With more than 400 employees, the Kurt J. Lesker Company (KJLC) manufactures vacuum components for various industries. The specialists from Jefferson Hills, in the US state of Pennsylvania, also work with sheet metal, for example when it comes to machine covers and cladding for vacuum centrifuges.

In order to be able to reliably supply customers in the future, KJLC expanded its production and invested in additional processing machines. The challenge was that the expansion of capacity meant that the sheet metal warehouse was bursting at the seams. There was no additional space available, and complications during storage and retrieval were inevitable. A new system was needed that could cope with limited space and a variety of materials.

The Americans found the solution they were looking for in the Kasto Group. The company, based in Achern, Germany, specializes in sawing, storage and automation technology for metal long goods and sheet metal and is the global market and technology leader for metal sawing machines, semi-automatic and automatic long goods and sheet metal storage systems, automatic handling equipment for metal bars, sheets and blanks as well as the associated intelligent software.

Low space requirement - high storage density

The decision was made in favor of the Kasto Ecostore automated tower storage system. With this system, KJLC can store all sheet metal formats optimally. In this project, the company benefits in particular from the low space requirement and high storage density. The system is also characterized by its flexibility in material storage and short access times.

The load handling attachments are automatically loaded and unloaded, and a hoist brings them to the optimum loading and unloading height. Other advantages of this economical solution, which meets KJLC's high standards of quality and customer satisfaction, include short downtimes and fast, error-free operation thanks to the Pro Control machine control system. The intuitive user interface with touchscreen, which is easy to operate, also pays off for frequently changing users.

Emily Ondras, Global Procurement Manager at KJLC, praises the successful introduction at the plant: "The Kasto Ecostore tower storage system fits our circumstances perfectly: We had a space problem and wanted to keep the logistics processes as simple and clear as possible. Installation was quick and our employees were able to work productively with it immediately thanks to the good training."