German steel and aluminium stockholder Günther+Schramm has upgraded its high-bay store to ensure the continued reliability of the Königsbronn materials stocking and distribution operation. Carried out by engineers from the original warehouse manufacturer, Kasto Maschinenbau, the modernisation service is available to customers in the UK and Ireland through the group’s subsidiary in Leicestershire.

Supplying over 60,000 tonnes of metals and plastics annually to manufacturers in southern Germany and neighbouring countries, Günther+Schramm employs 180 people who place a lot of emphasis on timely delivery of the high quality products. This activity requires a smoothly functioning warehouse, but the company’s pre-existing storage and retrieval system had started to impose limitations on what was possible.

Michael Sticke, assistant operations manager responsible for the Kasto system in Königsbronn, says: “After three decades of service, the original mechanics were causing frequent disruptions, leading to significant downtime. It was a classic example of a bathtub curve, where initial issues subside, followed by a long, stable period before a rise in failures due to age and wear. We were always at risk of waiting a week or two for a replacement component, preventing us from serving our customers in the meantime.”

So the decision was taken to modernise the Kasto SNLS 5000/7100 S high-bay bar storage system, whose cassettes accommodate material up to 7.1 m in length to a maximum weight of 5 T per location. Given the stockholder’s positive experience with Kasto equipment over the years, including various sawing systems such as a KASTOvariospeed C 15 circular saw with robotic handling of cut pieces, Günther+Schramm naturally chose the same firm for the extensive retrofit.

More information www.kasto.com