KASTO Ltd

To streamline and speed deliveries of long stock to customers, a Unicompact high-performance storage and distribution system from Kasto has been installed in a new, purpose-built unit in Ellwangen operated by Friedrich Kicherer, one of the largest steel stockholders in Germany. Three KASTOwin F bandsaws have been integrated into the system. 

German sawing machine manufacturer, KASTO, is supplementing its bandsaw programme with the addition of a twin-column machine for cutting stock to length and mitring between -45 and +60° to a high degree of precision. The KASTOmiwin saw is said to be ideal for use by steel stockholders due to its power and rigidity.

The group manager for Kasto, Volker Bühler, here describes the widening choice of automation systems on offer to minimise labour costs and increase production output from the company's circular sawing and bandsawing machines. The production solutions are available in the UK and Ireland through the firm's subsidiary in Milton Keynes.

Back in November 2017 it was a change in the right direction for the UK’s largest independent steel stockholder, Barrett Steel Group as it installed a KASTOvariospeed C15 automatic circular sawing machine alongside two bandsaws at its engineering division in Maghaberry, Northern Ireland. It has increased sawing productivity, reduced delivery lead-times significantly, improved accuracy and lowered cost per cut.

KASTO, has introduced a high performance, economically priced bandsaw optimised to extract the best possible performance from either a tungsten carbide tipped (TCT) blade or a bimetal blade. The KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 offers short cutting times, long blade life and intuitive operation. It is available in the UK and Ireland through the company’s Milton Keynes subsidiary, which will exhibit the machine for the first time at a MACH show.

An innovative automatic bandsaw designed to increase productivity in the additive manufacturing sector has been introduced by Kasto. The KASTOwin amc incorporates a 180° turning device that allows 3D-printed parts on their build platform to be inverted so that the components fall into a container after they have been sawn.

At this year’s EMO fair, Kasto will be presenting innovations from both sides of the company's business – sawing machine and storage system manufacture. Highlights will be an intelligent system for efficient use of energy in automated storage systems; an automatic version of the KASTOmicut swing-frame band saw, the A 2.6, which will make its world debut; and live demonstrations of the high-performance KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 bandsaw.

Introducing a new tower which provides a compact, standardised solution for automated storage and retrieval of pallets and flat material, metal sawing and storage equipment manufacturer, KASTO has called the system KASTOecostore. Advantages of the KASTOecostore system include its low space requirement, high storage density, short material access times and value for money.

Acquiring two automated pivoting-bow bandsaws from Kasto, a UK provider of light engineering components, Stourbridge-based Tasman Industries, saw the most recent one delivered in December 2016. They have transformed the efficiency with which the firm cuts bar material in a vast array of metal types and sizes into large batches of up to several thousands. For smaller runs, say 50-off, it relies partly on a similar, semi-automatic saw installed earlier last year by the same supplier.

A range of swing-frame, pivoting-bow bandsaws have been launched by KASTO, for use in workshops and are available in the UK and Ireland. Called KASTOmicut, the machines are designed for high accuracy cutting to length and mitre cutting of tubes, sections and solid materials.

KASTO automated warehouse customer, Bohler Uddeholm UK, Oldbury, has won the 2016 SHD Logistics Award for Warehouse Efficiency, presented by comedian Mark Watson in front of 600 industry professionals during a dinner at Resorts World Birmingham in mid-September.

Metal sawing and storage equipment manufacturer, KASTO, will launch a new, high-performance bandsawing machine, called KASTOwin pro AC 5.6, at AMB 2016, which is to take place in Stuttgart, 13-17th September. The KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 is optimised for use with either a bimetal or a Tungsten Carbide Tipped (TCT) blade. Cutting trials on the stand will demonstrate the short process times achievable.

Specifically for cutting tubular material, KASTO has introduced a new bandsaw, called KASTOwin tube A 5.0, on which the blade cuts from the bottom upwards - the reverse of the action on other bandsaws. It reduces wear on the band and avoids damage to its teeth that often occurs when a blade travels downwards into swarf that has accumulated inside the bottom of the tube.  

KASTO will exhibit products from their sawing and storage portfolio at the international sheet processing technology show , EuroBLECH (21-25 Oct in Hannover).

To complement its range of storage systems and controls, KASTO has upgraded its warehouse management software from KASTOlvr to KASTOlogic and in so doing has further improved its functionality. Core functions consist of an intuitive graphical user interface, an interface to the customer’s host computer system and a dashboard for overall visualisation of warehouse management.

KASTO has developed a new, horizontal bandsawing machine for cutting cast aluminium blocks into plate. Rather than sawing a billet vertically, which would leave the problem of how to handle and stack the plate after each cut, the machine deploys a horizontal blade that has been turned through 90 degrees to allow successive slices to be taken off the top of the material.

At this year's IMHX international materials handling and logistics exhibition, held at Birmingham's national exhibition centre in March, KASTO won the BITA-sponsored IMHX Design 4 Safety Award 2013 in the category: Specialist Winner, Racking & Storage. The certificate was signed by James Clark, secretary-general of BITA and Rob Fisher, a director of the show organisers, Informa Exhibitions.

In response to market demand, German sawing machine and storage system manufacturer, KASTO, has introduced a bandsaw with 440 x 520 mm cutting capacity that sits between its KASTOtwin A4 and A5 models. Designed for use primarily with bimetal blades, the competitively priced, mid-range machine is ideal for those that want to cut stock above the 400 mm diameter capacity of the A4, without having to invest in the more expensive 560 x 630 mm-capacity A5.

German sawing machine manufacturer, Kasto, has introduced a new optimisation capability in the CNC systems controlling its bandsaws, circular saws and automated storage systems. The software automatically minimises the number and length of bar remnants after a production run, even when both straight and mitre cuts are involved.

German sawing machine builder, Kasto, recently delivered a turnkey production process to a bearing manufacturer for cutting off short lengths of stock from thick-walled, 100Cr6 steel tube of 677 N/mm² tensile strength to produce bearing race blanks. It was a particularly exacting circular sawing application, as Kasto's UK subsidiary in Milton Keynes describes below.