Metal saws and storage technology interlock seamlessly

Storage and sawing center combined

The new warehouse is a combination of a Unicompact honeycomb warehouse with 5,140 cassettes and the Kastocenter sawing center with 450 storage locations. © Casto

In the planning and implementation of the new 4,000 square metre warehouse for the north production hall in Graben-Neudorf, Kasto and SEW opted for a combination of a Unicompact honeycomb storage system with 5,140 storage locations for cassettes weighing up to three tons and a Kastocenter sawing center with 450 locations for individual bars. The Unicompact is characterized by high space utilization. The two compact storage and retrieval machines (SRMs) transport the material to the seven Kastopick Split outfeed stations installed on the long side, where it is separated using lift-out mimics and transferred to the infeed roller conveyor of the saw. All 5,140 cassettes are equipped with inclined bottom rails to ensure that the material is positioned in a defined manner. If required, three further stations can be connected to the system.

Fully automated feeding and sawing

The Kastopick Split outfeed station separates the long material via excavation mimics and transfers it to the infeed roller conveyor of the saw. © Casto

Kasto sawing centers are a combination of buffer storage and CNC sawing machines. SEW relies on the fully automated cantilever storage system Kastocenter varioplus 2, from where a computer-controlled stacker crane automatically transports individual bars to the integrated saws. To save space, Kasto built the sawing stations as tunnels directly into the racking block of the Unicompact storage system.

Eight fully automatic Kastovariospeed C 18 production circular saws cut through workpieces up to 180 millimetres in diameter. The CNC-controlled production circular saws in heavy-duty design cut solid material, profiles and tubes in all qualities. The robust components guarantee high cutting performance and a long service life.

With the sawing and storage solution from Kasto, SEW manufactures fully automatically from batch size 1. © Casto

The fully hydraulic Kastotec SC 4 high-performance automatic band saw cuts tubes and bars with larger cross-sections into individual pieces. The horizontally parallel moving saw blade cuts round, square and flat material as well as tubes and profiles in all qualities, for example tool steels and difficult-to-cut materials such as titanium, Hastelloy and Inconel. The cutting speed is infinitely variable and the height of the sawing unit can be adjusted fully automatically using light sensors. The sorting area is located within the cut-off length draw frame. This is where the Kastosort robot handling system sorts and stacks the saw cut-offs. The innovative AI solution makes autonomous decisions and selects grippers, containers and stacking patterns independently. Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) then pick up the crates and take them to their destination in production.

Smooth material flow

The Kastologic Warehouse Management System (WMS) takes care of the smooth flow of materials. The uniform operating philosophy supports users in their daily work in the warehouse. The software also optimizes the routes of the stacker cranes and checks and evaluates system changes. Of course, Kasto also integrated the sawing machines and material handling into the WMS in order to fully automate the entire work process. Kastologic communicates with the SAP ERP system via an interface to complete the automation.

Kasto impressed the drive specialist with its comprehensive design and planning by carefully analyzing the specific customer requirements and integrating them into the tailor-made overall solution. This practice ensures maximum efficiency and optimum adaptation to individual requirements, which distinguishes Kasto as a reliable partner. "Kasto has tailored storage and saws to our requirements and supplies our new production hall at the Graben-Neudorf site fully automatically with the appropriate processed materials - from batch size 1," says Max Schmidt, Group Leader Production Systems Project Management at SEW-Eurodrive. He was involved in the planning and implementation of the logistics solution right from the start. "The entire system can be operated by just three to four people. In times of a shortage of skilled workers, this is a huge advantage," emphasizes Schmidt.