Complete confidence: automated equipment from Steinert lets Neville Metals shred with confidence.

Neville Metals in Pittsburgh entered the shredding market with confidence in late 2004 after installing a new Texas Shredder Inc. plant and downstream separating equipment provided by SteinertUS.

Neville Metals President Jim Snyder says the production of clean grades of nonferrous metals has occurred from the very start-up of the plant and its downstream Steinert system.

As an added bonus, the series of Steinert separators are configured with total digital system controls. The separators perform their tasks without the need for production workers to attend to them or provide manual sorting back up. All equipment is also controlled by a Best Inc. system that permits subtle adjustments of the drive speeds of conveyors and sorting mechanisms, allowing the entire system to adjust to the desired production volume.

"It's a new installation for us that we have just started in the last 45 days, but it is working marvelously," Snyder says of his downstream sorting line. Among the Steinert equipment deployed there are Steinert Eddy Current Separators (ECS) and the Steinert All Metal Separator.

Manual sorting is not part of the equation at the Neville Metals shredding plant because the ISS scans the residue for every last trace of metal. The automated aspects of the Steinert system have allowed Neville Metals to hold down labor costs associated with its new shredder plant.

Steinert's new ECS Professional Controls with Touch Screen Display instantly show the status of the settings while quickly responding to changes of speed and direction. The Digital Control Center for the Induction Sorting System (ISS) III 160 monitors the operation of key ISS components and allows for adjustments to separation programming while keeping track of sensor and air jet functions.

While controls have been modernized, the tradition of rugged quality in the carefully engineered Steinert separators has been maintained.

Snyder says he was confident the Steinert equipment could handle the job in part because of the strong recommendation from Texas Shredder Inc. He says the process of working with Denny Lawrence at Texas Shredder for the shredding plant installation and working with Dennis Ciccotelli and the people at Steinert went smoothly. "Both companies were easy to work with and we were real pleased to have partnered with them."

The investment and installation has allowed the 40-year-old metals recycling company to process auto hulks, white goods and other forms of scrap that it had previously been unable to process competitively. "We're now able to go after auto bodies and white goods and produce a clean ferrous grade and, thanks to Steinert, segregate the nonferrous metals that come off the shredder. The quality of the nonferrous material has been absolutely excellent."