From a two-man business to a sought-after service provider for industry and trade: the success story of the Californian company Metal Cutting Service (MCS) can be summarized in a few words. In 1956, Milon Viel and his father-in-law Ross Clarke founded the company, which initially focused on the development and manufacture of aluminum window frames. Both brought experience from the aviation industry with them - and this was to pay off later: MCS specialized in cutting various materials to customer specifications - especially for companies that did not have their own sawing capacity. This decision lays the foundation for the successful development of the company.

Today, MCS is a partner and supplier to numerous well-known customers in the aerospace, defense, aluminum and steel trade as well as the semiconductor industry. Customers supply the materials to be sawn themselves and receive them back with the desired specifications. Complex geometries and large dimensions are a specialty of MCS: The Californians saw plates, bars, forged and extruded parts up to 50 inches (1,270 millimetres) thick and 700 inches (17,780 millimetres) long. The material spectrum ranges from plastics and acrylic materials to steel and high-temperature-resistant special metals.

Growing demands - also on sawing technology
The company has been based in City of Industry, a suburb of Los Angeles, since 1975. The current owner, David Viel, joined his father's company in 1977 and took over the management from him in 1993. The investment in the first Kasto saw for MCS was also due to David's expertise and knowledge of the industry. However, he was not alone in the company in his desire for a competent supplier of sawing machines: "In the past, we mainly worked with all-round saws, every machine basically did every job," recalls plant manager Curt Steen, who has been with MCS since 1996. "However, with the increasing requirements of our customers and the variety of orders, we have also become more and more specialized technically and purchased different types of saws for the respective tasks."

MCS has been a Kasto customer for 15 years. The Kastovertical vertical band saw is also in use. © Casto

Steen himself has played a significant role in this development: in his previous jobs, the plant manager had already had positive experiences with saws from Kasto. At MCS, he now played a decisive role in driving technological progress - and relied on the machines from the technology leader from Germany. In 2004, the company invested in the first Kasto saw, a Kastobloc U 5 log band saw, and has since added five more models. The latest additions are three bandsaws from the Kastowin series with cutting ranges of 18 and 22 inches (460 and 560 millimetres).

The Kastowin is designed for series and production sawing of solid materials, pipes and profiles. With its extensive standard equipment, it is suitable for a wide range of tasks. Thanks to their sturdy construction, the saws are robust enough for the tough day-to-day work at MCS: "We work up to six days a week in two-shift operation all year round and have to process large and heavy parts," explains Curt Steen. "So we're not exactly squeamish with our machines." In addition, the saws must be suitable for operation with carbide bands in order to ensure high productivity - Kastowin also meets this requirement in principle.

Service, short delivery times
The decision to choose Kasto again was not a difficult one for those responsible at MCS: "We have been a customer for 15 years and the saws we have been using since then have impressed us with their reliability and very short downtimes," praises David Viel. The excellent service is a powerful argument: "If we ever needed support, we always received it immediately - both by telephone via the North American service hotline and in person from the service staff on site," explains the plant manager.

With the new saws, MCS has been able to increase both its productivity and the quality of the sawn parts. © Casto

Due to a high proportion of common parts within the Kastowin series, Kasto can offer the band saws at an attractive price. "We really got a lot of quality for our money with these machines," says Curt Steen confidently. MCS also benefited from the manufacturer's very short delivery times: "The saws that we ordered were always already in stock at Kasto's American subsidiary, even though they are produced in Germany," explains Steen. "For example, when we had a capacity bottleneck in the summer of 2018 and couldn't keep up with the orders, we ordered an additional machine from Kasto at short notice. It was with us in less than a week."

The sawing technology specialist also offers a range of accessories for the Kastowin. This allows MCS to adapt the machines to its specific requirements. One of the highlights is the control system, which can be used to intuitively create several jobs, for example, which are then automatically processed one after the other. This increases throughput. "We can customize all parameters, such as cutting times," adds Steen. This allows the saws to be optimally integrated into the process chain at MCS.

Better results and more safety
One extremely useful feature for the plant manager is the integrated BandControl saw blade monitoring system. "The display provides us with real-time information about the operating times and wear of the saw bands," he explains. "This helps us to achieve better results and minimize waste." The saw bands can be replaced quickly and easily and are safe for employees thanks to the integrated safety functions.

MCS was able to increase both its productivity and the quality of the sawn parts. Throughput has increased and the reject rate has been reduced to almost zero. In addition, the machines work reliably, so that there is virtually no downtime. "We are very happy about the cooperation with Kasto," summarizes David Viel. "Every saw we have bought from them has fully convinced us and definitely contributes to our continued success." as