Kasto is the global market and technology leader for metal sawing machines, semi-automatic and fully automatic storage systems and automated handling equipment for long metal goods, sheet metal and cut-to-size parts.
Headquartered in Achern, Baden, the company can look back on 180 years of tradition, making it one of the oldest family businesses in Europe.
Kasto employs over 700 people worldwide and has regularly generated a turnover in the three-digit million range in recent years.
It all began when the carpenter Karl Stolzer founded his own workshop in 1844, which over time increasingly developed into a manufacturing company for various machines.
Stolzer laid the foundations for the company’s continued success with the construction of saw frames and later sawmills for wood processing.
Kasto took the decisive step towards becoming a modern machine tool manufacturer for processing metal in 1947 with a patent for the hacksaw.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the Baden-based company then presented the first fully automatic long goods storage system. 
© Kasto
Family-run in the fifth and sixth generation
In the meantime, great-great-grandson Armin Stolzer has been managing the company’s fortunes as managing partner for more than 30 years.
Under his leadership, Kasto has become the global leader with more than 140,000 sawing machines sold and 2,400 storage systems installed.
His wife Ruth Stolzer and all four members of the sixth generation of the family are also involved in central management positions and are responsible not only for day-to-day business but also for strategic decisions.
Kasto’s sawing technology portfolio includes a wide range of hacksaws, band saws and circular saws: from small manual machines to high-performance automatic band saws for the industrial processing of large blocks and panels.
Kasto also develops and implements various long goods and sheet metal storage systems.
These range from storage towers in compact stand-alone design to fully automated high-bay racking systems with thousands of storage cassettes.
One of the company’s specialties are sawing centers in which all processes, from storing the raw material to picking the sawn sections, run autonomously – also with the help of industrial robots.
Users therefore receive the complete equipment for material storage, production and distribution from a single source – including the associated software.
Customers include companies from the steel trade, tool and mold making, window construction, the automotive and aviation industries, the energy sector as well as craft businesses and workshops. 
© Kasto
Innovative products and motivated employees
A decisive factor in Kasto’s continued success is the high level of innovation of its sawing and storage solutions.
More than 170 patents and numerous prizes such as the Red Dot Design Award, the AMB Award, the Handling Award and the award for Product of the Year 2024 by Industrial Production as well as recognition by “100 Places for Industry 4.0” are proof of the outstanding achievements in product development.
Kasto is also known for its high-quality workmanship, which makes the saws and bearings particularly resilient and durable.
The company stands for quality “Made in Germany” and maintains long-standing and trusting relationships with customers and business partners.
The technology leader is quick to pick up on new trends such as digitalization and networking, automation and robotics, additive manufacturing and augmented reality, creating products that provide users with tangible added value in practice.
With the Unitower CNC, for example, Kasto has launched a compact tower storage system that is specially designed for the automated assembly of CNC processing machines.
The new Kastopick bar product removes and manipulates bar material from storage cassettes 24/7, unmanned and fully automatically with an innovative gripping strategy for 3-dimensional and non-oriented objects.
The Kastologic warehouse management system, originally developed to manage and control automatic cassette storage systems, is also constantly being given new functions: Manually operated storage areas, for example for particularly bulky or heavy stored goods, as well as mobile devices can now also be integrated into the system.
The aim is to make the entire material flow of metalworking companies more efficient, transparent and powerful with intelligent solutions.
However, Kasto’s greatest potential lies in its competent and highly motivated employees, many of whom are trained in-house.
At around ten percent, the training rate is well above the German average.
The employees appreciate the attractive working conditions, the trusting environment, the wide range of further training opportunities and the flat hierarchies of the family business.
As a result, many of them stay with the company for a long time: It is not uncommon for employees to stay with Kasto for 30, 40 or even more years.
For the Stolzer family, a high level of social responsibility is a matter of course, which is why, for example, junior staff and especially women in technical professions are particularly encouraged.
At home in Achern, successful worldwide
Kasto has been successfully focusing on internationalization for many years, with turnover abroad increasing continuously.
In addition to a branch plant in Schalkau, Thuringia, the company now has subsidiaries in France, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, China and Singapore.
Kasto has also installed a comprehensive sales and service organization to provide optimum support for users all over the world and works with long-standing and experienced representatives in other countries around the globe.
The company has thus set the course to secure its position as the world market leader for metal sawing machines and solutions for the storage and handling of long goods and sheet metal in the future.
Web: www.kasto.com
