Multi-Station Custom Production Automation, Designed and Built in Bristol, Indiana

Bristol-built automation, defined by what it does in production

When the cell that runs your highest-volume part has to deliver repeatable quality the day it's installed — and keep delivering it ten years later — the integrator you pick stops being a procurement decision and becomes a business-continuity decision. That's the work Bristol is built to do. Our machines don't get handed off to a subcontractor for controls or sourced out for build. The engineer who writes your concept owns the build through runoff.

The 23-station shackle-link assembly machine we built for a leading North American RV chassis supplier has accumulated 4 million+ part cycles and is still in production. The arm-bar press a leading suspension OEM calls the heart and soul of their suspension line is ours. The grease machine that took a 45-second manual operation to 8.5 seconds is still running. Those outcomes don't happen by accident — they happen because we build to industrial duty cycles, oversize the structural elements, and design in a second decade of serviceability before the first part runs.

Six checkpoint gates. No engineering subcontractors.

Every Bristol build runs on six customer-signed checkpoint gates between PO and runoff. The customer signs off at concept, at engineering design review before any metal is cut, at factory acceptance test, and at the customer-witnessed site acceptance test and runoff. There is no engineering subcontractor, no controls subcontractor, no third party between you and the people writing your PLC code. When scope changes or schedule implications arise, we communicate them as they become understood — not after the fact.

The equipment behind every cell we ship

• Charmilles Robofil Wire EDM (x2) — precision die details, cam profiles, hardened tooling components to ±.0001″.
• Hurco 3-axis CNC machining center — station bases, plates, custom brackets.
• CNC lathes — shafts, bushings, hardware turned to print.
• OMAX abrasive waterjet — structural plates, frame components, cover panels.
• Kent surface grinder & Lucas horizontal boring mill — die surface finish and large-bore precision work.

Control platforms, vision, sensors, and motion — engineered by the team that built the machine

Because the controls engineer is in the same building as the mechanical engineer throughout the entire build, platform decisions happen at design time — not at integration, when the schedule has no slack. Sensor placement is decided when the bracket is designed. Safety category is selected when the guarding is drawn. Technologies deployed across our custom machine builds:

• Advanced automation — PLC controls, AC and DC drives, servo controls
• Hydraulics & pneumatics — proportional systems, valve manifolds, cylinders
• HMI with part selection — recipe-based part programs, operator guidance screens, fault recovery
• Process equipment — to apply glues, chemicals, solder, tape, and labels
• Mechanical machines — drill, tap, bend, saw, punch, inspect, lance, coin, laser etch, weld, cut-off, count
• Assembly machines — press, stake, insert, fasten, and assemble sub-components

Pick, Place, Test & Press: what a complex Bristol build looks like

Three independent safety zones, AI vision systems, HMIs, servos, pneumatics, safety PLCs, linear slides, index table, and grippers — all engineered as one system by the same team. Each zone independently safety-rated; AI vision handles part presence, orientation, and dimensional verification before press operations execute. Designed, built, and commissioned at one address.

Jigs & Fixtures — built by the same machinists who built the machine

Twenty-five years of fixture work means our designers have already solved the problem you're describing. Assembly holding fixtures, drill jigs, weld jigs with trunnion mounts, and dimensional check fixtures — designed to the same tolerance standards and produced on the same equipment as the production tooling they support.

• Assembly holding fixtures — keep parts located and clamped during assembly or joining operations.
• Drill jigs — guide saws, drills, and other machining tools to hit the part in the right spot every time.
• Weld jigs — part locating, clamping, and trunnion mount plates for production welding cells.
• Dimensional check fixtures — verify that holes are in the right locations and sizes, and that profiles are within tolerance.

Repair & Refurbish — because a Bristol-built machine is worth saving

The machines we built in the 2000s are still in field service because we build to survive. When one needs attention — worn tooling, an obsolete controls platform, a structural modification — we handle it. No sending the job to a third party who has never seen the original design drawings.

• Process equipment, mechanical machines, assembly machines, and test equipment
• Replace worn components; repair broken details to like-new
• Test and reuse existing components as appropriate; add safety features where required
• Covers all machine types we build: grease machines, drill & tap machines, assembly presses, test cells

The proof: machines in continuous production 10, 15, and 20+ years later

A Tier-1 RV chassis and components OEM — 23-station shackle-link assembly machine. Before installation: 5 operators, 5-day week. After: 3 operators, 3-day week. The machine has since accumulated 4 million+ part cycles in continuous production and is still running. References available during qualification under NDA.

The same OEM — grease machine. Manual process: 45 seconds per part. Bristol-built machine: 8.5 seconds per part — a 1.74× reduction in labor input at the higher cycle rate. Still running.

hydraulic railing bender platform. Pontoon railings for five active marine OEMs. Ten-plus years in continuous production. Approximately $510,000 in annual revenue across the platform. Same machine. Same buyers.

A machine without a supportable builder behind it is an asset on its way to becoming a problem. Bristol's 25-year continuity at one address — through two recessions and a pandemic — is part of what you're buying.