American Wood Champions, LLC, a family-owned manufacturer of dowels and screen door components, is tucked away in Orangeburg, South Carolina. But its products can be found all over the world, including various round, non-striking objects like rakes, shovels, and brooms. 

In its large industrial plant, Southern Yellow Pine is made into wood parts and wood components, including dowels, vegetable stakes, and door, furniture and pallet stock. It's business model emphasizes increasing the efficiency of customers" "We can help you simplify your supply chain and reduce your costs," the company tells its clients. 

American Wood Champions proudly manufacture all of its products in the United States, shipping worldwide from the :Port of Charleston, SC, about an hour southeast. The plant operates Monday through Friday for about nine hours each day.    

Avoiding Waste-hauling Charges

In June 2014, American Wood Champions, the operation invested in a shredder from Weima, a model WLK 8 with V-Rotor design in mid-2014. It is located in the corner of the plant next to the area where the planks for screen doors are measured and packaged. But this wasn’t always the case. In the past they paid approximately $3,000 each month to have wood waste, including these end cuts, hauled away from the operation.

Now, the end cuts are thrown into a dumpster designated specifically for wood scrap, which is then dumped via forklift into the shredder’s hopper. The same thing is done in the area where the dowels are cut.

Now, American Wood Champions shreds all of the waste produced during the manufacturing process and air conveys it into a trailer. The company reports that a trailer is filled and hauled off each day and that each trailer of shavings and dust is sold for about $400, yielding a profit of approximately $12,000 each month. The purchased shavings are diverted from a landfill and are instead recycled and used for animal bedding.

When asked about his experience with Weima America, manager John Harrell, Sr. spoke of how easy the shredder was to install, the good support of the parts and service departments, and the robust nature of the machine. 

“I’ve worked with many different brands of grinders in other plants,” Harrell added. “I’ve been to tradeshows all over the country. Everyone in the wood industry knows that Weima is the Cadillac of grinders. It was an affordable machine and the payback on it was a no-brainer. We are nothing but satisfied for what it’s done for our business.”

For over 25 years, Weima has been a leader in size reduction within the wood, paper, and plastic industries. Since waste comes in different shapes and sizes, and every application is unique, Weima's wide range of shredding and briquetting equipment offers a solution that will fit the needs of any operation to turn waste into a profit product. Sources: Weima, American Wood Champions