OZ Lifting Celebrates 20 Years with Expansion
Winona, Minnesota-based OZ Lifting Products LLC is celebrating 20 years in business.
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| Steve Napieralski, president at OZ Lifting, celebrates groundbreaking at the new facility with his wife, Jane. |
The manufacturer of davit cranes and industrial lifting equipment was inaugurated on December 4, 2004 with two staff members. Today, the company has 25 full-time employees, a distributor network across North America, and is preparing to relocate for a fourth time.
Even as the company celebrates the milestone, expansion into a state-of-the-art 40,000 square-foot facility is on the horizon. The new five-acre property, on Innovation Drive in its hometown, is four times larger than the current facility.
“The new space will provide us with ample room for growth, including increased storage, more advanced testing capabilities, and the potential to expand our manufacturing operations,” said Steve Napieralski, president at OZ Lifting. “Most importantly, it will allow us to continue offering the exceptional service and high-quality products customers have come to rely on; while ensuring we maintain the safety standards that are at the core of our mission.”
The company is perhaps best known for its range of davit cranes, including the 1,200-lbs. capacity U.S. Patented CompOZite model that is made from advanced composite material and weighs only 83 lbs. The CompOZite Elite offers the same capacity with a total crane weight of only 37 lbs.
The recently relaunched Tele-Pro davit crane, also patented, and available in 500 lbs., 1,200 lbs. and 2,500 lbs. capacities, allows users to leverage the benefits of OZ Lifting’s other cranes, while telescoping the boom in and out under load. Among other davits and accessories are manual and electric hoists and winches, in addition to a range of beam trolleys, clamps, and wire rope products.
“We’ve come a long way,” Napieralski said. “I started in the lifting industry in 1988, working for a manufacturer of equipment, before I opened my first business in 1995, which was a manufacturer representative company, specializing in the lifting and rigging business.”
Before launching OZ, he was nine years into the rep business, uneasy about the 30-day contracts.
“I knew I had strong relationships with all the distributors that I called on, so I thought, why not leverage them?” Napieralski said. “I was fortunate to meet two Australians that were looking for a U.S. exclusive distributor of their hoist equipment.”
The backbone of the company’s initial offering was a manual lever and chain hoist, equipped with overload protection that has now grown into the Premium series.
U.S.-made products were soon added to the catalog. Today 540 stock-keeping units (SKUs) represent a combination of both domestically manufactured and imported products.
“The two-decade milestone and expansion are testaments to the strength of our business, and we’re incredibly proud to be able to continue growing and innovating in ways that will directly benefit our valued customers,” Napieralski added. “If we keep doing what we do, treat coworkers and customers right, continue to bring innovation to market, carry inventory, etc., we will be in very good shape for the future.”
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