Gloucestershire-based Mabey Bridge (www.mabey.com)has invested £2.6 million in a robotic cell at its facility in Lydney to support the manufacture of the Compact 200 (C200), which is the world’s most widely used modular steel bridge.

This will enable the factory to produce up to 2km of steel bridging a month.

Previously, automated welding systems performed most of the welding, but smaller welds were completed by hand. Panels and raw materials were manually transported between three separate machines.

Workers now load the raw materials, at which point the robots take over, manoeuvring the heavier components and welding all the sections together, ready for drilling.

Michael Treacy, chief executive of Mabey Bridge, said: “Now operational, our investment in the next generation of industrial robotics demonstrates our commitment to accelerating our manufacturing and construction processes.”