Versatility In Assembly for Workstations and More

With its bolt-together connections, structural aluminum framing can be an economical replacement for welded steel in assembly workstations, machine guards, equipment bases and more. Now Bosch Rexroth, a leading supplier of aluminum framing components, has rolled out new accessories and CAD support that make framing easier to order and use, particularly in assembly settings. For an idea of just how strong and versatile this framing system can be, check out its most recent application as an alternative framing method for houses.

Aluminum Home Building

Bosch's aluminum framing elements might seem most at home on the shop-floor. But the framing system has recently drawn interest from architects wanting to frame residential houses with this industrial framing system, according marketing director Kevin Gingerich. One example is the iT House from Taalman Koch Architecture in Los Angeles, CA. The exterior walls of this prefabricated house consist of the aluminum framing and glass panels.

Offline CAD Support

Want to design with structural aluminum framing? More engineers are downloading solid models of the framing components and ordering them online through Bosch Rexroth's “Framing Shop,” according to marketing director Kevin Gingerich. But for those engineers who can't or don't want to use the on-line interface, a new two-disk CD-ROM makes all of the solid models available off-line. Developed with 3D PartStream technology from SolidWorks, the library of CAD models had previously been available only online — at www.boschrexroth-us.com/brlcad and www.3DContentCentral.com. The new CD offers the same models in a variety of native CAD formats — including SolidWorks, Catia and ProEngineer.

Workstations Get Manual

Lean production often relies on its share of manual assembly operations, in large part because many products and assembly tasks simply don't justify full automation. Bosch Rexroth has created a Manual Production System (MPS) to support these operations with workstations based on the company's structural aluminum framing elements and related workplace components. The MPS components include ones tailored to lean production methods — including one-piece flow, line-side parts stores and “water-spider” inventory replenishment. Among the newest components is a color-coded flow rack, which provides visual cues when it's time to resupply the rack. Bosch Rexroth also introduced an electrostatic discharge safe for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing.