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Kasto news: On-site production of industrial warehouse cassettes
On-site production of industrial warehouse cassettes is economical and environmentally friendly
Kasto, the German manufacturer of computer controlled, multi-level systems for automatically storing and retrieving material in stockholding operations and factories, has introduced a new service whereby it will produce parts of its Unicompact system at the customer’s premises. The only prerequisites are sufficient space, a crane and a 400 volt, three-phase electricity supply. On-site production is available in the UK and Ireland through Kasto’s subsidiary in Milton Keynes.
The service is carried out within the user’s warehouse area and involves the supplier’s engineers assembling and robotically welding the box-shaped cassettes in which bar, tube or other long stock will be contained. Transporting flat sheet metal avoids having to move large amounts of fresh air by lorry, as is the case if the items are preassembled, reducing the cost of delivery and lowering the environmental impact through fewer vehicle journeys.
The option is economically viable for medium- to large-capacity storage systems. As the cassettes are manufactured next to the warehouse structure that will contain them, the customer can start using them immediately they are ready and can even procure the raw materials to save even more cost. Moreover, the user constantly has a first hand, real time overview of how the project is progressing.
One of the first companies to use the new concept was Vereinigte Baustoff- und Eisen GmbH (VBE) in Heidelberg, Germany. The steel stockholder ordered a KASTOunicompact storage system with around 2,700 cassettes, all of which were welded on site.
Felix Kern, Assistant to the Management Board at VBE said, “We were thrilled when Kasto made the suggestion. We saved significant freight costs, reduced the environmental impact by around 23 tonnes of CO2 and were able to start using the warehouse within a short time frame.”
The mobile production plant is delivered by container and is usually ready for operation within about two weeks. It is used to weld the finished cassettes from raw materials and coat them with a microfilm of oil to prevent corrosion. Both processes are supported by industrial robots, ensuring consistently high quality. All weld seams are EXC 2-certified in accordance with DIN EN 1090-2.
Kasto has paid special attention to occupational health and safety. Fume extraction from the enclosed robot cells ensures clean air in the warehouse area and the ergonomic design of the production system reduces physical strain. Work is carried out over two or three shifts, which means that on-site manufacture is just as fast on average as delivery of cassettes from Kasto’s factory.
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