It can be found everywhere: in piping in the oil and gas industry, in components for shipbuilding, in production facilities in the food and pharmaceutical industries, on stair railings or building façades. We are talking about stainless steel - the material that offers unbeatable advantages in so many applications thanks to its resistance to corrosion and acids: it is ideal for cleaning and sterilization, extremely durable and harmless to people and the environment. As stainless steels are also easy to form, the material is becoming increasingly popular both in the home and in industry.

Sin Ghee Huat is one of the most renowned stainless steel experts in Asia: the Singapore-based company has a portfolio of more than 4,000 stainless steel products and supplies customers in Southeast Asia, Oceania, China and the Middle East with customized solutions. "Our roots actually lie in the trade of scrap metal. But back in the 1980s, the people in charge at the time specialized in stainless steel," says Operations Manager Shawn Lim.

Stainless steels are difficult to machine
Sin Ghee Huat has now grown considerably and has several subsidiaries, including one in Suzhou, China. However, the company processes most of its orders at its headquarters in Singapore: the stainless steel specialist has extensive storage capacities and modern machinery for this purpose. "If required, we already take over various processing steps for our customers - and this naturally includes sawing to the desired length," explains Shawn Lim.

However, this is often associated with considerable effort, as most stainless steels are very difficult to cut. "We are therefore reliant on particularly powerful sawing machines that can also offer short cutting times and high productivity for these materials," emphasizes Lim.

At some point, however, the existing sawing technology was no longer up to the task. "The number of cuts increased significantly over the years, and our machinery was not designed for this," recalls Lim. "The cutting times were simply too long, so the sawmill gradually became a kind of bottleneck in our production process." The managers at Sin Ghee Huat therefore decided in 2016 to invest in an expansion of their capacities. The choice fell on Kasto, based in Achern in southern Germany.

New branch is the deciding factor
"We had very good experience with Kasto, as they had already supplied and installed a Unibloc long material storage system for us a few years ago," says Shawn Lim, outlining the decision-making process. "We had also heard a lot about the high quality and reliability of their saws. However, we had doubts as to whether a manufacturer from as far away as Germany could offer us the service we expect from our partners."

It was therefore more than convenient that the global sawing and storage technology specialist opened a new branch in Singapore. "From here, we can provide customers throughout Southeast Asia with much faster and more comprehensive support than before," emphasizes Branch Manager Carina Staebler.