The Perfect Camping Partners
At Go Fast Campers, a line of four UR5 cobots are fully integrated with Haas CNC machines, offering 22 hours of productivity per day, including lights-out manufacturing. The robots all use the same robot program, so that any cell can run any of the company’s 174 unique parts in any volume to meet each day’s assembly requirements.
Wiley Davis, an entrepreneur and avid outdoorsman, conceived of his manufacturing business while driving home from a surfing and camping trip to Baja California, Mexico, in 2017. After struggling once again to fit his 6-ft, 4-inch frame into his 6-ft truck bed to sleep, Davis envisioned what became Go Fast Campers (GFC), a manufacturer of customized, lightweight pop-up truck campers.
Five years later, the CEO and co-founder has expanded GFC into a vertically integrated, highly automated manufacturing operation based in Bozeman, Mont. The company’s products are designed to fit a wide range of vehicle brands and models as well as accessory products. GFC now manufactures 174 unique parts—including bolts, connectors, and hinges—used in a variety of camper platforms, toppers, frames, and accessories.
The company’s steady progress has been a team effort, led by Davis’ foresight along with the dedication, resolve, and creativity of other senior leaders, as well as that of dozens of skilled technicians and operators throughout the plant—with growing support from advanced automation systems.
Tending to Business
In fact, much of GFC’s success can be attributed to the company’s partnership with Universal Robots (UR) A/S. The supplier’s line of UR5 machine-tending cobots works side-by-side throughout the Bozeman facility with their human counterparts.
“Had we not built the entire company around the concept of automation, our 65 employees wouldn’t have those jobs at all,” Davis asserted. “And the products we make—if we were able to form a company around it—would only be affordable to a very tiny portion of…
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