Tasked with scrapping cars by hand, which required one man ten hours of work to complete, Newell sought to find a more efficient method.

Having expanded his scrap business to incorporate a number of plants across the Southwest, Newell recognized the need for tin for use in copper mining.

Taking inspiration from a grain crusher he had seen as a child in Kansas, he designed a shredding machine to process tin cans.

This machine provided the basis for the design of a larger shredder capable of processing ferrous material such as that found in automobiles.

This machine was significantly smaller and more efficient than previous designs which had used motors as large as 6,000 HP (4,440 KW).