Unmanned sawing increases production

It has replaced two obsolete saws that could no longer cope with the continuously increasing demand for cut parts.

Called Schmobi for short and employing about 100 staff, the steel centre is an established supplier of material and fabrications to the manufacturing and construction sectors in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It operates an extensive storage system with modern high-bay warehouses holding 20,000 tonnes of bright steel, mild and stainless steel and tube, tool steel, cast iron and some aluminium. In excess of 10,000 parts a day are cut on more than 30 bandsaws.

Thomas Plüss, communications officer at Schmobi explains: "Our orders include large batches of more than 10,000 as well as single items. The demand on our saws is enormous – they are used continually throughout the day and some even run throughout the night. We therefore need machines that process workpieces of different diameters quickly, cleanly and economically and, above all, which work reliably and without errors."

Schmobi uses three Kasto bandsaws for processing steel, cast iron and aluminium bars. The latest is the automatic, high-performance KASTOtec FC 4, which cuts a wide range of material cross sections including round, square and flat as well as tubes and profiles. It is well suited to dealing with difficult materials such as stainless and tool steels. Capacity is 430 x 430mm and the smallest section that can be cut is 10 x 10mm.

The bandsaw uses carbide blades and was supplied to Kasto performance cutting (KPC) specification to suppress vibration. The blades have a long service life and allow precision sawing to within ±0.1mm per 100mm of cut length at band speeds up to 180m/minute.

Kurt Thoma, sawmill group leader at Schmobi comments: "With the KASTOtec FC 4, we can saw different materials and diameters very economically. Minimum remnant length in automatic mode is about 35mm, allowing us to use material efficiently and therefore economically."

The KASTOtec FC 4 is loaded via a multi-bar magazine that is replenished from the store via an overhead crane and magnetic handling system. The saw has an automatic arrangement for sorting cut parts onto a stacking table or into one of several containers according to purchase orders, enabling extended unattended operation.

Works manager Robert Schönenberger explains: "Our staff fill the magazine with the appropriate material in the evening before they go home and program the saw according to customer requirements. Changeover to the next order takes place automatically and the saw runs continuously overnight. The following morning, items are ready cut and arranged for delivery. It has enabled us to significantly improve our performance."

The KASTOtec FC 4 uses the proprietary EasyControl CNC system. Mr Thoma particularly likes the clarity of the graphical user interface which he says simplifies day-to-day working by enabling the required options to be accessed intuitively. The machine has a remote connection to Kasto headquarters so engineers can make minor adjustments to the saw's parameters, if required, to optimise its performance.

KASTO www.kasto.com