CHILDERSBURG, Ala. – For founder/owner Brandon Haley, starting Automation Robotics and Controls, Inc. – also known as ARCsoutheast – has been a journey of growth that finally led them to Childersburg and the ribbon-cutting at their new plant on Plant Rd., just past the paper mill.
That five-year journey began when Haley was still a teen inside a storage building in the backyard of the family home in Talladega, starting with his Dad and couple of like-minded friends. It wasn’t long, however, before Haley realized the potential of custom automation services.
Next was a move to a location along Hwy 280 toward Chelsea, in the tiny community of Shelby, where he doubled the staff. Then, it was on to Pell City, where the company grew to 15 employees and then to 20.
“That’s all tied to becoming an all-in-one resource for custom automation services,” explained Haley. “We offer services in robotics, controls, vision systems, design and integration, welding, maintenance, all the way to turnkey custom machinery.”
“It finally meant that we needed a building to suit our needs, property big enough to keep growing without packing up and moving,” Haley added, “and while we were constructing this building, it was with that future growth in mind. It won’t be long before we’re adding onto our building and adding to our staff which has already grown to 31.”
Their priority is quality. The goal for their industrial clients often focuses on “Cycle Time,” an all-important factor in plant output.
“We are experts in the field of Cycle Time Reduction,” noted Haley. “Usually, programming changes alone can shave valuable time off the production process to maximize output.”
Some naysayers say that robotic automation leads industry to cut human staff, but Haley smiled at that notion and answered, “Not at all. We have seen the exact opposite, a negative job replacement. What we do adds to growth instead. It creates new employment needs and actually incentivizes growth.”
When it came time to cut the ribbon for the new state-of-the-art facility, Haley said, “It has certainly been a lot of work, as we continued to work while we grew this new facility.” With a big smile, he added, “Worth every bit of that journey, and we’re not done yet.”
Childersburg Mayor Ken Wesson thanked Haley for choosing Childersburg, saying, “It was such a pleasure helping to locate this industry in a perfect site for the present and well into the future. It is so neat what y’all are doing here. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all the young people wanting to enter this field.”
With that in mind, Haley invited those interested to simply “stop and ask.”
“You don’t have to be an electrical engineer to be a designer.”
After all, Haley wasn’t when he started this journey as a teen in his backyard shop, yet he made it happen with the help of classes at Central Alabama Community College.
