OEMs describe how automated material-handling systems drive laser-cutting productivity through the roof, keeping assembly lines stocked with precision-cut parts from sheet and plate. Visitors to Bradford Built, a company that manufactures specialty beds for pickup trucks, often are amazed at the amount of automation in use in its metal-fabricating facility. The shop incorporates automation wherever possible, to streamline operations and increase production output. It does so out of necessity-Bradford Built resides in a 1000-sq.-mile county with a population of less than 6000, so there's not a huge labor pool from which to draw. However, with automated systems and robotics, it easily meets order delivery times.
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