A Wisconsin-based recycling company succeeds with DEVELON heavy equipment.
When Lisa Larson got her start in the scrap metal recycling industry, she knew she was entering a primarily male-dominated field; however, that didn’t deter her. She was interested in helping the environment and using recycling to achieve a smaller carbon footprint.
“The opportunity to go into this field happened to present itself when I was in college,” Lisa says. “As part of my schooling, I had taken a natural resource class and became interested in our environment and how I could hand down something to the next generation better than we had it. Recycling seemed to fit that particular area of interest for me.”
Soon after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, she decided to purchase Asylum Scrap Services in Marshfield, Wisconsin. As owner and president of the company, she immediately made an impact on the company’s marketing as well as establishing more business contacts and customer leads.
“I have to overcome the obstacles of being a woman in a male-dominated industry,” Lisa says. “But, I have a great crew that I work with. They do a wonderful job and that helps to alleviate some of the challenges of being a female in my position.”
Today, she and Chris Burt, general manager, work together to make sure Asylum Scrap Services successfully assists a variety of customers in and around the Wisconsin area with their recycling needs, specifically ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal. Nearly all the metal that arrives at Asylum Scrap Services will be recycled, and Chris and the employees are particular about the material when it arrives in a roll-off or lugger container. They’re careful to ensure that the inbound scrap metal isn’t dirty or contaminated.
New Recycling Revenue
Running a scrap metal recycling business is no easy task. In fact, when working with other recyclers and expanding their operation, Asylum Scrap Services discovered that everybody in their industry faced the same issues: It was hard to find good help, equipment was expensive and margins were tight. So five years ago, they decided to look beyond their scrap yard to support other companies — as well as bring in extra revenue — by outsourcing some of their idle machines.
“A lot of times equipment doesn’t get full utilization,” Chris says. “But, by working with other smaller yards or of equal size to us, we are able to support them with some of our equipment and grow in our mobile services.” This business objective has been a win-win for both Asylum Scrap Services and the other recycling companies in the area.
“If you can co-op your equipment with other smaller yards, and you’re moving the machines around, it keeps that equipment busy all the time,” Chris says. “It’s easier to amortize it, pay for it and everything else. We still have our main yard, but our business model has been geared towards mobile services a lot more in the last five to seven years.”
Five mobile shears are kept busy processing metal for the Waupaca Foundry, which is a major source of income for Asylum Scrap Services. When the old material arrives at the recycling company, it’s sorted and readied for processing.
“We are able to support some of these other smaller yards because they don’t have big volumes,” Chris says. “But the cumulative volume between all of those yards is substantial enough that we’re able to get a decent-sized contract every month and know that we got a good material flow. And then by having that contract, we’re able to protect those small yards from fluctuations in pricing and the spikes and drops in the markets.”
Discovering DEVELON
To handle their volume of ferrous and non-ferrous metal, Asylum Scrap Services relies on a fleet of DEVELON equipment. The company owns two mini excavators and two larger crawler excavators, and recently purchased its first material handler — a DEVELON DX225MH-5 with an orange-peel grapple attachment and a 36-inch magnet. Jim Barry at Swiderski Equipment sold the DEVELON equipment to Asylum Scrap Services.
“Jim took us to the Real Operation Center (ROC) in Tucson where we were able to operate the DEVELON equipment,” Chris says. “We ended up buying two DX85R-3 mini excavators — one with rubber tracks and the other with steel tracks — after visiting the proving grounds. I was very impressed with the speed and power of the machines.”
The two 8.5-metric-ton mini excavators are ideal for smaller jobs, such as loading roll-off boxes. Chris says they’ve loaded gondola trailers with the mini excavators. A quick-tach mounting system makes it easy for the operators to switch tasks.
“We’re able to switch over to a third-member shear for downsizing equipment and then go back to the bucket and thumb for loading,” he says. “They’re pretty versatile. That’s why we went with the one with the steel tracks on it.”
Chris says the company bought a DX180LC-5 excavator with a 335 Genesis shear because it was fairly easy to move around compared to a previous excavator and shear combination. Some larger pieces of equipment had even bigger shears mounted to them. That presented problems for Chris and the company’s equipment operators.
“The larger pieces of equipment are hard to get in and out of small yards,” he explains. “They’re tall. You get some bridge problems. So moving them around is a lot more difficult than moving around the DX180LC-5 with a mobile shear on it. Any lowboy trailer and away you go.”
After buying excavators, Asylum Scrap Services expanded its fleet by adding the DEVELON material handler for its day-to-day operations.
“Our material handler allows us to sort material, stage material for shears and then sort and clean materials,” Chris says. “The reach on the material handler works well for us because it allows us to sort the material and load the trucks without having to move. You’re not doing multiple setups.”
Having reliable, comfortable equipment not only helps companies like Asylum Scrap Services stay productive; it’s a tool for recruiting and retaining operators.
“Having newer, better equipment has been a big deal for these guys,” Chris says. “If they feel like their comfort and their productivity and their overall job satisfaction is important, well, you want to put them in a good piece of equipment. You want to make them feel that you appreciate everything they’re doing. And you really do, because without them, everything grinds to a halt.”
Dependable Service
When it comes to equipment service and maintenance, Asylum Scrap Services relies on its mechanics for routine maintenance, but also calls on Swiderski Equipment. The dealer is available to help resolve any problems, including using telematics to remotely monitor the machines and diagnose an issue.
“Once we get out of the break-in period, we have our mechanics typically do the daily maintenance of the machines,” Chris says. “We have a pretty robust preventive maintenance program. But the nice thing about our dealer is that if we ever run into a problem, they can jump on the phone with us and walk us through the issue. Our dealership really puts us first to help us stay efficient and keep us operating.”
Do Your Homework
Before purchasing a piece of new equipment, the staff at Asylum Scrap Services always makes sure to have input from its crew to make sure they are happy with the machine. They also demo the machine as well as look for reviews, either online or in print.
“Researching the machine is key, along with reaching out to their dealership for advice,” Chris says.
Learn more about DEVELON material handlers and crawler excavators for scrap recycling.
If you can co-op your equipment with other smaller yards, and you're moving the machines around, it keeps that equipment busy all the time. It's easier to amortize it, pay for it, and everything else. We still have our main yard. But our business model had been geared towards mobile services a lot more in the last five to seven years. "