Modular Chip Processing Systems

PRAB’s Metal Chip Processing Selection Framework is a structured decision tool for metalworking operations selecting between wringers, briquetters, crushers, and centrifuges. The framework aligns three operational variables, scrap volume, metal type, and fluid content, with the equipment configurations that consistently deliver up to 90% scrap volume reduction, up to 98% coolant recovery, and up to 25% increase in scrap resale […]

Metal chip briquetters get a lot of attention, and for good reason. Compressing loose turnings into dense, dry briquettes increases the value of metal scrap, reduces hauling costs, and recovers cutting fluid that would otherwise be lost. Any shop generating significant volumes of aluminum, steel, copper, brass, or cast iron chips should be evaluating briquetting as part of its scrap […]

Brownfield manufacturing plants can modernize scrap handling without major disruption by upgrading existing systems in phases rather than replacing everything at once. For many facilities, aging conveyors, manual chip handling, forklift traffic, coolant loss, and inefficient scrap load-out processes create hidden costs every day. The most effective modernization strategy is one that improves productivity, safety, and recovery value while integrating […]

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 […]

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 […]

Manufacturers continue to invest heavily in automation, machining technology, and process optimization. But as labor availability tightens and operating costs become more volatile, many plants are finding that automation alone is insufficient. This is where the “Closed-loop factory” strategy becomes important. The limiting factor is rarely the machine tool; it is the supporting infrastructure. A growing number of manufacturers are […]

Metal Chip Processing Is Now a Profit Center Metal chip processing directly affects: Metal Scrap resale value Coolant recovery and reuse Haul-away and storage cost Floor space utilization Yet many systems are still selected without application-specific data. Why Generic Performance Data Fails Chip Geometry and Coolant Chemistry Matter Two aluminum (or any metal) plants rarely produce the same chips. Differences […]