Inside Gear School 2025 at The Adams Company

The Adam's Company and Helios Gear Product's Gear School 2025 brought more than 40 engineers, buyers, machine operators, and quality professionals to Hotel Julien in Dubuque, Iowa, for two days of focused, hands-on learning. Designed for entry-level and early-career personnel, the program combined classroom instruction, industry-led sessions, and a guided tour of The Adams Company’s manufacturing facility.

The goal was clear: help attendees build a stronger understanding of gear manufacturing fundamentals and how quality is achieved at each stage of the process.

The program opened with an introduction from Steve Arthur of Vector Companies, who welcomed attendees and outlined the purpose of the two-day curriculum.

Adam Gimpert and Jason Spitzer from Helios Gear Products led sessions on core manufacturing topics, including hobbing processes, cutting tools, materials, coatings, and design considerations. The discussions stayed practical, with examples tied to real shop-floor challenges and day-to-day decision-making.

Heat treating was covered by Adam Kane of Advanced Heat Treat Corporation, who explained how case hardening and other forms of thermal processing affect gear performance, durability, and long-term reliability.

Inspection and quality followed, with Roger Boswell from Kapp Niles presenting on inspection of parallel-axis gears and AGMA accuracy standards. His session focused on how quality is measured, documented, and verified in production environments.

Sessions were structured to build from foundational concepts into applied topics, with time for questions throughout.

Following the sessions, attendees toured The Adams Company’s manufacturing facility. The tour gave participants a direct look at gear production, inspection practices, and shop-floor workflows discussed earlier in the day.

Seeing these processes in operation helped connect classroom instruction to real manufacturing environments and provided added context around quality control and inspection.

Across both days, the agenda covered gear nomenclature, machining processes, heat treatment, hard finishing, inspection, troubleshooting, and AGMA quality concepts. The program concluded with an open Q&A session and certificates of completion for all participants

An evening networking dinner also gave attendees time to connect with peers and instructors in a relaxed setting.

Gear School 2025 focused on practical, experience-based learning for gear manufacturing teams. By pairing experienced instruction with real shop-floor exposure, the program helped attendees gain clarity on quality-driven gear manufacturing and how the processes fit together.

Thank you to all who participated. Your engagement, questions, and shared experience helped make the program a valuable two days of learning for everyone involved. We look forward to continuing these sessions in the future.