3D-printed vacuum fixture allows efficient robotic trimming CHALLENGE Many helicopter body components are made from carbon fibre composite sculptured surface-shaped parts. At present, Airbus Helicopters Canada Ltd. uses fibreglass fixtures to mechanically clamp the parts, and excess material is trimmed away manually by an operator. This is fatiguing, and the process is open to operator error leading to the scrapping of expensive parts. Airbus looked … Continue reading Airbus Helicopters Canada »
Improving Productivity of Composite Material Trimming Work Station Through Automated Solution PROJECT TYPE Manufacturing and Productivity Improvement CHALLENGE Fort Erie-based Airbus Helicopters Canada was seeking guidance and partnership to improve the productivity of a trimming and drilling workstation. The composite and metallic manufacturing business line identified this workstation as a primary bottleneck within the manufacturing process, and an area that needed to reduce its scrap … Continue reading Airbus Helicopters Canada »
PROJECT TYPE Productivity Assessments CHALLENGE Stanpac is a manufacturer of packaging supplies for the dairy, food and beverage industries. The challenge faced was related to the quality control and management of plastic lids from one-pint ice cream containers – more specifically the lids containing red pigmentation. SOLUTION Upon the completion of the productivity assessment, the lead researcher provided Stanpac with a number of recommendations for … Continue reading Stanpac »
PROJECT TYPE Productivity Assessments CHALLENGE Rescue Dogs is Canada’s first all-vegan hotdog and street-fare cart, operating at Ontario markets, events and in downtown St. Catharines a few days a week. As much as possible, the food they produce is locally sourced and organic. Niagara College was approached to investigate ways to increase the rate of production from 200 dogs per shift to 200 dogs per … Continue reading Rescue Dogs »
PROJECT TYPE Productivity Assessments CHALLENGE Welland-based Iron Will Raw produces raw pet food that follows strict guidelines to ensure freshness and health benefits. Iron Will Raw approached the Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre to assess their new manufacturing space. They needed to find areas of improvement, create a layout and flow of materials, assist with work standardization and investigate automate opportunities SOLUTION The research team … Continue reading Iron Will Raw Pet Food »
PROJECT TYPE Productivity Assessments CHALLENGE Fonthill-based Shriner’s Creek Kettle Popcorn produces authentic kettle popcorn have expanded their business to farmer’s markets, festivals, craft shows, special events and fundraisers. They needed help finding a way to meet the increasing demands for their product in their current facility layout. SOLUTION The research team assessed general safety and the facility layout. They concluded that sorting and organizing the … Continue reading Shriner’s Creek Kettle Popcorn »
