PRODUCT REVIEWS
Combined storage and sawing
SEW-Eurodrive , a leading global manufacturer and supplier of electric motors , gear units , gear motors and associated automation , has installed an advanced storage and sawing system in a new highbay warehouse integrated into a recently extended , 62,000 square-metre production facility in Graben-Neudorf , south-west Germany .
Both the automated store and the sawing equipment were supplied by German manufacturer KASTO , whose UK subsidiary in Milton Keynes described the installation below .
“ The order placed by SEW was one of the largest ever received by KASTO in its 180-year history . Within the 4,000 square-metre warehouse , the supplier has installed a Unicompact honeycomb storage system with 5,140 cassettes ( load capacity of three tonnes ), as well as an integrated KASTOcenter sawing centre with 450 locations for tube or bar ,” commented KASTO UK .
Storage , sawing and handling
The Unicompact offers high-density 3D storage in a compact footprint to maximise the use of space . An overhead gantry crane transports material to seven KASTOpick split outfeed stations where it is separated by lifting mechanisms and transferred to the infeed roller conveyors of the saws . There is potential to connect three further outfeed stations , if required .
Eight automated KASTOvariospeed C 18 production circular saws have been supplied to process stock of up to 180mm in diameter . The heavy-duty , CNC production saws cut solid material as well as tubes and profiles to length .
“ The KASTO sawing centre comprises buffer storage for material and a KASTOtec SC 4 horizontal bandsaw with infinitely variable cutting speed . Stock including tool steel and difficult-to-cut materials , such as titanium and nickel alloys from 22 to 260mm in diameter , is cut into individual pieces ,” continued KASTO UK .
A KASTOsort robot handling system sorts and stacks the cut pieces . The solution independently selects grippers , containers and stacking patterns . Automated guided vehicles retrieve the boxes of cut pieces and transport them to their destinations in production .
As steel can be magnetised by transportation and friction , which can
The new storage system at SEW is a combination of a Kasto Unicompact honeycomb storage facility with 5,140 cassettes and a KASTOcenter sawing centre with 450 storage locations .
Eight automated KASTOvariospeed C 18 production circular saws process stock of up to 180mm in diameter .
At SEW , the KASTOtec SC 4 automatic bandsaw cuts material of up to 260mm in diameter , although the machine has a capacity of 430mm .
cause issues during production , KASTO has implemented a demagnetisation system in the goods-in area . A crane unloads material from a lorry onto a buffer chain conveyor . A barcode reader determines if the material is ferrous and , if it is not , it goes immediately into store . If it is , the stock is routed to a bypass area where the transport cassette moves through a coil carrying a demagnetising alternating current .
“ Seamless ” material flow
A KASTOlogic warehouse management system ( WMS ) is designed for seamless flow of material throughout the facility . The software optimises the travel paths and checks and evaluates system changes .
KASTO integrated the sawing machines and material handling into the WMS to achieve full automation of the entire process . KASTOlogic communicates with the SEW ’ s SAP enterprise resource planning system through an interface to provide an end-toend , digitalised system .
Max Schmitt , Group Production Systems ’ Project Manager , SEW , explained : “ KASTO customised the storage and sawing systems to meet our specific needs . The equipment supplies our new production facility at the Graben-Neudorf site with the correct materials , fully automatically , no matter whether the batch size is one or 10,000 .
“ Only three to four people are needed to operate the warehouse , which at a time when there is a general shortage of qualified personnel is a tremendous advantage ,” he concluded .
As early as the 1970s , KASTO has been recognised as a supplier of metal sawing and storage technology for industry and trade . The family business from Achern in Baden-Wuertemberg ( Germany ) boasts a 180-year history . n
www . kasto . com
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