Built in Danville, Illinois since 1942
Automated welding and wheel line machinery
Flash butt welders, complete wheel rim lines, robotic cells and Assurance Plus weld controls. Engineered, machined, assembled and tested in one plant of more than 100,000 square feet.
Pictured: the all-electric servo roll former for wheel rims
- 1942
- In Danville, Illinois ever since
- 100,000+ sq ft
- Engineering and manufacturing plant
- 600 rims/hr
- Passenger car rims on an automated line
- 200 ton
- Upset force on the largest flash butt welders
One source, one plant
Welding heritage that goes back over 100 years
Automation International carries on the machine lines of Federal Welder, Berkeley-Davis, Swift-Ohio, Hess Industries and A.I. Welders, with unbroken supply of arc and resistance welding machines for more than a century.
Today the Danville plant builds new machines, rebuilds old ones, and supports them with its own parts department and field technicians. Sales and technical staff work from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.
- Federal Welder
- Berkeley-Davis
- Swift-Ohio
- Hess Industries
- A.I. Welders
- McKay and Wean United wheel lines
Equipment we design and build
From one machine to a complete production line. Every system is custom built, and the design, fabrication, machining, assembly and start-up all happen in house.
Resistance welding equipmentFlash butt, seam, spot and projection welders.
Wheel manufacturing equipmentRim lines from coil to assembled wheel.- Arc and laser welding machinesTurn-key MIG, TIG, plasma and laser systems.
- Robotics and automationRobot integration for welding and part handling.
Assurance Plus weld controlsPatented control for flash and butt welding.
Resistance welding transformersNew builds, rebuilds and emergency repairs.
Rebuild, retrofit, remanufactureFour levels, from as-is to complete remanufacture.
Used equipmentIn-stock machines, as is or rebuilt to spec.
In-house capability
Big enough to build the whole line
Engineering, machining, large fabrication, assembly and transformer work all sit under one roof, which keeps delivery short and quality control tight.
- 300" x 120" x 60"
- Travel on CNC horizontal boring mills
- 196"
- Swing on vertical turret lathes
- 90,000 lb
- Largest fabricated weldments
- 500 ton
- Press brake
- 34,000 sq ft
- Assembly floor
- 50 ton
- Dual-hoist cranes over assembly
Assurance Plus: the weld control for flash and butt welding
Designed and patented in house. It keeps the patented weld cycle logic and force controller, the 16 channel diagnostic graphics and the statistics packages of the original Assurance control.
The same I/O pin-out means it drops in where an older Assurance control sits today. Controls from other makers can be retrofitted too.
A new machine is not the only answer
Older welders can be remanufactured to perform better than when new, with conversions to hydraulic, DC or MFDC power and new controls.
There are four published levels, from as-is to complete remanufacture. A complete remanufacture strips the frame to the last bolt and carries a six month warranty on the entire machine.
Field technicians who travel to your plant
Service staff commission machines, troubleshoot breakdowns, run preventive maintenance and train operators, and every visit ends with a written field service report.
The parts department covers Automation International machines plus Berkeley-Davis, Federal, Swift-Ohio, Hess, Kieserling-Albrecht, Blohm and Voss and A.I. Welders equipment.
Request a quote for sales, service or spare parts
Prefer to talk? Call (217) 446-9500, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST.
- What you need: a new machine, a rebuild, service or parts.
- The part and process: material, size and production rate.
- For parts: the machine's description, model number and serial number. Photos help.