators. We start by working with you to define your project requirements and look for specifics about production cycle time, cleanliness requirements, operator involvement, user interface safety, and production rates.
To us, innovation means meeting or exceeding process and cycle times, accuracy tolerances, and quality standards by applying our prior success and collective experience to your project.
Engineering
Our staff includes several engineers who specialize in design, manufacturing, electrical and controls, or project engineering and management. The combined experience of our team exceeds 120 years—all focused on producing the optimal machine design, control system, material handling, assembly, and testing processes for your project.
From this information, innovation and problem-solving begins. Our team will explore materials and methods best suited to your environment and develop practical concepts that we refine into effective solutions to execute your machine design, control system design, and write and test the process control software.
Manufacturing
Your automation solution is built and tested in our manufacturing department staffed by machinists, welders, and electro-mechanical assemblers with decades of experience. Each component is inspected to ensure it has met the specifications of the design.
Quality Control
QC protocols are in place for each stage of your project. A project engineer, a fabrication supervisor, and a technical liaison are involved in your project from material selection through a rigorous run-off cycle and delivery, installation, and training of your staff.
But here’s how we’re truly unique: You are encouraged to join the QC team during a multi-day run off when data is collected, documentation, including photos, is written, and your project is fine tuned. Either with you present or via our AutomationVue™ privileges, you can observe your machine in operation. Our technicians and engineers act as machine operators to simulate production run conditions using your materials. You gain the added assurance that your machine is functioning as specified and designed.
AutomationVue is a secured web portal where you access our video camera system in the build area of our plant during business hours. Enabled with full video privileges, you can observe your machine working as part of our project QC protocol. Number and length of views is unlimited; anyone with an interest in the project, at your site or another facility, can be issued a passcode to the web-based portal. Authorized users can also pan the cameras to enhance the view.
