This project illustrates the power of rapid reverse engineering and prototyping in supporting legacy manufacturing equipment. WAMIC’s ability to deliver precision-fit components under tight time constraints helped preserve production continuity on a century-old line.
Challenge/Opportunity
Post Foods Canada operates a 120-year-old Big Biscuit (BB) machine originally built for the Canadian Shredded Wheat Company.
The machine, a marvel of mechanical engineering, continues to run using original hand-adjusted clutches, brass bushings, and custom drive components. However, the bucket chain sprockets — crucial for maintaining timing and alignment of the shredded wheat transport — were severely worn and there were no spares available in inventory.
Given that the OEM (Nabisco) had long ceased manufacturing parts and used heavily modified components, replacement options were extremely limited.
Solution Delivered
The maintenance team at Post removed the worn bucket chain drive shaft during a scheduled shutdown and brought it to the Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (WAMIC) at Niagara College, requesting a fast turnaround. The centre:
- Scanned and reverse engineered the sprocket geometry
- Captured the pitch and profile of the worn chain interface
- Created a full 3D model of the sprockets
- 3D printed two functional prototype sprockets within 3 days
The new sprockets were installed and tested by hand-cranking the machine to confirm proper alignment and timing with the roller chain and other mechanical components.
Results and Impact
- Enabled production continuity on a 120-year-old heritage machine
- Avoided costly downtime by delivering parts in 3 days
- Demonstrated the effectiveness of 3D scanning and modelling for legacy parts
- Strengthened client confidence in local advanced manufacturing support
- Engaged Niagara Manufacturing Ecosystem
Capabilities Demonstrated
- Reverse Engineering
- 3D Scanning and Modelling
- Rapid Prototyping
- Client-Focused Engineering Solutions