Turning machine data into higher uptime with Elematic Fleet Management at Kastell hollow core plant 

Since 1953, Kastell GmbH has been manufacturing high-quality concrete products in Veringenstadt, Germany. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Schwörer Group, the company specializes in prestressed hollow core slabs and the Kastell solid house system. 

Before Fleet Management, monitoring machine performance and maintenance history was largely a manual process. Information was documented on paper, transferred into spreadsheets, and often required direct communication with production personnel to gain an overview of the current situation. 

As the Managing Director Wolfgang Berner explains: 

“Before we implemented Fleet Management, there was a mountain of paperwork. We documented everything on paper, managed information in Excel spreadsheets, and made many phone calls to production. Tracking spare parts and maintenance information required a lot of manual work.” 

Elematic Fleet Management is a digital service platform for monitoring, maintaining, and optimizing precast production machinery remotely. It connects machines to the cloud and provides real-time operational data, maintenance insights, and performance analytics.

Today, Kastell has connected its Elematic Extruder P7 to Fleet Management. The company utilizes all three available modules: Fleet View, Fleet Uptime, and Fleet Insights.

One of the key advantages for Kastell has been the ability to see what is happening on the production floor in real time, regardless of where personnel are located. 

Fleet View provides immediate access to machine status, production progress, and key operational data. Instead of relying on phone calls or manual reporting, production information is available directly from a computer or mobile device. 

Mr. Wolfgang Berner highlights the value of having instant access to this information: 

“We’ve had very good experiences with Fleet Management, especially in production. We can see exactly how production is running, how much has already been produced, and what maintenance activities are coming up. Having all the data available in one place has been a major benefit for us.” 

For daily operations, this visibility helps supervisors monitor production progress and quickly identify situations that require attention. 

“What I value most is Fleet View. I can immediately see whether the machine is running, which production module is in use, how many meters have already been produced, and how much work remains.” 

Maintenance planning is another area where Fleet Management has delivered significant benefits. 

By monitoring wear parts and maintenance intervals through Fleet Uptime, Kastell can make maintenance decisions based on actual equipment conditions rather than estimates or fixed schedules. Having clear visibility into component status helps the team plan maintenance activities more effectively and avoid unexpected downtime. 

According to Mr. Berner: “Fleet Management gives us a clear overview of production and maintenance. I can plan better and schedule maintenance intervals more effectively because I can see everything at a glance.” 

The ability to track wear-part lifetime and maintenance history supports a more proactive maintenance strategy, helping ensure high machine availability and uninterrupted production. 

In addition to real-time monitoring and maintenance management, Fleet Insights provides historical performance data that helps users analyze production trends and identify opportunities for improvement. 

By monitoring uptime, alarms, production performance, and machine behavior over time, plant personnel can gain a deeper understanding of how the production line is performing and where improvements can be made. 

Combined with Fleet View and Fleet Uptime, the system provides a comprehensive overview of machine health, productivity, and maintenance needs in one place. 

Kastell’s relationship with Elematic extends beyond digital services. The companies have been working together for decades, and the cooperation continues through equipment support, maintenance services, and spare-part deliveries. 

Mr. Berner describes the partnership as follows: 

“Our collaboration with Elematic has been very good. We’ve worked together for more than 35 years. In addition to the extruder, we also use other Elematic equipment, such as the loading crane’s lifting clamps. Whenever we need support, we can simply give them a call, and things get resolved. Their customer service is excellent. 

Twice a year, we receive comprehensive maintenance services for both our machinery and systems. Everything runs smoothly, and thanks to the new spare parts ordering system, deliveries have also become very reliable.” 

Having experienced the benefits of digital machine monitoring, maintenance planning, and production visibility, Kastell sees Fleet Management as a valuable tool for other producers as well. 

As Mr. Berner concludes: “We would recommend Fleet Management to anyone who has a system like this, since you can see everything at a glance. You don’t have to call the plant. Instead, you can see it right from your computer. That saves a lot of work. And that is a huge advantage of Fleet Management.” 

By transforming machine data into actionable information, Kastell has gained better visibility into production, improved maintenance planning, and strengthened its ability to keep hollow core production running efficiently every day.