The storage technology specialist KASTO Maschinenbau has expanded its new plant construction service portfolio – the company now offers mobile cassette production on site for its automatic UNICOMPACT long goods storage system. Robot-supported processes ensure a consistently-high and certified standard of quality. Warehouse operators benefit from significantly lower transport costs – and production on the customer’s site also has significant advantages for the environment.

Automatic storage systems for long goods can often comprise several thousand cassettes. Delivering completely welded, voluminous load carriers by truck involves high freight costs and high CO₂ emissions – so KASTO has now developed a solution which reduces this transport effort down to a minimum: when constructing new UNICOMPACT long goods storage systems, the specialist company can produce the required cassettes on the customer’s site, using a mobile, automated production system.

All KASTO needs to set up its mobile cassette production is a sufficiently large area in the customer’s warehouse, a 400-volt, three-phase power supply and an indoor crane. The plant is delivered by container and is usually ready for operation within about two weeks. It welds the finished cassettes from the raw material provided and coats them with an anti-corrosion oil. Both processes are supported by industrial robots, ensuring a consistently-high standard of production quality. All welding seams are also EXC 2-certified in accordance with DIN EN 1090-2.

Saving costs and protecting the environment

This type of production offers considerable cost advantages for the customer, because compared to large-volume, fully-welded cassettes delivery, far fewer truck journeys are needed to transport the raw material. The warehouse operator can also procure the necessary materials itself, saving even more costs. There are no personnel costs for the storage of delivered cassettes, since the load carriers manufactured by KASTO on site are stored fully automatically and are immediately ready for use. This also means that the plant operator can even use the system while the cassettes are being produced.

The environment also benefits from this innovative KASTO solution, since fewer truck journeys also mean less climate-damaging CO₂ – and the amount of packaging material can also be significantly reduced in comparison to the delivery of complete cassettes. Yet another plus is the microfilm technique used to apply the anti-corrosion oil – this reduces oil consumption to a minimum, making possible contamination of the storage system through dripping oil a thing of the past.

Ergonomic and efficient at the same time

KASTO has also paid special attention to the topics of occupational safety and health protection. Professional extraction systems and closed robot cells ensure clean air in the production halls and the ergonomic system design reduces physical strain. Work is carried out in two or three shifts – and this means that the mobile on-site production is just as fast on average as the infeed of externally-produced cassettes. This variant is therefore an attractive, economical and transparent alternative, especially for medium- to large-capacity storage systems. The customer can be present during the cassette production and has an overview of how the project is progressing at all times.

One of the first companies to use the new concept was Vereinigte Baustoff- und Eisen GmbH (VBE), based in Heidelberg in Germany. The steel trader recently opted for a UNICOMPACT storage system from KASTO, with around 2,700 cassettes. The cassettes were welded on site thanks to the help of the mobile production plant. “We were thrilled when KASTO made this suggestion,” says Felix Kern, Assistant to the Management Board at VBE. “We saved significant freight costs and reduced the environmental impact by around 23 tonnes of CO₂. We didn’t even have to manage the storage of the cassettes ourselves and were able to use the warehouse after only a short time.” VBE is also very satisfied with the way the project was managed: “The installation & dismantling of the plant and the production itself went quickly and smoothly – also thanks to solid and constructive communication with the KASTO experts.”