Take a virtual tour of the Thomas Built Buses plant and see some of the new equipment and infrastructure that are part of its $12 million expansion.
Virtual Tour: Thomas Built Buses plant expansion
The goal of the expansion is to increase Thomas Built’s production capabilities of the Saf-T-Liner C2 by more than 25%. Shown here are assembly workers adding rivets to bus roofing. Photo by Thomas Built Buses.
A welder works on wheel wells.
Robotic technology is used to add glue to the roof bows for school bus roof panels to be attached.
An assembly worker installs flooring inside a bus body. Thomas Built accommodates some states' and First Student's requirements for one-piece flooring. Photo by Thomas Built Buses.
Robotic technology is also used to paint buses. It allows for a more controlled application of the paint and improves dry time. Photo by Thomas Built Buses.
One of the last steps in assembly is adding the seats to the buses.
The OEM decided how it wanted to build its buses and then built the 275,000 square-foot plant in 2004 to accommodate that process. Photo by Thomas Built Buses.
Assembly workers install panels on the side of a bus.
Use of painting robots allows for a higher-quality shiny paint job on the buses.
Bus bodies are taken by robotic technology to be mounted on chassis. Photo by Thomas Built Buses.
Doors are also installed on the buses toward the end of the process.