Sustainable business practices help reduce the impacts of climate change and secure a livable future for generations to come. KASTO is aware of its responsibility and pursues several strategies: minimizing CO2 emissions and resource consumption with energy-efficient, durable products, as well as transitioning its own company to environmentally friendly processes.
Sustainability means achieving a balance between ecological, social, and economic development – to meet the needs of society without compromising the opportunities for future generations. KASTO relies on resource-saving technologies that reduce and eliminate negative environmental impacts thanks to sustainable manufacturing. The specialist for saws, storage, and material handling also drives the green process chain forward on the product side.
On the agenda was, for example, the re-certification of the energy management system according to ISO 50001. This ensures that energy is not wasted. 'In recent years, we have invested a seven-figure sum in efficient technology, heat recovery, and solvent-free painting,' explains Sönke Krebber, a member of the management board at KASTO. 'The successful re-certification has shown that this was the right way to go.'
Two of the components were the replacement of the oil heating system with efficient infrared heaters and the conversion of the lighting to LED. KASTO also replaced heat pumps and compressors with more economical models. In intralogistics, the old charging devices for industrial trucks were replaced with modern units with high efficiency. KASTO also converted its telephone system and data center to an ecological operation. The company now uses the waste heat from its compressors to heat social rooms. From 2016 to 2022, these measures saved a total of 2.3 million kilowatt-hours of energy, corresponding to a reduction of 22 percent. For about ten years, KASTO has been reducing its CO2 emissions from business trips year after year – by minimizing them and instead using virtual meetings.
Environmentally friendly processes
In addition to efficiency improvements, KASTO relies on environmentally friendly methods. One example is the conversion of the painting process from liquid paint to powder coating. With the new process, the specialist for saws and storage can completely avoid solvents.
The use of digital twins is also resource-saving. With the help of virtual commissioning (VIBN), the company simulates machines and systems before they go into operation. The basis for this is the 3D design data, which also includes actuators and sensors. This allows potential problems to be resolved early, the implementation goes smoothly, and extensive rework at the customer is avoided. Another advantage: users can train their specialists in operating the new machine before the system goes into operation. This not only saves energy but also time.
Repairability and Retrofit
Another crucial factor for more sustainability is the longevity of the machines. When users operate saws, storage systems, and handling technologies for many years, this saves resources for production and disposal. Reduced material and energy consumption lowers environmental impact, CO2 emissions, and waste volumes. In its own repair shop, KASTO also refurbishes saws with more than 20 years of operational life for the future. An impressive example is one of the oldest still-operating band saws from the 1980s, which ran daily for over 40 years at a metal dealer. Experts modernize storage systems with a retrofit directly on-site at the customer. Afterwards, the machines are back up to date with technology and functional for the next ten to twenty years.
But KASTO also offers an environmentally friendly solution for new installations of automatic long goods storage systems of the type UNICOMPACT. With the mobile cassette manufacturing KASTOweld, the company produces bulky load carriers directly on-site using robotics in high and certified quality. This eliminates many truck transports that would otherwise be necessary due to the bulky cassettes. The manufacturing system is usually operational within two weeks. It welds the cassettes from provided raw materials and coats them with a corrosion protection oil. 'When KASTO presented us with this solution, we were thrilled. We saved significant freight costs and reduced environmental impact by around 23 tons of CO2. Additionally, we did not have to worry about storing the cassettes ourselves and could use the warehouse shortly after,' reports Felix Kern, assistant to the management board at VBE. The Vereinigte Baustoff- und Eisen-GmbH (VBE) offers a wide range of bar steel and sheets, section steel, pipes, building elements, and concrete steel as a steel trading partner in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region.
Reduce and Recover Energy
Another tool from KASTO that supports users on their path to sustainability is KASTOenergysave. With it, they save up to 40 percent energy on storage and retrieval systems (RBG) and up to 50 percent on connection power without sacrificing performance. The system converts excess kinetic energy into electricity and stores it. The drives in the storage system can be efficiently supplied when the energy is needed. This allows companies to lower their operating and investment costs and reduce their CO2 emissions.
Metalworkers are also environmentally friendly with KASTOoptisaw. The straight and miter cut optimization ensures ideal use of long goods, significantly reducing waste and requiring less material to be moved. The optimization tool is fully integrated into the Warehouse Management System (WMS) KASTOlogic.
KASTOlogic enables fully automated storage, sawing, and material handling. Here, not only process safety and speed are the focus but also low energy consumption. Algorithms calculate the energy requirements and reduce them through demand-oriented control of the storage components. For example, the software optimizes the paths of the storage and retrieval system (RBG) and thus the driving strategy.
KASTO's sawing technology is also energy-optimized: the drives meet energy efficiency class IE3. Frequency converters control the motor speed, adjust the speed variably to different applications, and thus enable savings.
Competitive Advantages through Cost Savings
With its sustainable solutions that focus on energy recovery, repairability, and resource efficiency, KASTO demonstrates how both ecological and economic advantages can be achieved. By using efficient systems, users lower their operating costs and reduce their CO2 footprint. The optimized use of raw materials minimizes waste and simultaneously reduces environmental impact. KASTO also takes a pioneering role within its own company, continuously revising its processes and actively engaging in more sustainability.
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