AUTOMOTIVE

Bosch Rexroth Canada provides solutions in the major technology areas of industrial hydraulics, electric drives and controls, linear motion and assembly technologies, pneumatics, service and mobile hydraulics. The company used Autodesk Inventor to successfully navigate one of its most ambitious projects yet: a complete modernization of the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway's Welland Canal. The St. Lawrence Seaway is the main artery for shipping in North America, covering a distance of 3700 km and connecting the Midwest with the Atlantic Coast. The Welland Canal, a vital part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, provides safe passage around Niagara Falls via eight locks that overcome the 100 meter height difference between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Bosch Rexroth Canada was retained by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation to modernize the canal locks, which had 70 year old electromechanical drives, gears, chains, and steel cables. Using Autodesk Inventor, Bosch Rexroth Canada was able to design all-new hydraulic systems for the canal in 3D, resulting in dramatic reductions in design times and drawing errors. Autodesk Inventor's immersive 3D design environment allowed the company to increase the details included on its designs and improve visualization for everyone from the client to the shop floor. "By modeling a frame or a weldment in 3D using Autodesk Inventor, we can give our fabrication shop a much clearer understanding of the design, which facilitates expedient manufacturing times," said Jim Lambert C.E.T., the design engineering manager of the Hydraulic Business Unit of Bosch Rexroth Canada. "In this way, we've been able to leverage the power of 3D all the way down to the manufacturing shop floor. That kind of efficiency helps us keep this project on schedule so that we can provide the canal with more efficient and reliable lock operations." "Bosch Rexroth Canada's use of Autodesk Inventor has helped them move beyond the limitations of 2D design to reap the benefits of 3D," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "We are thrilled to name them as our Inventor of the Month for September."