Bosch Rexroth Canada is beating the recession blues for both itself and its customers by installing a new $1.5-million CNC machine and CAM software package that uses the latest technology to build customized hydraulic manifolds for its customers efficiently and for a competitive price.

The economic outlook might be gloomy for some companies, but Bosch Rexroth Canada is looking ahead to a brighter future by taking a positive, proactive approach to helping its customers make the most of every manufacturing dollar.

In the current tough economic conditions, Bosch Rexroth Canada is continuing to make investments centered around customer satisfaction, including implementing lean programs such as 5S, BPS (Bosch Production Systems) and continuous improvement of its processes and technology, resulting in greater value added to the products it provides to customers.

Bosch Rexroth recently installed a brand-new, state-of-the-art CNC machining center and CAM software package at its Welland, Ont., facility, demonstrates Bosch Rexroth Canada’s commitment to its Canadian customers. The new $1.5 million investment will allow the company and its customers to stay competitive by delivering top quality Bosch Rexroth custom integrated hydraulic solutions for a variety of applications.

"We pride ourselves on providing strong engineering and manufacturing solutions meeting our customer’s requirements," says Dino Paladino, general manager of systems with Bosch Rexroth Canada. "Investing in state-of-the-art equipment and personnel training is key to our commitment to maintaining the level of service and satisfaction customers expect from Bosch Rexroth."

The new CNC machine will provide the Welland facility with added flexibility and capacity to manufacture custom manifold blocks for Bosch Rexroth’s hydraulic solutions. A team of application engineers and designers develop the integrated circuits and manifold designs, then forward the information to the machining center for manufacturing.

The new machine is a Mazak HCN 6800 horizontal machining center. It features a 10,000 RPM spindle speed, which provides fast, reliable machining of the blocks. The Mazak contains six pallets, where multiple work pieces can be loaded, offering great flexibility and the opportunity to perform unmanned machining over a period of time. Other features include a wide machining area and large table capacity, 330 tool storage magazine and cyber tool management to monitor tool condition.

According to Paladino, the machine will increase Bosch Rexroth’s current capacity and, with the added flexibility, allow penetration into new market areas.

As part of the project, Bosch Rexroth also implemented new CAM software to help improve the process. The software is Delcam’s FeatureCAM, which recognizes the features of the manifold block from the original three dimensional model, identifies the tooling required to manufacture the block, then creates the required machine code.

"The FeatureCAM software will eliminate the majority of programming typically required when trying to transfer information from our design group to the machine," Paladino says.
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