8000 tons of material
Pipes as far as the eye can see – with diameters from three to 660 mm and wall thicknesses from 0.5 to 100 mm, made of steel and stainless steel. On 30,000 square meters, Rohr-Mertl cuts, picks, and stores 8,000 tons of steel pipes in a total of 5,000 grades and dimensions. This wouldn't be possible without Kasto.
Karl Mertl Handelsges.mbH is a specialist in steel pipes of all kinds and has been continuously expanding its product range and services since its founding in 1949. The company now employs 90 people. Based in Schwechat, southeast of Vienna, Rohr-Mertl supplies a diverse range of customers throughout Europe, including industrial groups and workshops.
In the historic vaulted cellar
In 1968, the wholesaler took over the 90,000 square meter site of the former Vienna city brewery. "One of our warehouses is located in the historic vaulted cellar, and one of our Kasto band saw machines also operates there," explains Managing Director Marie Gruscher-Mertl. The family business is already run by the fourth generation; both daughters are active in management, and since 2019, their son-in-law, Jürgen Spannraft, has been Managing Director.
Rohr-Mertl has a total of ten automatic band saws and two bow saws from Kasto in operation – the oldest dates back to 1970. "We have been using the EBS 400 U bow saw for more than 50 years, and it still runs wonderfully," says Marie Gruscher happily.
Photos: A1/Kasto/Mertl
The saw is located in the company's own workshop and is used whenever employees carry out maintenance work on the buildings or shelving. "Of course, things have broken down over this long period, but Kasto quickly got the machine up and running again," explains Marie Gruscher.
Christian Wunderlich is the warehouse manager and knows he can count on Kasto. "Buying a new machine is quick and easy, but when spare parts are needed, that's when the wheat is separated from the chaff. We've had excellent experiences with Kasto in this regard."
Since 1970, Rohr-Mertl has continuously expanded its machinery with new automatic sawing machines from Kasto. In 1994, the company acquired two fully hydraulic, heavy-duty, high-performance Kastohba AU automatic band saws. The horizontally parallel saw blade is suitable for cutting profiles, pipes, and solid materials of all grades. Even difficult-to-machine materials like Hastelloy can still be sawn reliably and quickly. "The system has been running like clockwork for 30 years now," Wunderlich emphasizes.
E.Spannraft-Gruscher, J.Spannraft, A.Gruscher, M.Gruscher, N.Craiu-Gruscher (from left).
Since the old SNLS 3000 S drive-over storage system with 1,012 cassettes was bursting at the seams, Rohr-Mertl built a new hall in 2012. Here, the Unicompact 2.0 honeycomb storage system with 2,633 honeycomb cells, in combination with fully automated band saws, has since provided increased capacity and efficient processes.
The Unicompact requires very little space, allowing Rohr-Mertl to utilize a significant amount of storage space. "The new warehouse was a major milestone for us," emphasizes Marie Gruscher-Mertl. "We've not only considerably increased our storage capacity, but also our safety." Goods now come to the person, not the other way around. "Less manual handling and movement within the warehouse means reduced accident risks. That's very important to us," the managing director underscores.
For processing long materials, usually in the standard length of 7 m, Rohr-Mertl uses various Kasto band saws at the Unicompact stations: Kastotwin LE 4, Kasto ssb A 2 and Kastotec A 4. The Kastotwin can be used flexibly with different saw blade types and, thanks to its proven technology, is suitable for a wide range of applications.
The company headquarters are in Schwechat
The Kasto ssb cuts bars precisely and quickly – especially in series production. Thanks to its vertically running saw blade, the machine delivers high performance in a compact footprint. The Kasto ssb A 2 features a stable infeed roller conveyor with fixed, yet adjustable sides. This makes the saw perfectly suited for bundle and mass cutting.
When new investments are on the horizon, Rohr-Mertl readily accepts Kasto's offer to visit systems at reference customers' sites and discuss their experiences directly with the users. "Three of our employees are absolute experts when it comes to our high-bay warehouse and our saws. They've gained a wealth of experience over the years," says Marie Gruscher. This is also very helpful when problems arise. "They can communicate with Kasto's service technicians on equal footing," explains Christian Wunderlich. This allows any problem to be resolved quickly.
