By Rachel Duran 

Images courtesy of KASTO Inc. 

According to KASTO’s Armin Stolzer, metalworking industry customers have moved well beyond just wanting a reliable cut — they’re asking for full process integration: storage, sawing, material handling, and data all working together — with less manual intervention and more traceability.  

KASTO’s response to customer demands for full process integration includes innovative solutions such as KASTOsort robotic handling systems, the new ProControl control system generation for saws, and compact, all-in-one concepts such as the KASTOcenter compact that combines tower storage, robotic infeed/outfeed, sawing, and downstream processing in a single footprint. KASTO specializes in sawing, storage, and automation technology for metal bar stock. 

Energy efficient machines have also become a bigger factor regarding customer demands. For example, the KASTOssb band saw series evolved to an electromechanical saw feed with a demand-driven hydraulic system, which cuts energy use and noise versus continuous hydraulic operation. 

KASTO’s team members constantly develop products to assist customers in overcoming challenges, for example, by giving operators better information and cutting down on guesswork. “Our new ProControl system includes a material library with pre-set cutting parameters, an intelligent cutting-plan/optimization module (Optisaw Light) that reduces waste and material cost, and diagnostic tools that quickly isolate whether an issue is mechanical or electrical cutting downtime significantly,” Stolzer said. He is the owner and chief executive officer of KASTO.  

 “On the automation side, camera-assisted hole-pattern detection now allows our circular saws to automatically locate and cut linear guides and profile rails with much tighter repeatability than manual measurement allows, and our KASTOsort robotic handling reduces variability introduced by manual deburring, sorting and palletizing,” Stolzer added.  

A Foundation Built on Solving Customer Challenges 

KASTO’s roots go back more than 180 years, making it one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Germany, managed today by the fifth and sixth generations of the founding family. Globally, KASTO has delivered more than 145,000 sawing machines and installed more than 2,500 automated storage systems, backed by roughly 170 patents. A combination of long-term family ownership and continuous engineering investment is fairly unique in the  industry, pointed out Stolzer. 

The KASTO Group is located in Achern, Baden, Germany, and is the world market and technology leader for metal sawing machines, semi-automatic and automatic storage systems for metal bar stock and sheet metal, automated handling equipment for metal bars, sheets, and cut pieces including smart software. 

KASTO Inc. has served the U.S. market since 1973, when KASTO first established a sales presence in the greater Pittsburgh, Pa. area. Today, KASTO’s U.S. headquarters is located in Export, Pa., with roughly 40 employees and an extensive spare parts warehouse and service technicians to support fast turnaround for customers.  

In 2018, KASTO opened a showroom and technology center in the Chicago area (Schaumburg, Ill.), where customers can view machines and digital solutions live, as well as run test cuts on a variety of saw models before they buy. Between the Export and Chicago locations, plus service coverage across the country, KASTO is well positioned to support customers directly wherever they’re located, Stolzer noted.  

The Right System for Every Scale and Specification 

KASTO’s sawing, storage and automation technology products are well suited to mechanical and plant engineering, steel and metal service centers, window/door/façade construction, sheet metal fabrication, and general metal processing. “They all rely heavily on our equipment — anywhere consistent, high-throughput cutting and material flow matter,” Stolzer pointed out. 

Customers can select from a number of machines to assist them in meeting efficiency goals and maximizing productivity. Stolzer noted that for one systems service provider running more than 100 saws and producing more than 10 million cut sections a year, which field-tested KASTO’s ProControl in daily production: “They told us they couldn’t imagine working without it now,” Stolzer noted. The service provider’s shift supervisors were running three to four machines simultaneously and therefore required a system they could count on for fast, reliable job processing.  

In addition to control systems, KASTO’s customers are experiencing great returns using the KASTOsort robotic handling system for automated sorting and palletizing. Stolzer pointed out users have seen the system pay for itself in as little as nine months compared to manual operation in a three-shift environment, a meaningful example of automation ROI in a labor-constrained environment. (More on KASTOsort below.) 

Another machine in KASTO’s portfolio is the KASTOssb, a compact universal band saw that has undergone major upgrades, which are compatible with carbide-tipped blades and enable bundle cutting, requiring as little as 2.9 meters of installation clearance. 

For Rohr-Mertl, a steel tube specialist located near Vienna, Austria, the KASTOssb cuts bars precisely and quickly — particularly in series production. Thanks to the vertically moving saw band, the machine is extremely compact and delivers high performance within a small space. Special feature: The KASTOssb A 2 has a sturdy feed roller conveyor with fixed yet adjustable sides, which is an ideal choice for bundle and large-scale cutting jobs. 

Rohr-Mertl has benefitted from a more than 50 year partnership with KASTO and utilizes a variety of KASTO band saws throughout its operations, including the KASTOtec, which is designed for large cross-sections and difficult-to-cut materials.  

When new investments are in the pipeline, the Rohr-Mertl team partners with KASTO to inspect systems at reference customers. “Three of our employees are experts on our high-rack storage system and our saws,” said Marie Gruscher-Mertl, CEO, Rohr-Mertl. “Over the years, they have gathered a lot of experience.” This is helpful when issues arise. “They can speak to the KASTO service technicians at eye level,” said Christian Wunderlich, warehouse manager for Rohr-Mertl, so that problems are solved quickly.   

KASTO excels at turning industrial challenges into innovative solutions. When Brütsch/Rüegger Metals AG, a Swiss metal distributor, replaced a semi-automatic honeycomb storage system with the fully automatic UNITOP and UNITOWER long goods storage systems from KASTO, it also integrated two modified band saws from the KASTOwin series, models F 3.3 and A 3.6. KASTOwin is built for automated series production across varying order sizes. 

The UNITOP overhead storage system utilizes available space and provides a clear overview of inventory through its computer-controlled features, which efficiently transfers long materials to three double output stations in short cycles, seamlessly integrating into the material flow. By incorporating automatic bar separation and connecting to KASTOwin saws, the metal distributor has developed a flexible production system that operates largely without human intervention. What’s more, they are able to store specialized products, such as 12-meter-long cylinder tubes for the hydraulics industry, in the UNITOWER. 

“The organization and access to the material are much simpler since the conversion,” said Patrick Epp, managing director, Brütsch/Rüegger Metals AG. Additionally, the new storage system has increased workplace safety because goods are now transferred automatically via retrieval stations to the saws. This represents a significant improvement over the previous manual solution. There is also a reduction in error rates during the setup process, which directly impacts customer satisfaction. 

KASTO’s Stolzer also shared the advantages of another KASTO machine that delivers a full process integration, the KASTOcenter compact. This fully integrated sawing center combines tower storage, robotic handling, and sawing in one compact system. It is particularly well suited to serve mid-sized manufacturers.  

And rounding out KASTO’s leading lineup of machines is the KASTOsort, a robotic handling platform for automated removal, deburring, sorting and palletizing. More often than not, the saw by itself no longer meets the needs of metal-working companies. They need to produce small batch sizes; the prefabrication, including all downstream processes, should be integrated into the package, while simultaneously ensuring personnel costs do not increase. Companies are reassessing their processes and considering either integrating a robot directly into the saw or retrofitting it later. 

“KASTOsort is an elegant and efficient solution in our product range that offers users a comprehensive concept,” said Volker Bühler, robotics team leader for KASTO. The robotic handling system loads and unloads machines and operator-free transport systems while also integrating deburring, chamfering, weighing, length measurement, marking, labeling, extraction and chip removal.  

The KASTOsort system utilizes industrial robots from ABB and is based on a decentral self-organizing program logic. Thanks to this system, no teach-in or programming is required by the user. The robot acquires all necessary information by communicating with the company’s ERP system or the upstream and downstream machines. “We cover a wide range — our robots can handle items as small as a coin or as heavy as large bars without operator assistance,” Bühler said. If changes are made in the machining center, the robot in the KASTOsort system reacts flexibly, allowing employees to concentrate on more challenging tasks.  

There are more than 100 manufacturers using the KASTOsort robotic handling system. An example of the system’s flexibility is an industrial robot linked to the saw. The robot removes the finished sections automatically from the machine’s work area, using various grippers then deburrs and sorts them according to the order. The parts are stored in boxes of various sizes as specified by the customer, which are also provided by the machine.  

Looking Ahead: KASTO’s Vision for the Future 

KASTO’s engineering teams continuously elevate automation and prefabrication standards across all global operations, including the United States. “Having engineering, sales, and service expertise concentrated between Export and our Chicago technology center means customers can see and test equipment before they commit, and get fast support afterward,” Stolzer said. “Our technicians log tens of thousands of miles a year supporting installations across the U.S. and Canada.” 

Meeting with customers provides KASTO’s technicians and leadership with valuable feedback regarding its products, in order to assist customers in overcoming bottlenecks in their processes. Stolzer said metalworkers should look to KASTO for a continued rollout of its new ProControl control generation beyond the KASTOwin and new KASTOssb series into additional saw models; broader adoption of the KASTOssb series; and further integration of camera-assisted automation (such as the company’s hole-pattern detection for linear guides) into other cutting and handling processes. 

“The future of industrial band saw systems isn’t about a faster or bigger standalone machine — it’s about material flow: storage, sawing, and automation working together as one system,” Stolzer noted. “KASTO is positioned to be a long-term partner for that shift because we design and build saws, storage, and robotic handling all under one roof, backed by 180 plus years of engineering experience and a family-ownership structure that lets us invest for the long term rather than the next quarter.” 

kasto.com

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