Plenty of storage space in a footprint 50 to 80 per cent smaller than conventional racking, fast access to material, rapid picking with accurate inventory control, flexible storage options including holding stock in an external, weatherproof store. These are all frequent demands from small, medium and large stockholding and manufacturing companies that need to store and retrieve bar, tube, profile, sheet and other materials efficiently and economically.
To meet these needs, KASTO will present at IMHX 2016 its extensive range of automated 3D warehousing solutions and manually controlled storage systems designed to lower cost per pick when accessing long stock and sheet material - http://www.kasto.com/uk/products/storage-systems/storage-systems.html
The installations can be used purely for housing and picking material for delivery to customers. Alternatively, they may be interlinked with machine tools, including KASTO's own range of saws, as well as a customer's MRP / ERP system to boost productivity through more efficient delivery of material to the machines, leading to faster processing of orders.
The product portfolio starts with small tower storage systems, type KASTOunitower, the stacking cradle KASTOunibloc and then, depending on demand, in-line storage systems such as KASTOuniline or honeycomb storage systems KASTOunigrip and KASTOunicompact. All these automated storage systems are modular in design, based on standardised components, and are delivered tailor-made in different versions according to the number of storage locations needed.
KASTOunitower single or double sided systems are designed for lower volume storage. They have a small footprint for a high capacity, with tower heights up to 25 metres. Versatility of use is enhanced because storage is possible in cassettes, on pallets or on special slave pallets. Loads between 1 and 5 tonnes per storage location can be accommodated.
KASTOunibloc systems are intended for manual or automatic handling of stacking cradles, several at the same time, up to 5 metres high. They are designed for material lengths from 6 to 24 metres and for maximum loads of 6 or 9 tonnes per cradle. 20 picks per hour are possible.
KASTOuniline is designed for single-deep, flexible, longitudinal storage of cassettes or pallets of sheet material, from small to extra-large. Ideal for narrow buildings, the modular block design starts at 200 storage locations and system heights can reach 25 metres. The installation can either be of silo construction with roof and wall cladding to save warehouse space, or a stand-alone unit in existing buildings.
KASTOunigrip and KASTOunicompact storage systems are designed as two adjacent storage blocks in honeycomb design with an operating gantry crane moving between them. Very high storage density and fast access to stock due to short travel distances are hallmarks of the designs. Storage solutions with more than 500 locations for cassettes or pallets and system heights up to 30 metres are offered, with highly dynamic crane movement for up to 60 picks per hour.
A particular message on the KASTO stand at IMHX 2016 will be the ecological friendliness of its storage solutions through the use of optional energy recovery. Surplus energy from braking and lowering of a load is converted into electricity and stored temporarily for subsequent use, for example to move and lift the picking crane. Not only are energy costs reduced, but also the quality of the electricity supply is improved because power is drawn more evenly. It may also be possible to downsize the kVA rating of the three-phase transformer, lowering the investment cost.
To complement its range of automated storage systems, KASTOlogic control systems have an intuitive graphical user interface, an interface to the customer's host computer system and a dashboard for overall visualisation of warehouse management. In addition to the standard module, customers can choose from various additions. One is material flow, which oversees dynamic random storage and real-time restocking and provides 3D simulation and statistical information including of gantry movement. Bottlenecks are detected and the system's full potential can be exploited by adjustment strategies.
Inventory management is broken down into three sub-groups: logistics, for optimising routes within the warehouse; production, for providing an overview of orders and machine utilisation; and manual storage, for managing non-automated areas of a warehouse and manually operated equipment. Machines and handling systems with a higher level of automation may be included and comprehensive statistics are available for system analysis. An automation function allows a comprehensive overview of connected production machinery.
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