KASTO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG

Family-owned market leader

KASTO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1844 and specialises in sawing and storage technology. With a history of more than 170 years it is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Europe. Armin Stolzer has been the head of the company for nearly 30 years. He is the fifth generation of his family leading the company and, only a few years ago, was joined by the sixth. Under his management, KASTO has grown to become the market leader for metal sawing machines, semi-automatic and fully automatic storage systems, as well as automated handling equipment for metal bar stock, sheet metals and parts cut to size. This success is based on more than 160 patents and is impressively underlined by more than 140,000 sawing machines shipped and more than 1,700 automatic storage systems installed. Today, all six members of the owner family form the Board of Management, running the company both in daily business as well as in strategic decisions.

Solution provider for efficient sawing, storing and commissioning of metal

KASTO is the only manufacturer of metal sawing machines offering all three sawing methods (hack, band and circular saws) and provides customers with an extensive range of products for every segment. These vary from small manual machines for workshop use to high-performance band sawing machines for the industrial cutting of large bars and blocks. Furthermore, KASTO develops and produces semi-automatic and fully automated bar stock and sheet metal storage systems to meet a wide range of requirements: from compact, standalone storage towers up to fully automated high-rack honeycomb systems with thousands of storage cassettes. KASTO’s product range also includes sawing centres or combined storage solutions, which handle all storage, handling, sawing, marking, palletising and bundling processes completely automated – beginning from loading the raw material to robot-assisted commissioning of the cut parts. Customers from a variety of industries like steel service centres, mould and die, automotive, oil and gas, aerospace as well as general workshops therefore benefit from the full range of equipment for the provisioning, production and distribution of material from a single supplier.

Innovative, competent, reliable

KASTO’s products and solutions outstand due to their high level of innovation and ideally fit the requirements of the company’s customers. Top-quality workmanship causes the saws and the storage systems to be particularly rugged and durable. Being an owner-managed company, KASTO stands for quality “Made in Germany” and is actively committed to Germany as a production site – even in the long term. This also becomes apparent through the fact that the second production site in Schalkau in the German state of Thuringia celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2016. The family-owned company enjoys long-lasting, trust-based relations with its customers and business partners – keeping the goal of ensuring mutual success always in mind.

A winning team

KASTO’s greatest potential lies in the large number of employees who have been highly qualified by the company’s in-house training, thus enabling them to fulfil the customers’ and the markets’ requirements competent and versatilely. The company can count on pioneering, interdisciplinary thinkers who are constantly looking for new ideas and opportunities to improve. KASTO puts great effort into developing just these qualities: The company invests about 1.2 million euros every year in the professional education and advanced training of its employees and apprentices.

Outstanding technology and design

KASTO’s machines and storage systems lead the way not only in terms of technology but also in their design. This is verified by several awards and prices, including an award from the Design Center Stuttgart and the renowned Red Dot Award. Claiming first place in the “Best Factory Award”, organised by the Reutlingen Export Academy and the journal “Markt und Mittelstand”, marked a very special achievement in the company’s history. In 2014, the new band saw series KASTOwin was awarded with the highly renowned MM Award, organised by the German magazine “MaschinenMarkt”.

Worldwide success

In order to provide the best possible support to users in all parts of the world, KASTO has established a comprehensive marketing and service organisation and collaborates with long-standing and experienced partners worldwide. Furthermore, the sawing and storing technology specialist has been having subsidiaries for some time now in France, the United States and the United Kingdom. The company’s overseas sales have been growing steadily year-on-year and already account for over 50 percent of total revenue. In 2015, KASTO responded to the growing importance of the overseas market, in particular in Southeast Asia, and established a subsidiary in Singapore. Similarly, the nearby Swiss market can now rely on services from the recently founded KASTO subsidiary in Switzerland. All these measures are successfully taken in order to strengthen the company’s position as global market leader for metal sawing machines, bar stock and sheet metal storage systems and material handling.