New storage system for bar, sheet and pallets

Storage News

	Bar, sheet and pallets stored in one system
The honeycomb AS/RS at KASTO Maschinenbau, Achern, showing the gantry crane and storage positions for long stock, sheet metal and Euro-pallets

A multi-purpose, automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) for long material, sheet and pallets, claimed to be the first in the world to house all three types of stock, has been developed by KASTO Maschinenbau. It is available for demonstration at the company’s headquarters in Achern, Southern Germany, where it has been integrated into the company’s own sawing machine and storage system factory. However, the same technology is capable of streamlining logistics within any manufacturing or stockholding operation. Anyone interested in visiting should contact the UK subsidiary, KASTO Ltd

Based on KASTO’s Unicompact honeycomb AS/RS, originally designed for storage in cassettes of long stock such as bar, tube and extrusion, the new logistics facility has been adapted to additionally house sheet metal or other flat or bulky material as well as parts on Euro-pallets or in crates. The high degree of integration and automation is said to minimise the amount of factory space consumed, reduce labour costs and lead to rapid return on investment.

€4 million has been spent on constructing the centre in Achern, which is designed to bring added efficiency to KASTO’s manufacturing to allow it to compete more effectively with saw suppliers in low wage countries, particularly in the Far East. The company is offering its logistics expertise to any factory or stockholder looking to effect similar savings in labour and space, which is of growing importance to firms in the Western world. A turnkey service is provided, from initial consultation to AS/RS design, installation, commissioning and programming.

In the 38 (L) x 22 (W) x 15.7 (H) metre store in Achern, there are 498 cassettes with a capacity of 4 tonnes each for accommodating long material up to 6.3 metres, gripped either from overhead or by cantilever arms for handling structural steel. In addition there are 37 double-width cassettes for storing sheet to two different load heights and 2,372 positions for pallets, there being two different load carriers and three load heights to a maximum of 0.8 tonne per location. Short picking times result from rapid movement of the gantry crane, which travels at up to 120 m/min along the store, lifts at 60 m/min and moves the stock laterally at 80 m/min.

KASTO’s universal manipulator is able to transfer material of almost any cross section automatically from the honeycomb system cassettes to two sawing machines in the new logistics centre.

In KASTO’s case, the AS/RS feeds long stock automatically to a mitre cutting bandsaw and a circular sawing centre by means of a universal manipulator, eliminating the need for manual handling. This represents another first for the German company, which has solved the problem of how to handle stock of different cross sections, such as round, square, rectangular, hexagonal, U-profile and L-profile, including surface-sensitive material, even if it is not completely straight. Robotic sorting of cut pieces into bins and return of the remnant into the store complete the automated process. In a customer’s factory, this could be replaced by virtually any type of machine tool or production process.

Complementing the long material store at Achern is a 23 (L) x 4 (W) x 16 (H) metre small parts store comprising 6,000 bar-coded containers measuring 600 x 400 x 200 mm, each able to hold a maximum load of 50 kg. It was supplied by another German company – Schaeffer Noell – which can be called in by KASTO to assist with a project where appropriate. The small parts store, which is capable of 1,000 picks per shift, is integrated with the main AS/RS via KASTO’s inventory control computer and interfaced to the in-house SAP/R3 resource planning system.