Abstract: The system for producing bent sheet-metal articles comprises a bending machine (80) having a punch (84) and a die (86) which cooperate with each other and define a bending space, and a manipulator (64) having a movable head (76) which can grip a piece of sheet metal and place it in the bending space. Each piece to be bent has its own gripper and the head (76) of the manipulator (64) has rapid-attachment means for gripping and releasing the gripper associated with each piece. A table for defining the position of a piece to be bent, a manipulator for gripping and moving a piece of sheet metal by means of a floating head, a bending machine comprising an auxiliary structure for measuring the relative displacement of the punch and the die, and a device for automatically replacing tools of the bending machine are also described.