A manufacturing system for folding sheet bars, particularly sheet metal bars, comprising a folding press with two press beams, which are adjustable in relation to each other and provided with folding dies, whereby the folding press is fed by means of an automated manipulating system. The manipulating system has three hinged arms connected via pivoting devices to form an arrangement of hinged arms. A first hinged arm is swivel-mounted on a swivel axle extending in a swivel device parallel to a guide track of a linearly displaceable chassis. A second and a third swivel axles supporting the hinged arms are arranged extending parallel to the swivel axle of the swivel device. A gripping system and a seizing device for picking up the sheet bars are arranged in another end area of the hinged-arm arrangement. A positioning device assures that the sheet bar is correctly positioned for the folding process.