Steel Belt Conveyors

Written by Paul Montgomery, Marketing Leader at PRAB. Reviewed by [Application Engineering, name/title TBD]. Published [Date]. Last updated [Date]. Quick Answer What is a closed-loop metalworking system? A closed-loop metalworking system is a plant-wide architecture in which metal chips, coolant, and wastewater are continuously captured, processed, and returned to productive use rather than being discharged or hauled away as waste. […]

Written by Paul Montgomery, Marketing Leader at PRAB. Reviewed by [Application Engineering, name/title TBD]. Published [Date]. Last updated [Date]. Quick Answer Does the material being machined affect which metal scrap conveyor or chip processing system I need? Yes, significantly. Chip morphology, bulk density, abrasiveness, and coolant affinity vary widely by material. Aluminum produces fine, stringy chips with high coolant retention […]

In many manufacturing environments, metal scrap conveyors are treated as simple transport equipment. In reality, the in conveyor often determines production uptime, labor efficiency, maintenance requirements, scrap flow consistency, coolant containment, and even worker safety. As metalworking operations become more automated and production schedules become more demanding, manufacturers are reevaluating conveyor systems based on long-term reliability, integration capabilities, and total […]

Walk through any production machining facility, stamping plant, or die-casting shop, and you will find one constant: metal scrap. The chips, turnings, stampings, and flash that accumulate on and around machine tools represent both a housekeeping challenge and a real cost center. Scrap conveyors are the circulatory system of efficient chip management — they move material away from the point […]

Aluminum chip recycling is one of the most effective ways manufacturers can recover value from machining operations. For companies machining aluminum, chips and turnings are not just waste—they are a reusable asset. Yet many facilities still lose profit by hauling wet chips, storing bulky swarf, paying excessive freight, or allowing reusable coolant to leave with the scrap. The best aluminum […]

Stop Leaving Money on the Table – How to Maximize Aluminum Scrap Value with PRAB’s Briquetting and Conveyor Systems Most metalworking operations think about aluminum scrap the same way they’ve always thought about it — as a byproduct to manage, not an asset to optimize. In previous years, that mindset was understandable. Today, with aluminum prices up more than 46% […]

There’s a calculation most manufacturing operations never run. It goes like this: take the machining scrap pounds of copper, brass, or bronze chips your facility generates per week, multiply by the current scrap price ($3.40–$5.10/lb depending on grade and cleanliness), subtract the discount your scrap dealer applies for oil contamination and loose bulk, and compare that to what you’d earn […]

Aluminum has dominated the commodity headlines this spring — but copper prices have been quietly building a more consequential story. While aluminum’s challenge is supply: mines capped, smelters disrupted, capacity maxed — copper’s challenge is something fundamentally different. It’s demand. Demand that no amount of new mine construction can keep up with, demand from industries that didn’t even exist a […]

If you machine aluminum for a living — or manage operations that do — the market news probably isn’t a surprise at this point. Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange climbed to their highest levels since 2022 this spring, driven by a combination of geopolitical disruptions, structural supply constraints, and rising global demand. What that means in practical terms: […]

In real manufacturing environments, very few plants start from scratch. That’s a “Brownfield” integration vs. a “Greenfield” installation. Most facilities already operate with a mix of: Legacy conveyors Third-party shredder systems Standalone briquetting machines Decentralized CNC coolant filtration systems Older industrial oil water separators Fragmented wastewater treatment systems Capital equipment decisions were made over decades—often by different plant managers, under […]