Metals Recycling News
Ferrous Processing & Trading Introduces New Rampress Process
Innovative System Meets the Needs of Varied Customers
A diversified and evolving industry requires agile equipment and processes that can adapt to varied demands. At the forefront of their trade, Detroit-based Ferrous Processing & Trading (FPT) has recently completed the development and implementation of a new system that will allow it to efficiently meet the needs of all its steelmaking customers.
The proprietary RamPress process automatically handles, densifies and loads scrap metal generated at automotive and other industrial stamping plants. The patent-pending system operates continuously while being monitored remotely via internet data communications with no onsite personnel required.
FPT’s Executive Vice President A.G. "Chip" Hering conceptualized the improved system. He explains that the RamPress “capitalizes on developments in scrap remelting in the steel industry. This new process generates a dense scrap product that is highly valued while also providing substantial savings in scrap handling at the stamping plant compared to conventional techniques.”
Importantly, the innovative RamPress process can package sheet steel scrap into a form compatible with both traditional integrated steelmakers and the newer mini-mills. The automated equipment compresses sheet steel into a “wafer” that is typically 4’ x 4’ x variable thickness. The thickness of the "wafer" is key – it can range from 6 to 20 inches, depending on customers’ requirements.
“We developed the RamPress to satisfy the growing demand from the mini-mills, while still accommodating the needs of integrated steelmakers,” notes Hering. “Mini-mills, which utilize electric furnace melters, demand thinner wafers.”
“This system also reduces operating costs and minimizes plant involvement,” Hering says. Designed to work with existing equipment at a stamping plant, the system’s material handling process is managed by video surveillance and a fully automated communications network at FPT.
Ferrous Processing & Trading is an affiliate of Soave Enterprises, L.L.C., www.soave.com. Soave Enterprises is a diversified management and investment company founded by Detroit businessman Anthony L. Soave that provides strategic planning, financial and other management resources to its affiliated business ventures in the real estate, automotive retailing, beer distribution, scrap metal, industrial services and transportation industries, among others. Recently, Forbes Magazine ranked Soave Enterprises as the 192nd largest privately held company in the United States.
