Welcome to Inter-Source

Inter-Source engineers and manufactures a complete range of chip management systems to ensure we have the appropriate components to satisfy your unique chip management needs.

Please click here for examples of chip management systems we have engineered for our clients.

Many machining manufacturers gain a competitive advantage by melting their chips in-house, instead of sending them to a secondary smelter for conversion. The savings are substantial, and include:

• No transport costs
• Minimized handling costs
• Paying to melt the metal only once—when ready for use—instead of at the Secondary smelter, and then again upon return

In-house conversion also offers intangible but very real advantages, including:

• Complete control over the valued commodity of chips—you know what you have and where it is
• Reduction in environmental liability—you know how your chips are being stored and handled
• Accountability of chip quantities—the smelter’s “amount received” may not always match the amount sent.

So, while the advantages of in-house conversion are many, there are concerns. A primary one is safety.

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The flexibility of being able to use a machining center for different alloys provides an undeniable competitive edge. However, alloy changeovers, from steel to brass for example, lead to unacceptable contaminant steel in the brass chip stream. Chip management industry leader Inter-Source recently met that challenge for an automotive component manufacturer.

The manufacturer had already realized the value of processed chips; a sophisticated chip management system handled chip collection, sizing, drying, and loading. Such processed chips are highly desired by secondary smelters, but only if ferrous contamination is addressed.
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An automotive parts manufacturer developed an innovative state-of-the-art machining center to more efficiently produce components. It works beautifully, outproducing even the most optimistic parts-per-hour projections.

Unfortunately, more parts produced means more chips produced. The resultant high volume did not flow out with the coolant stream as expected.

A maintenance engineer on the project had worked with Inter-Source years ago at a different company. He knew their expertise and focus was chips – handling them, drying them, managing them. He called William Nemedi, Inter-Source President, and asked what could be done.
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As companies strive to cut costs, they’re finding substantial benefit and savings from tightened control of valuable chips. This increased control is possible with Inter-Source integrated chip storage and staging systems.

Inter-Source’s integrated storage and staging systems are another industry first. True to their engineering of chip management solutions from “tool to trailer,” Inter-Source orchestrates the appropriate components to move processed chips to a secured holding silo. Weight is monitored, and when payload is reached, chips are automatically and rapidly discharged into the awaiting container. The bulk storage systems free floor space typically cluttered with holding carts and may even be installed overhead to support lean manufacturing initiatives. This automatic, safe, and dry storage reduces labor and handling and eliminates liability issues. Further advantages include a rapid ROI, especially for manufacturers who can now easily store chips for internal remelt.
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