CANTON, OH – When PSC Metals, Inc. upgrades its equipment, it does it right and in a big way. The 100-acre facility with 75 employees and two rail spur lines has been operated by PSC since 1996. General Manager Michael Valentine has 17 years under his belt at this facility and while attending college as a business major, he was introduced to the scrap business working a summer job at the yard as a laborer. Valentine eventually joined PSC full time and worked up the ladder to Foreman, then to Operations Manager, Yard Manager and to his present GM position. He proudly points out, “There’s no equipment I haven’t operated or scraped my knuckles on in this yard. I know what it takes to make this operation happen, day in and day out.” PSC has a shredder, switch engine, rail cars, material handlers unloading and loading, a stationary shear, rail breaker, torch cutting all busily processing material with trucks coming and going scaling in and out, all contributing to the flurry of activity.

	PSC equipped their 835 R-HD with a Genesis 700R Shear to cut up feedstock, rails, automobiles, flame cut plates, etc.

PSC is primarily a ferrous processing facility, with inbound feedstock comprised of rails, automobiles, sheet iron, flame cut plates, end cuts and various other scrap. Supplying a long-time major customer with just in time delivery places critical demands on processing and support equipment uptime.

Mike annually prepares a capital budget for equipment improvements, planning upgrades, major repairs and replacement. With the pressure of ever increasing production demands stretching existing cranes, mobile shears and the car shredder, it was time to plan for a major upgrade. This meant researching the market, analyzing equipment specifications, detailing the cost per ton and executing the plan. At the heart, PSC’s new shredder would need to address all the shortcomings of the current situation. It would need to double the output and have all components located above grade, including the in-feed conveyor. As well, new cost-effective material handlers were required to feed the hungry 6000 HP shredder and PSC would need to upgrade the old mobile shear.

With Valentine’s extensive experience of operating, maintaining and managing the PSC equipment, he clearly knew what he didn’t want in his material handlers. He didn’t want any excavator-based machines, complex hydraulic systems designed for digging, nor did he want the chronic downtime with onboard computers not suited to this application. He wanted cost-effective, purpose-built material handlers, simple and with low operating costs, rugged and reliable with a solid history of uptime performance, easy and quick to service, durability for years of continuous service, with excellent cycle times and reach, all built on a rock solid steady work platform.

After investigating all the latest material handlers offered by manufacturers that he had in his yard, Valentine realized that they did not have the equipment that he was looking for. Determined that he could do better, he continued his search.

Lee Gibson, owner of Gibson Machinery LLC of Cleveland, OH, had the opportunity to fill Valentine in on the SENNEBOGEN green line of material handlers. At that point, Valentine realized he had seen in the sales literature what he wanted for his yard - the SENNEBOGEN 835 R-HD. This rugged purpose built tracked machine, engineered and built by SENNEBOGEN, was exactly what he had in mind. Several years earlier, he had purchased a shear from Lee Gibson and he knew that Gibson Machinery LLC was a solid, capable dealer, who had an excellent reputation for after sales service and support. According to Gibson Machinery’s Service Manager Mike Morrow “SENNEBOGEN has done an outstanding job training our Gibson Machinery technicians to the highest standards. As well, both SENNEBOGEN and Gibson Machinery have made a serious commitment to have a full parts inventory for quick delivery. Lee also invested in a fleet of service trucks to back them up. We look forward to providing SENNEBOGEN owners and all our customers with the excellent in-field service they deserve. It can’t be any other way.”

After a demonstration of the SENNEBOGEN 835 M rubber tired machine, similar to the one they recently purchased with 61’ of reach for their Cleveland operation, PSC Metals’ Valentine concluded, “The competitive equipment just didn’t measure up. The SENNEBOGEN people have really figured all this out. SENNEBOGEN has the best lift, reach, 360 degree “coffee cup” steady swing, reliability with no computers, simple direct pilot operated hydraulics, excellent serviceability from ground level, elevated cab with flying object protection, but most importantly the ability to perform routinely day after day”. PSC has subsequently put their SENNEBOGEN 835 R-HD with the Genesis 700R shear online, outperforming their expectations of daily production. Valentine states that his operators, “Can’t say enough good things about the SENNEBOGEN 835 R-HD”; from the stability working through the full swing as a result of the hydraulic extendable tracks, to the quick traveling speed, to the heated seat getting them productive quickly on the cold winter mornings.”


And to feed the new car shredder line, a SENNEBOGEN 835 special has been ordered by PSC. As Valentine tells it, “I saw this SENNEBOGEN 835 special material handler working in a new shredder line on a recent trip to Germany. It was electric powered. It had a huge diameter pylon tube vertically extending between the undercarriage and the base. Ours will be very similar to that one. Our new SENNEBOGEN 835 special will take our operation to new heights. The operator will be able to look right into the in-feed conveyor and it gives us the loading envelope we need to efficiently reach over the side aprons into the above grade in-feed conveyor. He said he is convinced on the combined capability of SENNEBOGEN and Gibson Machinery. He also had some solid advice when looking for a material handler, “Look at them all. Get a demo. From where we sit, when all the factors are considered, SENNEBOGEN is the best material handler for the job, period.”

SENNEBOGEN has been a leading name in the global material handling industry for more than 50 years. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SENNEBOGEN North America offers a complete range of purpose-built machines to suit virtually any heavy lift or "pick & carry" application. A growing network of distributors supports SENNEBOGEN sales and service across North America, ensuring the highest standard of professional machine support and parts availability.

For more information on the full line of SENNEBOGEN green line material handlers, contact:

Constantino Lannes, President
SENNEBOGEN LLC
2835 Jeff Adams Dr., Suite H, Charlotte, NC 28206
Call toll free 1-877-309-0099 or fax (704) 347-8894
Email - sales@sennebogen-na.com
Visit the web site www.sennebogen-na.com

- MARCH 2006 -