Stockholder expands service by upgrading sawing capability

Saw News

	'The new saw ensures that we reliably provide 24 to 48 hour order turnaround'
The KASTOtec 4 bandsawing machine in operation at Alloy Services, Weston-super-Mare.

Subcontractors in the south-west of England are receiving an even better service from Weston-super-Mare stockholder, Alloys Services, following installation of a larger, more efficient CNC bandsawing machine from KASTO. In-house cutting capability is up from 360 to 430 mm diameter and the new KASTOtec 4 machine has proved to be three times as productive as the old 260 mm capacity bandsaw that was replaced, according to Andrew Holtby, owner of the non-ferrous metal and stainless steel stockists.

He commented, "We are a relatively small operation and pride ourselves on giving prompt delivery to local turning and prismatic metalcutting firms. The new saw ensures that we reliably provide 24 to 48 hour order turnaround, even for larger material that until recently we had to have cut outside."

He went on to explain the competitiveness of the stockholding sector, pointing out that around 20 firms operate within a 30 mile radius of Bristol alone. Furthermore, customers are looking for just-in-time supply, ordering smaller quantities of material more frequently to minimise their own inventory. It is therefore important to be able to provide flexibility as well as a high level of service.

Around 70 per cent of material passing through Alloy Services is cut to length. There has been a trend in recent years towards supplying more billets of a shorter length down to 6 mm – particularly stainless steel and aluminium – which now accounts for 40 per cent of turnover. Efficiency of sawing was therefore a high priority for Mr Holtby, who researched four suppliers before deciding on the KASTO machine.

"Customers normally ask for +1 / -0 mm, a level of accuracy which most modern saws can achieve," continued Mr Holtby. "Just as important, however, are flatness and squareness of cut and in this respect the KASTO machine excels."

He pointed out that if material is dished or bowed, customers tend to reject it more than if it is slightly out of tolerance, particularly when dealing with larger diameters. It is very likely that it will be impossible to re-use such stock, in which case the cost of the scrap comes directly off the stockholder's profit.

Another major benefit of having a reliable sawing facility is the ability to cut unattended overnight, something that Alloy Services now does throughout the week, avoiding the expense of bringing in staff over the weekend to meet delivery schedules.

"We rarely used to cut overnight before, and even then it was smaller stock to minimise the potential loss if things did go wrong," said Mr Holtby. "Now we have no qualms about putting on big stock and walking away, as the KASTOtec 4 is so reliable.

"Even if problems should occur, due to hard spots in the material for example, a blade defection detection facility shuts the machine down automatically, so there is no chance of cutting scrap all night."

He describes setting up and programming the machine as fast and straightforward. Light beams recognise the height and width of material automatically as it is clamped. Then it is simply a matter of entering the type of material into the control together with the cut length and quantity required, and the machine does the rest. This is in contrast to the old saw which required blade height to be adjusted manually, and on which it was necessary to set the cut length by hand at the back of the machine and enter the number of parts at the front. Speed of set-up between batches is therefore reduced using the KASTOtec 4, contributing further to high productivity.