Equipment report

Eriez expands EriezXpress Quick-Ship Program

Erie, Pennsylvania-based Eriez has expanded its popular EriezXpress Program to include an array of additional in-stock separation, vibratory, metal detection, recycling, metalworking and heavy-industry products for quick shipment and delivery. According to Eriez, more products will be added throughout the year.

“This investment will give customers quicker access to proven technologies that eliminate contaminants and solve productivity issues and downtime problems,” says Jeff Kaveney, manager, product marketing and administration.

According to Eriez, its EriezXpress line is being enhanced to include additional suspended magnets, magnetic cartridges, drums, vibratory feeders, metal detectors, eddy current separators, sump cleaners, coalescers, centrifuges and more. EriezXpress also will continue to offer lifting magnets, magnetic plates, grates, traps, tubes and rolls, bin vibrators, coolant cleaners, sheet fanners, electromagnet controls, magnet load monitors, pull test kits and more, the company says.

More information about the EriezXpress Program is available at http://ow.ly/N63vB or by calling 888-300-ERIEZ (3743).

Renew Bahamas opens first commercial MRF

Renew Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas, in late May opened its new material recovery facility (MRF), which was commissioned by Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie.

The 125,000-square-foot MRF, built for $7 million, can process up to 80 metric tons per hour of residential and commercial recyclables. Recycling equipment supplier Machinex Group, based in Plessisville, Quebec, partnered with Renew Bahamas to design and install the new facility, which took four months to complete.

Renew Bahamas President and CEO Gerhard Beukes says construction of the MRF, the first of its kind in the country, represents a major step forward.

“What we are doing has not been done at this scale anywhere in the country or in the region,” Beukes says. “We can now say the Bahamas is an exporter of recyclate materials, which are being sold to customers on the global scene. It is also the start of our efforts to substantially reduce the negative environmental footprint of these troubled lands.”

By recycling and recovering value from materials, especially combustible materials, such as cardboard and plastic, that were previously sent to landfill, the potential for future fires at the adjacent landfill site will be reduced, the company reports.

Jonathan Menard, project director at Machinex Group, observes, “Renew Bahamas has been a great partner in this venture, and we were sincerely impressed from day one by the vision, the skills and the unity of the Renew Bahamas group.

“Installing the first state-of-the-art MRF in the Caribbean Islands came with a number of challenges, but, as a team, Machinex and Renew Bahamas demonstrated that the proposed model could work and that it could be reproduced elsewhere within the Caribbean Islands. This project is another strong example of Machinex’s capability to export and develop the international waste management market outside of the success the company has in North America and the United Kingdom,” he adds.

Machinex says the plant features innovative sorting and baling technologies and will be manned on a continuous basis with a staff of about 50 people per shift.

Renew Bahamas is responsible for operating and managing the city’s landfill in partnership with the government of the Bahamas. The company says it employs 85 people and expects to hire an additional 50 people in the coming months.

ZB Group debuts Thor mobile shredders in the US

ZB Group of Errenteria, Spain, has introduced its Thor line of mobile hammer mill shredders to the U.S. market.

The company also reports that it is opening a new North American facility, ZB North America Corp., based in Atlanta, to provide back-up service and spare parts around the country.

ZB’s Thor mobile units are track-mounted, portable shredders that feature remote control and top and bottom discharge.

The hammer mill shredders are available with an internal width ranging from 60 inches to 85 inches and with drive motors ranging from 800 horsepower up to 2,000 horsepower.

Three Thor units are operating in the U.S., with the largest model, a Thor 2121 K, able to process entire cars, ZB Group says.

Caterpillar and Modustri to collaborate on equipment monitoring technology

To help customers around the world optimize parts performance and further understand the condition of their equipment, Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Illinois, says it has entered into a strategic alliance with Modustri, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based provider of service and measurement technologies for use in the field. Caterpillar and Modustri will work together to develop innovations that enhance Cat customers’ abilities to measure wear on parts to help customers optimize their fleets more effectively, according to a news release issued by Cat.

“Our parts monitoring and management tool has been a leader in the equipment management industry for 75 years, but we’re always looking for ways to step up our game,” says Doug Hoerr, vice president of the Reman, Components and Work Tools Division of Caterpillar. “Our relationship with Modustri will allow us to take advantage of emerging technology that gives our customers more information on parts and components to maximize uptime. The days of being reactive are over.”

Using Web-based and mobile platforms, the companies will deliver processes that provide customers accurate, immediate access to useful, real-time data while still in the field, Cat says. This technology can help Cat dealers and customers better measure wear rates and manage wear parts replacements—including those from other suppliers.

“We’ve seen how mobile technology can change the behaviors of customers; now we can see groundbreaking hardware and software that can help dealers interact with customers, build trust and plan ahead for maintenance and parts replacements,” says Brian Steketee, founder and CEO of Modustri.

“We are at the forefront of a revolution in the heavy equipment industry,” says Greg Folley, vice president of the newly formed Analytics and Innovation Division of Caterpillar. “Emerging technologies are changing the way we can help customers maintain a competitive advantage and achieve new levels of equipment productivity and profitability. Our alliance with Modustri will be key in making this happen.”

Cat says it will collaborate with Modustri and the Cat dealer network to create wear management technologies through Web and mobile platforms, which will be available for customers.