Tube stockholder remains loyal to Kasto

Sawing equipment manufactured by German company Kasto has been used by Austrian tube stockholder Karl Mertl Handelsges in Schwechat since 1970, when it installed an EBS 400 U hacksaw that is still in use today for maintenance and repair. The company is currently managed by the third and fourth generations of the Gruscher family, with both daughters active in management, as well as son-in-law Jürgen Spannraft, who has been CEO since 2019.

In a 30,000 m² warehouse, the 90-employee stockholder stores 8000 tonnes of steel tube, which is mainly 7 m long, from 3 to 660 mm in diameter and of wall thickness from 0.5 to 100 mm. Kasto bandsaws and a modern hacksaw cut the stock to length for delivery to customers throughout Europe.

When an old manual storage system with 1012 cassettes was bursting at the seams, Mertl built a new warehouse and installed a Kasto Unicompact automated honeycomb storage system equipped with 2633 cassettes and served by an overhead gantry crane. Additionally, extra automatic bandsaws provided increased cutting capacity and efficiency. The system is connected to Mertl’s ERP system so that orders may be processed without human intervention.

“It was not a difficult decision to opt for Kasto for this round of investment,” recalls Marie Gruscher. “By then, we were already familiar with the quality of the products and service. Kasto’s recommended solution was also the best fit for our requirements and we were able to connect it seamlessly to our packaging machine.”

She adds that the new facility not only provides increased storage but also better operational safety, as goods come to the person and not the other way around.

More information www.kasto.com

£0.5m Investment Drives Expansion

Hartlepool-based ExMesh Engineering is set for significant expansion this year following
investment totalling around £500,000. A specialist in metal fabrication, ExMesh Engineering
will also embark on a recruitment drive later in 2025 as it introduces a range of new services
to meet growing  customer demand. 
Investments include a new laser cutter that can process carbon steel, mild steel, stainless
steel and aluminium, while a new press brake allows ExMesh to handle intricate metal
bending and folding tasks. The company also has a cobot welding system to help support
the company’s clients, which come from sectors such as construction, architecture,
industrial and retail.
More information www.exmeshengineering.com

Funds Boost Vacuum Investment Casting

Wall Colmonoy Ltd (UK) has secured funding from the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP) to support its latest initiative: Project EVaCC (Experimental Vacuum Investment Casting Capability). Project EVaCC aims to develop an advanced vacuum precision investment casting (VPIC) facility that will strengthen the UK’s sovereign capabilities and ensure a robust supply chain for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Wall Colmonoy and Rolls-Royce Bristol will partner on retrofitting the technology, leveraging over 100 years of combined metallurgical expertise.Once operational, Wall Colmonoy will produce complex vacuum castings using nickel-based superalloys – critical for most engine programmes. A key innovation will be the implementation of microstructural refinement technology for the improvement of mechanical performance.

More information www.wallcolmonoy.com

Emco machines reduce production times

GF Casting Solutions relies on the Hyperturn 65 Powermill G2 and the EmcoTurn E65 CNC turning centre. Thomas Klade, team leader of contract manufacturing, reports on the effectiveness of the two Emco machines at this Altenmarkt-based specialist in magnesium and aluminium die casting solutions for the international automotive industry.

The two CNC turning machines from Emco manufacture the spare parts required for the die casting tools

“From the first technical discussions to the sales process and delivery, our collaboration with Emco went extremely well,” says Klade.“Besides, I’ve been familiar with Emco machines since my training days, and we know that we’re buying machines that deliver what they promise and perform very well in terms of precision.”


He continues: “Both machines are perfectly tailored to our requirements and run excellently. The support from Emco is also really good.”

The EmcoTurn E65 turning centre is used primarily to produce screw cores. With this machine, GF Casting Solutions has been able to reduce its machining times significantly. The
machine features a 65 mm spindle bore, counter spindle, radial turret with 12 driven tools, as well as a Yaxis with 80 mm stroke. Parts are collected in a pot and unloaded via the partial conveyor belt, which also eliminates the need to open the door.One of the biggest advantages is definitely the time saved.

“For example, if the system receives the order to produce 15 pieces, these are produced fully automatically within a certain period and engraved according to requirements,” says Klade.“They’re then ejected to a conveyor belt. No further manual intervention is required, and we’ve been able to reduce production time by two-thirds.”More information www.emco-world.com

Mitutoyo CMM ticks all boxes for AML

Advanced Manufacturing (Sheffield) Limited (AML) manufactures high-quality precision parts including complex gas turbine components such as blades, shafts, discs, blisks and bearings. Given the nature of the industries it serves, AML’s customers require work that complies with the most stringent quality standards. For this reason, the company recently purchased a second Crysta-Apex V122010 CMM from Mitutoyo UK.

Mark Hands, AML operations director, says: “The Mitutoyo CMM ticks important boxes such as speed of use, accuracy and aftersales support.”

Mitutoyo’s recently launched Crysta-Apex V1200, 1600 and 2000 series CMMs were developed for supporting the quality evaluation of volumetric parts, offering users up to 12.8 m³ of measuring volume. The robust and flexible range is able to accept touch-trigger probes, scanning probes, and both laser and scanning probes.

Crysta-Apex CMMs make use of a proven, lightweight bridge-type construction with high rigidity air-bearings on every axis, helping to deliver accuracy alongside both high speed and high acceleration rates. ABS linear scales provide high environmental resistance and save time at start-up as, unlike some other CMMs, homing is not necessary.

The Crysta-Apex V122010 variant, as purchased by AML, provides XYZ capacity of 1200 x 2000 x 1000 mm. Therefore, in addition to handling large individual components, users are able to load large batches of smaller parts on to the machine’s bed and perform fully automated mass inspection routines.

“As previously, the staff of Mitutoyo UK carried out a very efficient CMM installation,” says Hands. “In fact, the team not only installed the new CMM, but also relocated other inspection machines at the same time. The limited the amount of downtime and disruption within our facility ensured that we maintained our operational performance to our customer base.”

More information www.mitutoyo.co.uk