Niagara College’s state-of-the-art capacity in 3D design and 3D printing has offered local companies exciting new possibilities to improve their products and services.
One such company is Linetech Equipment Mfg. Ltd., one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of equipment to paint lines on roads and highways. About 100 of the company’s truck-mounted machines are in use across Canada, the United States, and in other parts of the world.
Several years ago, Linetech worked with the college’s digital media team to update software and test a mobile monitoring device that gauges the thickness of existing road markings. After a successful research partnership with Niagara on this project, Linetech turned to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre team for help improving its equipment production.
The Centre’s research team redesigned one part of Linetech’s equipment to make it lighter and smaller, and re-engineered the manufacturing process to involve fewer parts, which allows quicker changes on the line. They were also able to create the finished part with the college’s 3D printer. In the end, the team provided a more cost-effective process to Linetech, using less material for production and, in one case, creating potential for an expanded product line. The company was producing fourand six-inch parts, but with the new material and process, college engineers were able to create an eight-inch part to serve the company’s needs better.
