KASTO Opens Subsidiary in Singapore
Southeast Asia has become an important growth market for their sawing systems.
Posted: November 17, 2015
In the course of its more than 170-year history, KASTO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Achern, Germany) has grown to become a leading manufacturer of systems for sawing and storing of bar stock. The German company now has some 700 employees throughout the world. In addition to its main plant in Achern-Gamshurst, it has a branch in Schalkau, Thuringia, plus subsidiaries in England, France and the U.S. Singapore is the latest addition.
“We’ve been active in Southeast Asia since 1991 and have had many loyal customers here for years, from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand,” explained Armin Stolzer, the managing partner and general manager of the family-owned company, which is now being run by the fifth generation. “In addition, the region has become increasingly important as a growth market. For us, it made good sense to establish a subsidiary here in order to strengthen our position.”
“Our location has an excellent infrastructure and we’re very close to all the other countries in Southeast Asia,” emphasized area sales director David Van Loo. “Here we have excellent access to the market.” Another reason for establishing the subsidiary was to provide better service. “The operators of our sawing and storage systems expect quick, comprehensive and personal service from the manufacturer,” noted Van Loo. “We’re now going to expand this network to offer our customers in the region faster and more personal service. We support users in every phase of a project, from planning and development of a plant through construction and commissioning all the way up to maintenance and servicing. It will be a big advantage for us to be able to get to our customers more quickly.”
The new subsidiary is located in German Centre Singapore, an office and business center for German companies. The opening ceremony, which took place on October 26, featured an honorary guest from the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where KASTO has its headquarters. Nils Schmid, the minister of finance and economics, had the special task of cutting the red ribbon to officially open the subsidiary.
According to Stolzer, the company achieves about 50 percent of its revenues abroad and is pursuing an extensive internationalization strategy in order to achieve further worldwide growth. “The potential is especially big in Asia,” he explained. “We want to take better advantage of it with our new subsidiary.”
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