Metro Group, a SENNEBOGEN customer for over twenty years, recently welcomed its first electric material handler in Salt Lake City, Utah. The brand-new electric SENNEBOGEN 855E is among seven SENNEBOGEN material handlers at the Salt Lake City location and has received praise for its reach and reliability. 

Metro Group’s daily operations revolve around buying and selling scrap metal, averaging out to roughly 15,000 tons of ferrous and 8 million pounds of non-ferrous a month. Within the operation, SENNEBOGEN material handlers unload trucks, load equipment such as the shear and shredder, and unload and load rail cars to move ferrous metal to steel mills throughout the country. The electric 855E, equipped with a 150-foot cable reel for mobility and a pony motor for maintenance, primarily feeds Metro Group’s shredder operation, where most of the light iron is processed. 

Over Twenty Years of Partnership 

Metro Group purchased its first SENNEBOGEN machine in 2004 and hasn’t looked back since. The main factors for the lasting partnership have been the relationship the two companies have built and the equipment’s cost-effectiveness and maintenance benefits. As a whole, Metro Group currently owns and operates 18 SENNEBOGEN material handlers throughout its nine locations in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, with the Salt Lake City location being the largest. 

“We still have machines that go back to C-series that are still in service today with over 40,000 hours,” claimed Joe Anderson, Maintenance Manager for Metro Group, who praised SENNEBOGEN for keeping parts in stock for every machine currently in operation. “It’s been able to keep them running year after year. It’s easy to upgrade and start to filter out the older equipment when you can’t get parts for them anymore, but with SENNEBOGEN, if we have it in use, we have support for it.” 

Purpose-Built For Scrap 

Anderson was first introduced to SENNEBOGEN when he joined Metro Group eight and a half years ago. “What’s made them so successful is that they have made themselves so purpose-built for this industry,” he said, “yes, you can adapt other pieces of equipment to do it, but you are always falling against shortcomings. SENNEBOGEN seems to have geared itself towards what it is we need, and it has been reliable for getting that job done.” 

Metro Group uses its equipment to the fullest, with some running for 16 hours a day to keep operations going. They have tested the machines in that process, whether it be in the elements or maintenance, and SENNEBOGEN has always come out on top. 

“I think it’s been kind of a no-brainer for us because we have seen how reliable they are over the years and the cost-effectiveness. When we talk about upgrading, it’s ‘what SENNEBOGEN are we going to get next?’ Even if we look at other brands, it seems to come back to what SENNEBOGEN has done for us.” 

The Switch To Electric 

When Metro Group’s team sought to increase efficiency in their shredder operation, they turned to SENNEBOGEN’s electric 855E. “With the tons we are trying to process, we needed something a little bigger with a little further reach,” explained Cole Cowan, Operations Manager for Shredder and Ferrous Operations, “and we didn’t want to worry about diesel motors, fuel, and the DEF system.” They were further incentivised to go electric when they were approved for a state grant that gave Metro Group a roughly 45% rebate for replacing a diesel machine with an electric one. 

Dan Floyd, Vice President of Operations, is excited to see what the machine will do. “We have only had it in operation for a few months, but we are already seeing cost savings,” He said. Metro Group does not have to spend the time and money on maintenance related to diesel engines, such as oil changes or the DEF system, which has been huge for the team. The machine has also resulted in Metro Group needing fewer pieces of equipment to feed the shredder operation. 

Salt Lake City is no stranger to harsh winter conditions, which can be harsh on diesel machines. The electric 855E has eliminated many of the headaches associated with diesel. “Diesel engines have to get warmed up and are slower starting; an electric machine has the exact same power all the time. It doesn’t fluctuate based on the cold or the heat,” explained Floyd. “We did a lot of research, and it is performing exactly as we thought it would.” 

Technical Support 

Metro Group has a team of ten mechanics who perform maintenance on the equipment. Anderson has seen the benefits of sending his technicians to SENNEBOGEN’s free training in Stanley, NC. “It’s an excellent opportunity.” The training program has allowed Metro Group to save on downtime caused by waiting for outside technicians, allowing for more uptime. 

Anderson also praised the structural layout of the machines. “Everything we need to have access to is easily accessible without having to tear the machine apart to try to get to something to repair it. The industry is really hard on equipment, so on the maintenance-side to be able to get in and get something solved fast and then back out into production is really important.” 

Metro Group utilizes SENNEBOGEN’s UPTime kits to streamline maintenance and parts stocking. The maintenance team also utilizes SENNEBOGEN’s factory-trained technicians to help them troubleshoot issues over the phone or at their yard. “To be able to have a technical guy somewhere that is willing to jump on a call or fly out and help us when we need to has been 

great. We don’t suffer a whole lot of downtime because of that, which is really what we are about.” 

Grateful To Be Part Of The Community 

Floyd has been a part of Metro Group for over thirty years and grown up with the company, which is approaching its 50th year in operation, and is grateful to be a part of the surrounding community. “We are just excited to be able to do what we can to recycle a lot of material and keep it out of the landfill.” 

“I think we are really loyal to SENNEBOGEN because of the support we have gotten,” claimed Cowan, “I also think we are very loyal because we have run them for right about twenty years now, and they have just been very reliable pieces of equipment.”