I don't know the case but I imagine the metal pole is to protect against the case being squeezed from sides, like if it was put down flat and other baggage was piled on top of it.
If I had that case, I'd consider removing the pole since most likely you don't need such excessive bombproof protection - because if you did, people couldn't use those soft cases at all...

As to aligning the case sections when closing it, that makes me wonder why nobody makes hard shell case that would zip up like a soft bag without that need for intricate alignment of the two sections. I have a hard shell suitcase for normal flying and know what that is about. There needs to be a balance between the bombproof protection and functionality.

I even imagine a dry zip along the case perimeter on simple flat lips of the two case halves, that would stick together and to secure it, you would have a simple belt over the case with a dumb tightening mechanism that even dumb folks would know how to operate. Or some simple latches. I also don't think you need to have locks on the case. I didn't bother to put locks on zippers on my soft bag but then I only flew with a bike once, overseas. Still, the contents and bike parts removed from the bike were more expensive than what I normally have in my travel suitcase.