There’s a smell that anyone who has worked in a machine shop knows. It shows up on Monday mornings after the machines have been sitting idle all weekend. Dirty Coolant Costs, and it smells somewhere between rotten eggs and sour milk, and by mid-morning, you’ve stopped noticing it — which is part of the problem. That smell has a specific […]
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 industrial manufacturing, the label “systems integrator” sounds like a compliment. And in some contexts, it is. But when that label causes buyers to underestimate a supplier’s depth of technical expertise in specific, high-stakes applications, it becomes a liability — for the buyer. PRAB is frequently positioned as the company that connects the pieces: conveyors, chip processors, fluid recyclers, wastewater […]
If you’re running a modern machining cell, the question is no longer whether to automate your scrap handling—it’s whether your automation partner can take you all the way. Lights-out manufacturing demands more than CNC machines that run unattended. It demands a chip-to-bin ecosystem that operates the same way: continuously, reliably, and without human intervention. That’s where most equipment vendors stop […]
Every plant manager and CFO has faced the same difficult calculation: the long-term savings from a modernized scrap and fluid management system are compelling on paper, but the capital exposure, installation complexity, and operational disruption feel anything but straightforward. The result? Facilities remain locked in a cycle of mounting haul-away costs, escalating coolant spend, and compliance risks that compound quietly […]
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 […]
A Practical Framework for Modernizing Metal Scrap, Coolant Recycling, and Industrial Water Systems Manufacturers are under increasing pressure to improve performance without expanding footprint or headcount. Margins are tighter. Skilled labor is scarce. Disposal costs continue to rise. Water and fluid management are becoming strategic cost variables. And capital projects in engineering manufacturing, must demonstrate measurable return within defined timeframes. […]
Understanding Filter Media and Its Effects on Fluid Filtration Many buyers focus only on micron ratings when selecting filter media. But coolant filtration performance depends on several factors: Coolant chemistry Media structure (depth vs. surface filtration) Flow rate Particle size distribution Industry guidance warns that selecting filter media solely on micron rating can lead to higher operating costs and poor […]
(800) 968-7722
(800) 493-3462