MLC Plant Tour: United Scrap Metal and Its Vision for a Coast-to-Coast Recycling Network
Photos by David Bohrer/National Assoc. of Manufacturers
While every new business starts with big dreams, only a few rise up to those lofty early expectations, and even fewer exceed them. While United Scrap Metal founder Marsha Serlin certainly had a vision for her company’s future, it’s hard to believe she knew the impact her fledgling business would have when she started it in 1978 with $200 and a rental truck.
While the company headquarters still sits at the same Cicero, IL, location where it first began, several expansions over the years have built it up to a 50-acre site. The company now has 10 additional locations in its portfolio and is spread over nine states, bringing in annual revenue of $725 million. MLC members took part in a tour at USM’s headquarters location on August 13, learning about these accomplishments and ambitions, as well as the operations and technology behind industrial recycling.
USM’s business is recycling scrap metal from both residential and commercial customers, producing material commodities for mills, foundries, casting and specialty markets. This includes ferrous and non-ferrous materials and some non-metallic materials such as paper, plastic and wood.
Risk management is imperative for any recycling business and USM puts a high emphasis on materials integrity, taking care not to accept anything that could harm their employees or customers. This includes not just dangerous substances, such as refrigerant left behind in air conditioning units, but also ensuring that materials don’t have dubious origins – catalytic convertors are not accepted, for example, due to their frequent theft. Materials are integrated into a digital tracking system at intake. The company utilizes a real-time inventory management platform that tracks location, process status, and so on for materials as they move through processing.
Like many manufacturers, USM is beginning to integrate AI into its operations, with some current use cases in customer service, fleet management and predictive maintenance. The company is making inroads on AI-driven data analysis to make informed decisions and uncover some of the “hidden links” that might lie within production data.
Beyond its operations, USM also emphasizes its culture and community service. The company places a high priority on continuous improvement and teamwork at every level of the organization. They are transparent on their goals to give team members an incentive to perform. While the company has grown by acquisition, they have only brought in organizations that were the right cultural fit.
This extends to outside of the organization as well; the company has turned away customers that don’t fit if it could result in a poor customer experience later on – for example, a company with materials that USM might not be able to process and sell. In these cases, USM says they have helped those potential customers find the appropriate vendors and businesses to fit their needs.
Philanthropy is also a significant part of USM’s culture, with the company holding long-standing relationships with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Special Olympics, United Way, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and others.
As the company approaches its 50th year, they continue with that same ambitious and plucky spirit that fueled its origins. They are expanding into a recently built warehouse at their headquarters location and seeking potential acquisitions for their ever-growing location portfolio. They look to build a coast-to-coast network and to capture new market share, all while providing excellent customer alignment and investing in new process innovations.
Most of all, they seek to hire and retain the best and brightest and to live by the values that have served them—and acted as a catalyst for success—for nearly five decades.
