TPi November 2019

Products & developments

On-site production of industrial warehouse cassettes

Kasto, a German manufacturer of computer-controlled, multi-level systems for automatically storing and retrieving material in stockholding operations and factories, has introduced a new service to produce parts of its Unicompact system at the customer’s premises. The only prerequisites are sufficient space, a crane and a 400 V, 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 reduces the cost of delivery and lowers the environmental impact through fewer vehicle journeys.

A Unicompact system shortly before completion

and can even procure the raw materi- als to save even more cost. The user also has a first-hand, real-time over- view 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 CO 2 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 all weld seams are EXC 2-certified in accordance with DIN EN 1090-2. 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. Kasto Ltd – UK sales@uk.kasto.com www.kasto.com

The option is economically viable for medium- to large-capacity storage sys- tems. As the cassettes are manufactured next to the warehouse structure that will contain them, the customer can start using them as soon as they are ready,

Robots ensure a certified standard of quality in cassette production

The user can be present during cassette production and has an overview of project progress at all times

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TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL November 2019

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