Inside Gear School 2026 at The Adams Company
Every gear order turns into a technical conversation with a supplier. Gear School teaches the purchasing, engineering, maintenance, and operations people in that conversation to speak the same language as the shop building their parts.
The Adams Company hosted its fourth annual Gear School on September 30 and October 1, 2026, with Helios Gear Products. This year's program moved to a new venue, the Reflections Event Space at Q Casino + Resort, and added more guest speakers. Longtime customers shared the room with teams just starting to work with us. For the newer teams, that meant seeing how we’ll make their parts before the first order ships.
Day one: starting with the print
This year's class leaned harder into design. Lance Brown of the Motion + Power Manufacturers Alliance (MPMA) spent the morning on Design for Manufacturing, focusing on how engineers communicate drawings and requirements to the shops that build their parts. Engineers left knowing what makes a print easy to quote and build, and buyers left with the questions to ask before a PO goes out. Leah Lewis, CMP, CEM, DES, also joined from MPMA to speak about the association's work educating gear shop suppliers and OEM buyers.
After lunch, Advanced Heat Treat Corp. returned to lead the heat treating session with Adam Kane, John Ludeman, and Caden Kickbush. Heat treat callouts appear on nearly every gear print, and this session covered what goes into them. Gear history and nomenclature closed out the classroom day.
Then the group took a bus to our manufacturing facility, where the shop floor runs three shifts. Attendees saw internal and bevel gear work in live production and finished in our inspection department, where we check parts to ISO 9001 standards before shipping. That evening, the conversations moved from the classroom to the Q Casino + Resort Showroom, where cocktails and live music from Ozzy and BonJoeB, a local Dubuque acoustic act, set the tone for a New York strip dinner.
Day two: inspection and the cutting processes
Thursday opened with KAPP NILES leading an inspection of parallel-axis gears, where an AGMA accuracy grade on a drawing becomes a measurement someone has to hit. Helios Gear Products took it from there, covering hobbing, shaping, cutting tools, and gear blanks and fixtures. A troubleshooting session tied both days together before an open Q&A, and each attendee left with a certificate of completion.
Thank you to our partners
Gear School runs on the people who teach it. Thank you to Helios Gear Products, Advanced Heat Treat Corp., KAPP NILES, and MPMA for their time and expertise, and to every attendee who came ready to ask the next question.
"Gear School 2026 brought our best attendance and the most interaction we've had in the room. When people are asking that many good questions, you know the program is doing what it was built to do."
Leighton Hackert, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Vector Companies
Watch the full Gear School 2026 video recap and catch up on past editions in our Gear School 2025 and Gear School 2024 recaps. Want a seat at Gear School 2027, or have a gear or shaft project to talk through? Contact sales@theadamscompany.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Adams Company Gear School?
It's an annual two-day gear manufacturing training program that The Adams Company hosts with Helios Gear Products. It pairs classroom sessions led by industry instructors with a guided tour of an active gear and shaft manufacturing facility.
Who should attend Gear School?
The program is designed for entry-level and early-career gear manufacturing personnel. That includes procurement and purchasing, engineers, supervisors, set-up technicians, operators, quality assurance, and manufacturing management.
What topics does Gear School cover?
The 2026 curriculum covered design for manufacturing, heat treating, gear nomenclature, inspection of parallel axis gears and AGMA accuracy grades, hobbing, shaping, cutting tools, gear blanks and fixtures, and troubleshooting.
Do attendees receive a certificate?
Yes. Every participant who completes the program receives a certificate of completion.
