At the ripe old age of 24, Joe Cinelli Jr. has already learned what most oldtimers know about making a recycling business successful. It’s all about uptime.
“We’re not like one of the big port operations. We’ve got no spare equipment in the yard. If a crane goes down, our shear isn’t working; we lose that production,” said Cinelli.
He began working in the family business, Cinelli Iron & Metal Co., when he was 18. His father, Joe Cinelli Sr., started the recycling operation in the 1970s, hauling scrap to recyclers in his pickup truck from machine shops in Jersey City. By the late 1990s, Cinelli Iron was collecting, processing and brokering a full range of scrap metals through its facility in Hackensack, N.J.
In Hackensack, the Cinelli yard is just one-half acre in size but, as the business grew rapidly through the past 15 years, it drew considerable traffic through its largely residential neighborhood. The Cinelli family decided that moving to another larger location would be best for both the business and the town.
Joe Jr. entered the business as an equipment operator and today he is responsible for the operation of Cinelli Iron’s brand new site in Secaucus, N.J. The former location in Hackensack continues to process specialty materials, but the company’s large volume of ferrous metals is the focus of this new 5-acre yard.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility. All five acres is paved. We have underground sewers beneath it with separators to clean storm water runoff,” he said.
“We have plenty of space now, and we meet all the new state environmental regulations. We’re shipping a couple of thousand tons a week and we process all types of steel, right up to I-beams,” Cinelli explained.
While much of the heavy equipment from the Hackensack location was moved to Secaucus, Cinelli has been adding new equipment to handle the expanded capacity. When the company went looking for new machinery, it also made a key decision about its service requirements.
“We were looking for options after our experience with some of the older equipment. We wanted to get all the equipment we needed from one company. That way, if there were any problems, we don’t have to call 100 different suppliers,” said Cinelli.
’One-Stop’ Shopping at Binder
Cinelli knew Binder Machinery as the Komatsu equipment dealer servicing its wheel loaders and, more recently, as New Jersey’s distributor of Sennebogen scrap-handling machines. He has been working with Binder for approximately six years and, on closer inspection, decided that Binder was the “single source” he was looking for.
“Binder has everything I need from utility loaders to scrap handlers to processing equipment. Now, no matter what I need, I have one sales guy to call or one service guy to call. It’s simple,” he said.
Steve Mazzarella has been Binder’s sales representative of Cinelli Iron for more than six years. When Cinelli opened up the idea of designating Binder as its recycler’s single source for equipment, Mazzarella was ready.
“I asked our senior people in the region to get involved. Kirk Chagnon, our North Jersey sales manager, and Roy Corriveau, our product support manager, were able to provide the assurance that the customer needed,” said Mazzarella.
He believed that, along with dependable equipment, a dependable supply of parts was critical.
“Joe Jr. already knew the type of service that Binder can provide. We have a lot invested in parts, and we could show how we work with all our OEMs to set the right stocking levels and then put in the procedures to automatically restock as orders go out,” said Mazzarella.
“We also have a great staff of technicians so, whether there’s a call for routine maintenance or to look after a machine that’s down, we can get someone out there.”
The Binder team works together to keep service simple for customers. In one instance, Cinelli had a recurring problem with a grapple.
“A change had been made in the type of hoses it used, and hoses started breaking. Roy Corriveau came in and he saw what the problem was and got it fixed. Instead of us having to go to Sennebogen, he dealt with them himself and they got everything done,” Cinelli said.
Setting up the Secaucus yard required investment in primary equipment including a PC400 with a 4500 LaBounty shear and a Sierra 700 baler/logger. Recently, Binder supplied Cinelli with a Komatsu WA320-5 wheel loader.
“I don’t know how we’d manage in the yard this size without it. When loads of new material come in, the loader can just push the whole lot wherever we want it in just a few minutes, instead of taking time with the grapple. It’s a great running machine too,” he said.
Cinelli also maintains a fleet of 15 trucks, with 11 roll-offs and more than 1,000 containers in service.
’Green Means
Sennebogen’
The move to the new site also included relocation of two Sennebogen scrap handlers, and a third green machine has been added.
Service problems with other material handlers were the key reason for Cinelli’s decision to “single source” its equipment needs with Binder. Cinelli said Sennebogen gives his operation the uptime he needs to keep his trucks and processing equipment on the go.
“The other machines we had were breaking down since day one. We spent over $90,000 getting them fixed. These Sennebogen machines have been very reliable they just don’t break down,” he said.
All three green machines are rubber-tired models, well suited to mobile service throughout the large, paved yard. All three also are equipped with Sennebogen’s elevating cab, which can raise the operator an extra 20 ft. above the chassis for a clear look into the equipment being loaded.
An 835 M model scrap handler is dedicated to feeding material to the shear, while an 825 M equipped with a magnet, shifts between loading or unloading trailers and feeding the burner.
The newest unit, an 825 M, is fitted with a grapple to load trailers. On a typical day, the Secaucus yard will send out more than 10 loaded trailers to customers.
Cinelli still likes to operate equipment himself, and he appreciates the way the Sennebogen machines handle. He describes them as very smooth to run, very comfortable, with a very strong feel.
His personal preference is to work with the magnet, though he admitted that the grapple provides higher capacity and faster loading — as little as 15 minutes to fill a truck — with the 825 M. The magnet, however, helps to keep the yard clean and, he said, it helps to save a step in separating material as it comes in.
The switch to Sennebogen also has led to maintenance advantages.
“They’re well built and the service areas are very accessible. On the other machine, you had to take apart the whole back end to reach the radiator; now just open the doors and everything is right there,” explained Cinelli.
“We try to keep a good stock of parts on hand, but Binder is also good on having what we need.”
The close relationship Cinelli Iron is building with Binder Equipment also is a good fit for the company’s family focus. The Cinelli business embraces several family and close friends. While the Secaucus site has a young staff overall — all equipment operators are under 26 years old — Cinelli believes that traditional “family values” are important to the business and he sees a common ground with the family roots at both Binder and Sennebogen.
“Eric Sennebogen was here from Germany a couple of weeks ago. He was a really nice guy. We took some pictures together with the cranes all up,” he recalled.
“But you can tell he really cares about his equipment. His name’s on it. When you put your family’s name on your equipment or business, it’s the same for all of us. It’s your personal promise of dependability.”
For more information, call 877/309-0099 or visit www.sennebogen-na.com.
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