Summer is here and the risk of a fire in your scrap feed stock and fluff piles go up substantially.  Summer brings an uptick in yard flow and several holiday weekends.  Many of us have received that call in the middle of the night that you have a fire emergency at the yard.  We all need to remain vigilant and not let our guard down. Here are some simple rules to minimize the chances of that call.

Preventive measures to take:

1. Keep your scrap piles at least twenty feet away from both fixed and mobile processing equipment. Infeed conveyors, loaders, cranes, need clear space from scrap storage piles. Space means access and time in the event of a fire.
2. Don’t accumulate large feed stock piles. Production schedules that keep intake to a minimum are best.  If you are down for extended maintenance, add fire breaks and gaps to segregate large piles.  Once you shred it, the problem is gone.
3. Regular housekeeping is needed at the shredder. Excessive material buildup becomes a problem when contaminants hit the piles.  Consider this scenario.  Scrap builds up between your shredder and the motor room over several weeks.  An auto slips by inspectors with a full fuel tank and it ruptures as it slides down the feed chute.  Flammable liquid runs out of the mill and into that pile of build-up right where your important machinery is located.  Your bearings, hydraulic lines, drive shafts, control wiring, or your mill motor won’t be the same if that pile ignites.  Clear what does not belong on a weekly rotation.
4. Make sure your fire control systems are in place, hoses and nozzles are in good condition, all fire extinguishers checked monthly, and missing items replaced promptly.
5. Review with your inspectors hazardous materials which can start a fire such as batteries, gas tanks, propane bottles, and other ignition sources. While 99% of infeed scrap is remediated and prepared for shredder, some things get through the inspection process.  Sometimes dressing up the piles of infeed materials received earlier that day can trigger a problem load lurking in the day’s intake.
6. Make sure all shreds have been run off the conveyor belts and wet down the conveyors belts and area around the shredder. Be sure to look closely at all of the fluff piles for signs of hot spots.  Make it a priority to have the fluff piles at minimum levels especially before an extended holiday shutdown.
7. Lastly, have a supervisor walk around the processing area prior to shutdown. An early morning inspection can help set expectations for the end of day shut down walk when your team is wrapping up for a holiday weekend.

Have a safe production summer!!

Early 2015 is a tough time to be in the shredding business. Scrap prices continue their deep dive while the input side of the business tries to adjust to the change in value.  It may be the sign of a fundamental reset in the value of scrap.  Obsolete scrap volumes may lag for some time until the economics of disposal and transport become clear.  If you are running a shredder on a limited schedule, can you safely defer routine maintenance?

What do we mean by routine?  They are the habitual tasks that are part of best practices.  They are the small things you know are important, but are tempted to defer because of limited run time or available maintenance hours.  And they are normal maintenance expenditures you might be tempted to put off until better markets return.  Skipping what you know works isn’t ‘adapting’ to new realities but a mentality that will cause more costly problems down the road.

Everyone just needs to take stock of their current production requirements and adjust upon facts, not guesses. The plain truth of the matter is the shredder has to be opened and looked at after every production shift.  Inspecting the box is a matter of routine, not tons.  Who has not had a problem in the first part of a production shift? There may be a piece of scrap jammed in such a way it will pop off end caps or bind the rotor during start up.  Inspecting after each production shift helps you plan for regular maintenance and reduces the chances of surprises.

Everything needs to be checked, despite reduced manning and run hours.

• bolts have to be tightened
• liners have to be replaced when wore down
• feed rolls have to be cleaned of scrap and maintained
• hammers need to be flipped, moved, or replaced
• check the distance between hammers and grates & anvils
• Non-ferrous recovery systems need regular checks to be sure they are fully functioning

Grates have to be checked for proper distance from the hammers to be sure you are getting the best density and non ferrous recoveries from your processing.  The anvil to hammer distance keeps cutting and sizing working to ensure efficient throughput in the mill. Many things are checked on each shift that influence how well the shredder performs and keeps production costs in line with expectations.

Planning ahead on vital spares and replacement parts cannot be deferred too far into the future.  If you shred, often you will need it sooner than you think.  Rotors, motors, bearings can fail at the least opportune moment.  Ordering ahead of time and using your labor hours in a pre-determined way helps keep overtime and costs level.

In the business of shredding scrap, not everything works out as expected.  Despite economizing on maintenance and repair, you know where you can defer and where you can’t.  Go with the things you know work best. It will save you headaches and money in the long run.

As everyone is aware, the labor issues affecting the west coast ports have come to a resolution.  However, labor is only one of several factors affecting delays through the western ports of the US.  It will be months before the backlog of vessels and containers are cleared and transit time thought the ports return to normal, if ever.

One key issue which has not been resolved is the shortage of chassis to move the containers. This equipment problem and driver shortages will cause delays well in to mid year and possibly beyond.

While we anticipate better delivery, please continue to plan on a 120 day parts supply lead time from date of order to be on the safe side.

We will continue to post any new developments here in our blog. Check back in on a regular basis.

Closely Monitor Your Wear Parts Inventory and Do Not Delay Orders

To keep everyone up to speed on the transit times for inbound shipments:

There has been some movement to resolve the labor issues involving the major West coast ports in the US. They have not reached an agreement, but are making progress on some of the key issues.

This being said, however, even if an agreement is reached, it will be months before the backlogs of ships and containers get back to some type of normalcy.  Key issues at the ports will remain a problem for some time.  There are not enough trucks, drivers, and chassis to move the inbound containers to rail or their final destinations.  Delays are expected to continue in to at the middle of 2015, possibly as far out as 2016.

Large scale congestion at USA and foreign ports is the result of several issues:

• Labor slowdowns and anticipated labor actions have both slowed ship loading and unloading.  Labor issues at some Chinese ports slowed several weeks of deliveries.  At US ports, the promise of contentious labor talks had many ship early to avoid delays if talks bogged down.  Contract talks continue.
• US Ports are facing longer times unloading the new class of ever larger vessels.  The delays are congesting already packed dock schedules.  The terminals need more physical space, a problem that cannot be resolved quickly.
• A change in the truck chassis system in the USA has increased delays.  When carriers controlled container chassis, they provided one with each container pick up.  Carriers decided not long ago they didn’t want to own truck chassis, and the new system has them everywhere but where they need to be: at the port.  The result is long waits for a free chassis to pull containers from the yards, and a lack of driver hours to deal with the delays.
• The surge in volume and the port delays has intermodal terminals and trucking capacity out of sync, causing further congestion.

The bottom line:  Don’t get caught short on your wear parts.  Be sure to re-order as soon as you use your stock.  Do not delay purchases and give yourself more time for delivery.

There has been a definite change in the types of scrap being shredded these days. We are seeing much lighter scrap as everyone who has a shredder has noticed and more non-metallics.  The old days of 15 to 20% loss in white goods and 25 to 30% loss in autos are long gone.  Baled sheet metal is more common as shredders reach further out for material.  More powerful balers generate hard hitting bundles that test your hammers and keep the motor working hard.

So which kind of hammers should you use?

Manganese steel hammers basically have been around since the shredder was invented.  Manganese is still the hammer of choice for the vast majority of shredders around the world. It is usually the lowest cost per processed ton performer and the most forgiving with baled and heavy scrap.  If your product mix has a good percentage of heavier scrap to shred, you will be able to work harden the hammers for excellent wear.  For best results, manganese hammers should have a minimum 1/2% Molybdenum (moly).

Alloy steel hammers, both UHT and DHT types are up and coming products targeting the shredders with lighter gauge scrap to process. Be sure you compare the higher costs of the alloy hammers versus the increased tons of processed material.  For instance, if you are getting an additional 50% increase in tons out per set, and you are paying almost double the cost, does it make sense for your operation?   Even with the labor savings from delayed hammer changes, you may still save money with manganese.

Forged hammers are the newest and most expensive  type in the market today. They are a hard hammer, so you will need to have special hammer pins as well.  Otherwise you will wear your normal pins out much sooner.  Monitor it closely to see if your cost to shred comes down as much as you anticipated.  We are hearing double or more the wear life compared to manganese.  Gather all costs, so you can compare the hammer cost per ton with pins included.  While an improvement, it may not be as much a savings as anticipated.  Only your numbers will lead to the right answer.

K2 Castings produces manganese and alloy hammers for all sizes of shredders. Our suggestion is to test them both and settle on the type which works better for your product mix. If you have any questions or need some help figuring out which is the most cost effective for you, let us know. We will be happy to help you out.

Keep your shredder drive motor breathing clean air.  Change out the air filters!  Whether running an electric motor or reciprocating engines in the heat of the North American summer, you need max air flow.   If you have a closed water cooled system, make sure the heat exchanger externals are clean.

Even if you have an outdoor air cooled motor, you likely have a filter within the motor enclosure.  Check it monthly if not more.  Motors outside of buildings are often subject to more dust and dirt than those housed in buildings.

If your motor is housed in a building, keep it positive pressured to cut down on dirt and dust.  Many motor rooms have a negative pressure, noticeable when you first open the door.  Dirty intake filters and obstructed vents are the first place to look.  If that doesn’t do it you need to study the situation and find out why your exhausting more air than your drawing in.  Keep in mind the answer if often add more air in, but there is a practical balance for each installation.

Your shredder’s motor protection relay is monitoring stator air temps and trying to keep the motor temp below the point the motor’s insulation suffers most.  To cool the motor, that means it’s turning without load, limiting your ability to shred.  A clean motor and clean filters will make for more effective cooling.

The photo below is from a dirty air cooled motor.  The build up in the stator is combustible fine shredder fluff and dirt.  It’s plugging up the stator section, preventing air flow through the motor.

The motor was in the shop due to a motor fire.  You can guess the cause.?

Filter media can be expensive and a chore to change weekly or monthly.  But it is preferable to downtime and damage.

Dirt Clogged Motor Stator

How many shredders are out there?  It is important to know, but not easy to measure.  It’s a full time job to keep an accurate census of mills engaged in scrap metal shredding.  Three publications that cover the industry each publish bi-annual lists.  They are a snapshot in time and each has a certain method to their data collection.  Count them how you like, it is the best public info available.

Source                                                USA     USA, Canada  Mexico       Year

Scrap Magazine                                312                         356                     2014

Recycling Today                               297                         325                      2014

American Metal Market                  287                                                      2014

Average USA count:                        299                         340 

The publications compile the lists differently.   Some count idled capacity, some are missed, and some have been removed.   Scrap Magazine for 2014 lists 312 mills in the USA, 28 in Canada and 16 in Mexico.  Recycling Today lists 297 shredders in the USA and 325 for all of North America, a drop of 14% from 2 years ago.

2014 SHREDDER COUNT

Our industry association ISRI is calling for all scrap processors to join a major evolution on October 15th:  Safety Stand Down Day.  In the wake of a tragic stretch of injuries in the scrap processing industry, ISRI is urging all firms to demonstrate their commitment to safety in the workplace by taking at least 1 hour during each shift to engage in safety awareness training.

Why should you do this?

• A stand down is meant to be a major statement to all to call attention to the seriousness of the situation and demonstrate your commitment to safety and safe procedures.
• You must show commitment from the top.  Emphasize how the company, managers, and employees will take safe operations to the next level.
• Many well run and well intentioned processors have had serious incidents recently resulting in fatality or major injury.  It could happen anywhere.  You are not exempt.

At a recent ISRI Chapter meeting President Doug Kramer and Executive Director Robin Weiner addressed their concern for 16 fatalities in the scrap processing industry this year.  Analysis supports all could have been prevented by emphasizing employees to follow safety procedures such as lock out tag out, seat belt use, or confined space entry.  Their message: common sense is the key to the success of any safety program not only from employees, but also from the people who supervise them.

Take ISRI up on its leadership to make a loud safety statement October 15, 2015.  ISRI is offering several training guides for use on October 15th should you need them.  Check them out here.

image provided by ISRI

Shipping and transit times to North America have grown considerably over the past few months.  Container shipments to US ports per month were at an all time high in August 2014.  Depending on the destination, transit times have increased 4-5 weeks.

Products are leaving the foundry on time, but they are sitting at the docks 2 to 3 weeks at each end of the ocean journey.  Large scale congestion at USA and foreign ports is the result of several issues:

• Labor slowdowns and anticipated labor actions have both slowed ship loading and unloading.  Labor issues at some Chinese ports slowed several weeks of deliveries.  At US ports, the promise of contentious labor talks had many ship early to avoid delays if talks bogged down.  Contract talks continue.
• US Ports are facing longer times unloading the new class of ever larger vessels.  The delays are congesting already packed dock schedules.
• A change in the truck chassis system in the USA has increased delays.  When carriers controlled container chassis, they provided one with each container pick up.  Carriers decided not long ago they didn’t want to own truck chassis, and the new system has them everywhere but where they need to be: at the port.  The result is long waits for a free chassis to pull containers from the yards, and a lack of driver hours to deal with the delays.
• The surge in volume and the port delays has intermodal terminals and trucking capacity out of sync, causing further congestion.

The bottom line:  Don’t get caught short on your wear parts.  Be sure to re-order as soon as you use your stock.  Do not delay purchases and give yourself more time for delivery.

Scrap Magazine’s recent issue features a story on shredder wear parts.  Wear Part: Makers of Automobile Shredder Wear Parts are Working to Keep Up with changes in Shredder Design, Power, and Feedstock by Theodore Fischer.