Klaus Woerner

Who was Klaus Woerner?

Klaus Woerner was the founder and CEO of ATS Automation Tooling Systems. Its main headquarters is located in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and it is one of the world's foremost companies dealing with automated manufacturing equipment.

Woerner was born in Germany in 1939. He completed his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic in Switzerland before moving to Montreal, Canada in 1960. Klaus worked for several companies in Montreal while taking night school classes to complete his high school diploma. He studied engineering at Concordia University in Montreal for 3 years, and completed his degree in Industrial Engineering at Ryerson University after he and his wife moved to Toronto. He graduated in 1972 and began working for Ford, which introduced him to automated manufacturing technology.

Woerner was keen to start his own business and in 1978 he started the engineering company which grew into Automation Tooling Systems. The company now has 26 worldwide divisions and over 4000 employees.

Woerner won many distinguished business awards, including the Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997. He was a great philanthropist, and donated 5 million dollars to the main theatre of Kitchener, Ontario, the Centre in the Square, as well as 2 million dollars to the engineering complex of the local community college, Conestoga College.