“Kasto is passionate about engineering and manufacturing,” says Ernst Wagner, managing director of the German firm’s UK subsidiary based in Milton Keynes, which also serves the Irish market with the assistance of local partner Lister Machine Tools based in Belfast and Antrim.
He adds, “All industry segments have suffered during this 2020 pandemic, and still are to some degree, but according to recently published government figures an upturn is noticeable once again, with growth of 8 to 10 per cent in both June and July”.
We, together with our customers, are constantly striving and looking at “cost down” opportunities which also includes a look at more automated, higher technology KASTO equipment investment solutions to manage costs which at these times maybe even more important than ever before to stay ahead short-and longer term.
The parent Kasto company is a global leader in the production of industrial warehousing systems and sawing machines, most offering a high degree of operational autonomy. In the markets into which Mr Wagner sells, his view is that the only way is up for automation of the two initial steps in manufacturing, namely storage of raw material and cutting it prior to the first production process.
He quotes an International Federation of Robotics (IFR) report published in 2019 stating that robot density per 10,000 employees in manufacturing in 2018 was 338 in Germany, ranked third in the world. The figure was nearly four times that for the UK, in 22nd place at just 85, putting it below the global average of 99. (First-placed Singapore recorded an astonishing 831.)
Germany installed approximately 26,700 industrial robots in the same year, more than an order of magnitude more than the UK’s 2,300. It is therefore clear there an urgent need for UK manufacturing to embrace the opportunities in harnessing automation to increase productivity and raise competitiveness in world markets.
Mr Wagner added, “Nearly half of carbide circular sawing machines sold in Germany have some degree of mechanisation, for example the inclusion of robotic chamfering, centring or sorting of cut pieces without operator intervention (www.kasto.com/en/products/systems/systems-detail-page/s-machines.html)
“There are similarly many examples of automation applied to bandsawing installations, not only in Germany but also across Europe and the USA (www.kasto.com/uk/products-uk/systems-uk/systems-detail-uk/kastocenter-8.html). Here again, around half of Kasto installations are automated to some extent.
“In the UK, however, such examples are rare, despite there being more than 1,400 Kasto saw installations in this market. It reflects the findings of the recent IFR report.”
On the other side of Kasto’s business – the manufacture and supply of automated industrial storage systems – it has installed 2,200 worldwide but there are only eight of the top-end, fully automatic warehouses in the UK. This is despite goods-to-operator material handling being typically three times faster than manual picking, added to which automated storage has a footprint up to 75 percent smaller than conventional racking. It saves valuable space, significantly increases output and growth, and lowers cost per pick.
The potential for British and Irish stockholders and manufacturers to benefit by upgrading and automating their logistical and sawing functions is enormous. There are early signs that more firms are getting the message and that the UK’s short-term approach to investment in manufacturing is starting to come to an end. Consequently, Mr Wagner foresees that manufacturing will become an ever more important part of the economies in the UK and Ireland.
Kasto’s mission is to advise on, design and supply constantly evolving solutions that match customers’ needs, eliminate their problems, satisfy production requirements and increase profit, enabling businesses to grow. Central to the supplier’s ability to do so is the sheer breadth of its ranges of storage and sawing systems (www.kasto.com). The latter include innovative machines for sawing tube efficiently with carbide bandsaw blades in an upwards direction and even removing additively manufactured parts from their build platforms while held upside down.
He concludes, “Automation is the key. Trying to pare back raw material costs will only get you so far; it is in reducing the labour overhead where the real opportunity lies. In everything Kasto does, a cost-saving solution emerges because we know that capital investment in our equipment can be offset against a saving in operator hours.
“We do the cost analyses for customers and show them how their investment will pay for itself in typically six to 12 months and increase productivity for many years after that. We prove to them how not only machine design but also robots and other methods of automation can improve their bottom line and help increase competitiveness.”
Further interesting Kasto web pages may be accessed at the following URLs:
www.kasto.com/en/products/storage-systems/storage-systems-detail-page/unitower-b-291.html
www.kasto.com/en/products/smart-solutions/smart-solutions-detail-en/kastorespond.html
www.kasto.com/en/products/storage-systems/storage-systems-detail-page/energieeffizienz.html
