From a five-man shop to a North American footprint.
Nearly 30 years ago, Mikewill Automation started with one engineer and one hard project. Today we're a full-service systems integrator working across North America — and we still measure ourselves by how well we solve the hardest problems on the floor.
Built on saying yes
Mike Bearden started out as a controls engineer, learning the trade as manufacturing moved into the digital world. When an integrator he worked for was closing, a customer asked him to take on a project his employer wasn't willing to do. So he did — and that decision became Mikewill Automation.
That first "yes" set the pattern for everything since. We adopted a simple motto: "If it were easy, someone easy could do it. Bring us the hard ones — that's where we do our best work." Decades later, we've built the most capable team we've ever had, and we're still growing to meet our customers where they are.
Where we started, where we're going
- 1990
Starting out
Mike Bearden was a controls engineer when a customer asked him to take on a project his employer wouldn't. He did — and Mikewill Automation was born. It started as a five-person shop that went after the hardest jobs on the floor.
- The first break
Americold Compressor
One of our earliest projects routed compressors through test and repair stations using barcode readers — SLC-500 PLCs, Adaptascan readers, DeviceNet, and PanelView HMIs. It was bleeding-edge for the time, and it set the tone: call Mikewill for the hard one.
- 2000
Feeding a food line
For Ameriqual Foods in Evansville, Indiana, we built a packaging line that filled dipping cups at 90 cups per machine cycle and palletized them with ABB robots — proving we could deliver high-speed food automation, not just controls.
- 2010
Forging into metals
Delta Steel & Tube in Florence, Alabama trusted us with more than ten robotic weld cells, mixing ABB and FANUC robots with vision-based quality checks — a scale of robotic integration few regional shops attempt.
- Today
A national footprint
We've grown from five people to a full engineering bench, with work that has taken us across North America — 26 U.S. states and counting. We keep dedicated staff on-site for clients like Tucker Milling and build precision portion-pack systems for Jordan Manufacturing — still going after the toughest work on the floor.
- April 2026
Our Guntersville home
We opened a new facility on US-431 in Guntersville — right where most of our people already live — giving our engineering and build teams room to grow alongside our customers.
Accountability
We do the design, panels, wiring, programming, and startup in-house. One team owns the outcome — no finger-pointing.
Senior access
The engineer who designs your system is the one you call when you need it. No layers, no runaround.
We take the hard jobs
If it were easy, someone easy could do it. Difficult, high-stakes projects are where we do our best work.
Three decades of proof
- 30+
- Years in business
- 75+
- Companies served
- 26
- U.S. states worked in
- North America
- Where we deliver
Ready to automate your world?
Tell us about your line, your bottleneck, or the toughest project on your list. We're ready to dig in.