Equipment Report

Equipment maker Lollini R&M, based in Romania, has introduced what it is calling its "new and improved" scrap balers and shear balers, which offer a full two-year warranty.

According to Lollini, the new design features a large chamber that can accommodate an entire car body, a crane with a grapple, an operator’s cabin and manual or automatic cycle control.

The balers are available in mobile or fixed models. Lollini says they offer high production to achieve the lowest cost per ton in their class.

Lollini has also added a new branch office in Ontario, Canada, which houses a full parts warehouse.

Systems Alternatives International LLC (SAI), Maumee, Ohio, has been retained by Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Ind., to provide raw material procurement and management systems at all three of SDI’s steel mills.

SDI will purchase data processing, procurement, inventory management and scale systems from SAI. Some of the systems are accessible through Wireless Handheld Material Inspection and Digital Imaging capabilities, according to SAI. "This newly combined power will provide unprecedented detail on each scrap transaction and be the basis for accurate accounting information," SAI President and CEO John Underwood says.

Other SAI data analysis tools that SDI will be using include Purchase Analysis, Order Management and Inventory Analysis programs. A new secure access browser-based tool set is designed to allow managers and decision makers to analyze and review real-time data anytime and virtually anywhere in the world, Underwood says.

SAI’s Scrap Information Portal (SIP) offers self-service capabilities to SDI’s supplier base. Using SIP, shippers will be able to enter shipment information and to securely access shipment, grading, weight and payment information over the Internet as desired.

SDI will also deploy SAI’s Buy Plan Management system, which has been designed exclusively for the steel industry to help mill buyers plan monthly requirements, factoring in current inventory levels, materials under contract, in-transit material, shipper performance history and material pricing levels. The system includes automated e-mail communication to suppliers informing them of order status, changes and cancellations. Buy Plan Management is completely interfaced with SAI’s core systems, eliminating double entry and inherent errors.

The SDI system will contain a two way interface with Management Sciences Associates (MSA) Raw Material Data Aggregations Service (RMDAS) to send purchase order and pricing data and to receive aggregated geographic pricing information to benchmark buyer performance.

Systems Alternatives International is a software and information technology provider that has been serving the metals and recycling industries since 1981.

Founded in 1993, Steel Dynamics Inc. owns and operates three EAF steel mills and manufactures an array of steel products, including flat rolled, structural and bar products.

More than 340 attendees gathered in San Antonio in late January for an Operations Forum held by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI).

Organizers say the 2005 event drew 120 more attendees than the 2004 event—an attendance record.

Attendees could choose sessions from a number of topics, including metals identification, yard management and operating safety and environmental considerations, but the most heavily attended sessions focused on running metals shredding plants.

Two hundred or more people attended ISRI’s Shredder Operations track sessions during the event, which was Jan. 20-23.

Shredding-related topics covered included rotors and wear parts, inspection and infeed methods and downstream sorting and separating.

More than 20 equipment and service suppliers exhibited at the event. Several equipment companies also provided expert panelists and speakers for the forum’s sessions.

Some of the vendors indicated that new equipment advances were on the way. William Close of Wendt Corp., Tonawanda, N.Y., announced that Wendt Corp. will begin marketing a piece of sorting equipment that uses X-ray technology to identify shredded metal pieces by an elemental sort, allowing for narrower chemistry for post-shredder nonferrous grades.

Also, ISRI Director of Safety John Gilstrap announced an initiative to offer an ISRI Safety Consulting Service that will allow scrap company members to tap into professionals from the insurance industry who will help "identify and solve safety issues before they become accidents."

Stanley Labounty, Two Harbors, Minn., has named Tracey Road Equipment of Syracuse, N.Y., as a distributor, according to a release from Stanley LaBounty.

Tracey Road Equipment was established in 1976 and has branch locations throughout upstate New York, including Syracuse, Watertown, Binghamton and Albany.

The company will now offer all LaBounty branded products, including mobile shears, universal processors, concrete pulverizers and grapples, as well as Stanley Mounted breakers and compactors.

ACS Group, a supplier of equipment to the plastic processing industry, has announced that it is relocating and expanding into New Berlin, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb.

Several business functions, including marketing, finance, engineering and sales, will be maintained in the Chicago area, near the current headquarters in Wood Dale, Ill.

The ACS Group manufactures products for the plastic processing industry, including granulators and shredders, conveying equipment and mold temperature control units.

Rahco International Inc., an equipment manufacturer based in Spokane, has signed an agreement with mobile shredding truck manufacturer Ultra-Shred LLC, also of Spokane.

According to the agreement signed in March, UltraShred will relocate its operations to Rahco’s plant. Rahco will perform manufacturing and some engineering and design work.

According to local reports Rahco feels the move will allow it to diversify its revenue base so it’s less dependent on large projects.

Currently, UltraShred buys most of its truck chassis from Freightliner and contracts with other manufacturers for some body and shredding mechanisms, doing assembly and fabrication work at its shop.

UltraShred will be focused on marketing and selling the equipment. Rahco, however, will assist with international sales.

UltraShred is a five-year-old company, while Rahco has been making conveying, excavating and material handling equipment for nearly 60 years.

Sennebogen Honors Gibson Machinery

Erich Sennebogen, Jr., Lee Gibson and Constantino Lannes

Cleveland-area heavy equipment dealer Gibson Machinery LLC has been presented with a 2003-2004 Dealer of the Year Award by Sennebogen North America LLC, based in Charlotte, N.C.

"It is a privilege for us to have Lee Gibson represent the Sennebogen name in Ohio," says Erich Sennebogen Jr., managing director of Sennebogen NA’s German-based parent company. "Like us, his family has been involved in the equipment business for a long time and is well respected in the industry," he adds.

According to Sennebogen LLC President Constantino Lannes, Gibson Machinery began carrying the Sennebogen line of material handling equipment in September of 2003, but already has a number of committed Sennebogen customers that "know him and respect his decision to take on the line."

Lannes adds, "We have already had excellent feedback from customers and potential customers who have told us that in this area, we made the right decision. Based on his first-year performance, we are going to be very busy in the Ohio region."

Lee Gibson says the relationship has been a good one for his dealership, too. "Sennebogen has made a commitment to the marketplace, having invested in a parts inventory that more than exceeded my expectations and those of my clients," he says.

"At Sennebogen, they stand behind their product 100 percent—parts, service, whatever I need. This is something that I looked for when I was choosing a line to represent," Gibson adds.

INNOV-X SYSTEMS OFFERS MICRO XRF ANALYZERS

Innov-X Systems, Woburn, Mass., has introduced a range of bench-top QXi Micro XRF analyzers, which the company says delivers fast and precise identification.

The QXi analyzers use a collimated beam of 13mm to 0.1mm diameter with laser-beam focusing, making them suitable for testing small or heterogeneous samples.

According to Innov-X, QXi analyzers can perform fully standardless quantitative analysis with excellent statistical accuracy using measurement times of 30 to 120 seconds.

The units’ video capability aids analysis with a sensitive color CCD camera that allows digital snapshots with magnification of up to 68 times. In combination with the laser spot tool, the CCD camera enables digital pictures to be analyzed and stored.

QXi analyzers feature x-ray tube technology, eliminating radioactive isotopes and the need for government regulation, the expense of isotope disposal and other restrictions, Innov-X says.

The analyzers include Windows software that can generate analysis reports and create databases for sorting measurement data. The software also allows users to specify the analysis times and sampling procedures.

Additional product information is available online at www.innov-xsys.com.

LUBO USA INSTALLS TITECH OPTICAL SORTING UNITS

Lubo USA, based in Stamford, Conn., has announced the purchase of three of its TiTech PolySort optical sorters.

According to Lubo, TiTech PolySort uses a fast, high-precision infrared analysis combined with a computer discharging system to identify materials across the entire width of a conveyor belt. The system’s high speed of approximately 8 feet to 10 feet per second makes it efficient, Lubo says.

City Fibres of Los Angeles has installed a TiTech unit to sort contamination out of its mixed fiber line on its single-stream processing system. Lubo says City Fibres has also decided to buy two additional units based on the system’s performance.

Alan Stein from Gulf Coast Recycling, Houston, also has purchased a TiTech Polysort 1400 unit. This unit separates paper out of the unders line of Gulf Coast’s commercial OCC screen.

Additionally, Recycle America Alliance has installed a TiTech Polysort 1000 unit at its Berlin, Conn., plant to sort plastics out of its incoming stream of commingled materials. The system eliminated three sorting positions while helping to create a much cleaner end product, Lubo reports.

Tri-State Installing Harris Shredder

Tri-State Iron and Metal Co., Texarkana, Ark., has purchased a Harris 80/115 Shredding Plant, according to a release from Harris Waste Management Group Inc., Peachtree City, Ga.

Initial installation steps are already underway, and the shredder is expected to be delivered in June 2005, according to the release.

"We did a lot of research on this shredder project and made the decision for the Harris shredder," says Howard Glick, Tri-State president. "The Harris reputation and the shredder design were two major deciding factors."

Tri-State has been in the ferrous and nonferrous metals and scrap paper processing business since 1947.

The Harris Shredder Division is capable of designing, manufacturing and servicing complete shredder systems—from heavy-duty infeed conveyors to complete downstream separation systems—according to the company.