The year 2007 - the German women's national soccer team won the World Cup and Apple presented its first iPhone. KWM Karl Weisshaar expanded that year and built a new multi-storey production hall at the company headquarters in Mosbach, Baden. "We converted our entire material flow and invested in modern production machines and efficient warehouse technology," recalls industrial engineer Jörg Weisshaar. Together with his father Karl, he is the second generation to run the company.

5,000 tons of steel and aluminium annually

As an all-rounder, KWM covers the entire sheet metal process chain, providing customers with everything from engineering and sheet metal processing to welding and joining processes, assembly and logistics from a single source. In addition to steel, the company also processes stainless steel and aluminum, a total of around 5,000 tons per year. Karl Weisshaar founded the company in 1979 and in the early days supplied computer housings to PC and printer manufacturer Hewlett Packard, for example. "An important milestone for us was the development of laser technology, with which sheet metal can be cut precisely and which is still the reason why this material is so popular today," explains Jörg Weisshaar.
With around 450 employees, around 10 percent of whom are trainees, the company generates an annual turnover of 50 million euros. The main sales market is the DACH region, and the most important sector is rail vehicle construction. The company not only manufactures mechanical components such as roof segments for car bodies, but also complete air conditioning units and battery containers.

Solution sought from a single source

In 2007, KWM looked for a manufacturer for the production hall who could supply both the picking warehouse for final assembly and the depot for the raw materials. "It was important for us to work with the same partner for both warehouses," recalls Jörg Weisshaar. And something else played a major role for the company: "The supplier had to be able to implement the project in a short space of time because we were completely reorganizing our material flow during ongoing operations." Karl Weisshaar became aware of Kasto at a trade fair. "We also obtained other offers, but everything was just right with Kasto," emphasizes Jörg Weisshaar. This also included the geographical proximity - both companies are based in Baden-Württemberg.

The sheet metal all-rounder has now been using a Kasto Uniline with 13 output stations for raw materials and a Kasto Unigrip with three output stations as a buffer store for semi-finished products for 17 years. The Unigrip 3.0 offers 682 spaces that can accommodate pallet cages in several sizes - from 530 to 2,000 millimetres high. The maximum payload is 3 tons per cassette. At the output stations, sensors monitor the dimensions of the load on the plates and stop operation if the specifications are exceeded.

"We've had very few problems with the bearing over the years," reflects Holger Guddat, who is responsible for maintenance and servicing at KWM. "The technology works perfectly - that's immensely important for us, because the entire production comes to a standstill in the event of a breakdown." This is why the company has its bearings serviced regularly. "And if the worst comes to the worst, we can rely on Kasto to help us quickly," reports the maintenance manager. "If we report a fault, a technician usually comes by on the same day. The failures were almost always rectified within a few hours."

Remain able to deliver safely

So why the retrofit now? "Kasto drew our attention to the fact that they would not be able to guarantee the supply of spare parts for the 17-year-old electronic components completely and, above all, promptly in the future," says Holger Guddat. "This would mean that we would have to wait longer for the components we need and would not be able to manufacture them during this time - a no-go for us." Jörg Weisshaar adds: "Our customers work just in time, according to Kanban or with consignment stocks, for example. In any case, they rely on us to deliver the components they need at the right time." As the final assembly of many products only takes place when the buyer calls off the goods, the buffer warehouse with the semi-finished products must always be ready for use.

This also defined the main requirement for the retrofit: "It had to be quick and only have a minimal impact on production. That's why the project took place at the turn of the year 2023/2024," reports Holger Guddat. KWM prepared everything with its own employees. This included, for example, moving the large control cabinet of the storage and retrieval machine (SRM) into the warehouse. "The cabinet was too big for people to access. We solved the problem with a scissor lift table, which we brought into the warehouse and one of the dispensing stations, which we used to move the old control cabinet out and the new one in."

Starting signal at the beginning of January 2024

Work began on January 2, 2024. Ten Kasto fitters replaced the entire electrical system. They replaced the control cabinets including all control and regulating devices, replaced the station control panels, converted the bus technology to Profinet, modernized the power supply to the stacker crane and lifting beam as well as all drive controllers. They adapted the safety equipment such as the limit stop for the lifting gear and longitudinal travel, the emergency stop system, the safety gate and the light barriers to current specifications. They also upgraded the warehouse management system (WMS) Kastolvr to Kastologic. They also revised the documentation. "There was a lot to do, but after seven working days they had completed it as planned," says Holger Guddat with respect. During the subsequent three-day commissioning by Kasto employees, they trained the KWM employees in how to use the new technology. Since then, the warehouse has been fully operational again for two-shift operation. Kastologic works smoothly with the Proalpha ERP system via an interface. "Our experience with the retrofit has been very positive," Jörg Weisshaar and Holger Guddat agree. "The organization worked really well and Kasto implemented everything excellently. We are now well positioned again at Unigrip for the next 17 years."