Centralized, automated material storage from Kasto Maschinenbau helps Werner Weitner GmbH cut inventory, handling steps by half

Compact storage technology helps Werner Weitner GmbH reduce its raw materials inventory by more than half.

Situation

Founded in 1968 as a metal construction business, Werner Weitner GmbH, located in Eichstätt, Germany, has become a mechanical engineering specialist serving the international automobile and medical technology industries. With about 250 employees, the company produces specialized tools used, for instance, in authorized workshops for numerous automobile manufacturers.

The manufacturing engineer primarily processes steel and alloys, but also works with aluminum and resins. Its portfolio varies from prototype manufacturing to large-scale series.

“Because of this, we have a large variety of materials which requires the corresponding warehouse capacities,” said Heinz Weitner, CEO. “After all, our customers expect short delivery times and high product availability.” To meet these expectations, the company orders many materials in larger quantities, allowing it to respond quickly, if necessary.

In the past the company used various manually operated warehouse areas to store raw material, but that led to very inefficient handling. “Moving goods in and out of storage and the transport to the various metal cutting machines required a lot of time and workforce,” Florian Winhard, sawmill department manager, explained.

Material transport was made even more challenging because the manufacturer’s extensive pool of machinery was located in several different surrounding buildings. “We grew organically and expanded our capacities gradually,” said Weitner. “The effort needed to transport the required parts and materials back and forth between the individual process steps became very cumbersome over time.”

As a result, the company decided to centralize a large part of its production in a newly constructed hall to streamline its production and logistics processes, while also automating its raw materials storage.

Resolution

For Werner Weitner GmbH, finding a partner for this endeavor was simple. “For many years, we have relied on Kasto Maschinenbau for sawing technology and are extremely satisfied,” Weitner said. “We were also aware that Kasto also provides automated storage systems for bar stock and metal sheets. Therefore, we sat down together to find a solution to our requirements.”

To optimize the material flow in the new hall as efficiently as possible, Kasto recommended installing two tower storage systems from the Unitower series. The Unitower 1.0 is suitable for retrieving bar stock up to 3 m long, while the Unitower 2.0 retrieves materials up to 6 m long. Both are freestanding dual towers. With 52 and 41 cassettes, respectively, the storage systems provide ample space for the manufacturer’s raw material inventory while also maintaining a minimal footprint. “The tower storage systems make maximum use of the available space,” explained Winhard. “Compared to our previous warehouse area, everything is now more compact, orderly, and clearly arranged.”

The location of the products in the individual cassettes is electronically stored in the warehouse management system. The storage system is operated either via a control panel or a mobile hand-held unit. An operating gantry crane supplies the necessary cassettes fully automatically to the respective output station.

The short access times enable the company to process pending orders quickly. In addition, “workflow is now significantly more ergonomic, and assignment errors have been virtually eliminated,” said Weitner.

A swivel-frame band saw is located between the towers’ two storage stations.

A swivel-frame Kastomicut E 4.6 band saw, designed for crosscuts and miter cuts of tubing, profiles, and solid material, is located between the towers' two storage stations. “Our materials are generally delivered with a length of 6 meters,” Winhard said. “We use this saw to cut all products that are only needed with a maximum of 3 meters in length and then store them in the smaller Unitower 1.0.”

The sawmill, which comprises six other Kasto saws, is centrally located in the new hall, which has increased the efficiency of all sawing tasks. “Before starting the new build, our saws were also distributed across the premises, which caused unnecessary distances,” Winhard said.

Approximately 45 cassettes per day are moved on average in the storage system. "In the past, one material ran through up to eight handling steps on the way to the finished cut piece,” Weitner said. “Thanks to the tower storage systems and more efficient organization, we were able to reduce this number by half.” The centralization also allowed the company to cut its raw material inventory by more than half, which has freed capital and made more room for value-added activities.