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Winona’s OZ Lifting Products to relocate to larger facility on Innovation Drive, continue growth

October 19, 2024 | Winona Daily News | By Rachel Mergen

 

Winona’s OZ Lifting Products will soon have a new home in the city.

The business, which is currently located in a 15,000-square-foot facility on Sixth Street, is planning to move to a 40,000-square-foot building on Innovation Drive that once housed Wenonah Canoe’s kayak facility.

The business is working to prepare the new space at the moment, as it has been gutted and the office space is currently being built out.

Its move-in day is expected to be in January, according to OZ Lifting Products president Steve Napieralski.

Ashley Blum, OZ Lifting Products marketing manager, provides a tour of the company’s Sixth Street facility ahead of the move to a larger Innovation Drive space.

It’ll be the fourth move for the company, which has grown from two employees to 25 since Napieralski, who has 36 years of experience in the lifting and rigging industry, started the business 20 years ago in Winona with a partner who has since retired.

“I think this will be the last move, because we’ll have plenty of space to grow into,” Napieralski said.

The new facility sits on five acres, he said, so there’s ample room for growth.

Ashley Blum, OZ Lifting Products marketing manager, said the company’s racks are completely filled with products. In the past, the business has had to even rent additional space, Napieralski said.

OZ Lifting Products employees put together, test the safety of and prepare equipment to be sold at the company’s Winona facility.

 

“We’re just flat out of space, which is a good thing. The business has been growing. It’s been great,” Napieralski said.

The business sells multiple lifting products, including davit cranes, hoists and more. End users of the business’ products include Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, Walmart, NASA, the U.S. Navy and Boeing, Napieralski said.

“The new facility has more racking, which means more product, which means we have more products to send out to customers,” Blum said.

Storage space isn’t the only improvement that will come with the new building, though.

OZ Lifting Products employees prepare and test products like davit cranes, hoists and more to be sold through distribution.

“We also will have more advanced testing, and so we can really focus on safety, making sure that all of our products meet the highest safety standards. We’re also doing some engineering advancements,” Blum said.

“We’re really looking forward to getting in that space and just being more efficient,” Napieralski said.

The business farms out the manufacturing of its products, many of which are made in the United States.

OZ Lifting Products president Steve Napieralski and his wife Jane celebrate the groundbreaking of the business’ new facility in September.

 

In Winona, the business works to put together the items and then test, box and prepare them for sale.

The new space will allow for the business to potentially do some of its own manufacturing in the future, Napieralski said.

OZ Lifting Products president Steve Napieralski stands outside of the business’ current location.

 

The business also plans to add more employees in the future.

For more information about OZ Lifting Products, visit ozliftingproducts.com.

Pictured is an architectural mock-up of OZ Lifting Products’ future Innovation Drive facility.

Finding Neverland

“It’s a belief in the ability to fly, empowered by constant learning. I think of my company as entering its teenage years,” says Steve Napieralski, president at OZ Lifting Products.


October 2024 | International Lift & Hoist | The Insider | By Steve Napieralski

Don’t let your business mature too quickly, says Steve Napieralski, president at OZ Lifting.

If you want your business to fly, be like Peter Pan. Never Grow Up.

I don’t believe my company will ever truly become an adult. In fact, I sprinkle it with fairy dust every morning to make sure that it doesn’t.

There is something to be said for always keeping a goal just out of arm’s reach and, if the supposed utopia is to become fully grown, mature, and eventually withered, I’m not sure I want it anyway.

When J. M. Barrie created his fictional character, he was onto something. Although, in real life, my firm is preparing to turn 20 years old, it doesn’t feel like that. Nor do I want any of my 25 full-time staff reporting for duty thinking they are working for an organisation that is complete.

‘Would you like an adventure now, or shall we have our tea first?’


Noah’s arc

There have been many moments lately where I’ve pondered the meaning of life and business, having become a grandfather for the first time. My eldest daughter, Emma, recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, called Noah. My wife, Jane, and I have delighted in the family expanding into another generation. My other daughter, Lizzy, is settling into Auntie duties and we’ve loved spending time together with the new arrival naturally centre of attention.

Unfortunately, no amount of pixie dust in the world will stop Noah growing up way too quickly but, while we can slow the lifecycle of a business, there are many synergies that do exist between family and the corporate world. Happily married to Jane for 36 great years, the two facets of my life have dovetailed now for nearly four decades.

We have strived to be the best parents we can be. Providing for our children has been our top priority and working hard has been central to that objective. I could chart the journey from when I started in the lifting industry in 1988, working for a manufacturer of equipment, but opening my first business in 1995 was really when I began to explore Neverland.

Prior to launching my current company, I was nine years into my rep business, uneasy about the 30-day contracts I had with each of the companies I represented. I knew I had strong relationships with all the distributors that I called on, so I thought, why not leverage them? I was fortunate to meet two Australians that were looking for a U.S. exclusive distributor of their hoist equipment.

Since then, I’ve grown as a person and leader. As a father, I’ve been there to help my children through life, allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them. I’ve taught them to treat people with respect and encouraged them to be the very best that they can be. Now, as a grandfather, I believe my role will be to continue to support and help the whole family.

As a company owner, these tasks have been mirrored. I remember getting my first big customer; it was like watching Emma and Lizzy walking for the first time. I sat in the company’s huge auditorium waiting to learn if they were going to promote my product. When they came in and said they were committing to me, it was a feeling that I will never forget. I knew with their support I was going to make it. I wasn’t naive; as with my daughters, I knew the company had a long journey ahead. But it gave me the confidence that I had products that would interest the industrial community.


Youthful exuberance

It’s in these magical moments — they feel like chapters of fiction — that you should live as a business owner and make sure that a corporation never truly grows out of them. It’s not about stunting growth; quite the opposite. It’s a belief in the ability to fly, empowered by constant learning. I think of my company as entering its teenage years, and I don’t want it to grow through them anywhere near as quickly as Emma and Lizzy did.

Consider the frequency with which a young person falls and makes mistakes. Each and every one of these moments is a learning opportunity. Adults, by contrast, develop a mentality whereby they think they know everything and when things go wrong it’s someone else’s fault or they have been the victim of circumstance. Very few adults — at least sober ones — believe they can fly and, as J. M. Barrie wrote, ‘The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.’

Youthfulness has a certain immunity about it too. Old, rugged companies are susceptible to cyclical downturns and market trends. They get over excited by favourable climes and pessimistic when there’s a bump in the road. Smart business leaders, meanwhile, recognise that one must not get too high when times are good, and not too low when they are not. Take the positives where they exist but always look at the glass half full when the pressure is on; what can you learn from the experience?

It’s a sad reality of life that society tends to convince us that the younger we are, the more enjoyment we are allowed to have. I wholeheartedly reject that, but I do subscribe to the idea that fun and happiness help families and businesses to thrive. I’m a positive person and want to be around positive people. Good business leaders are demanding of their individuals and team functions but allow time to enjoy each other’s company and the wider process.

We sponsor a number of young people — the youngest is just 10 years old — who race stock cars. I might not know my ‘B-mods’ as well as the enthusiasts I’ve met recently, but that’s not the point. We put on a racing night a few weeks ago and everyone is still buzzing. We hold regular social events, sometimes grilling out, and other times getting food in. Regardless, it’s about creating a young, fun, energised community for everyone to call their second family. Here, they can fly.

It’s why I continue to scoff at the idea of selling up. Haven’t you noticed; I’m having way too much fun for that? We have a growing distributor network across North America and are preparing to move for a fourth time into a 40,000 square-foot facility. It sits on five acres so there is plenty of scope to expand it even further. Little Noah might even work there one day.

Adulthood is a long way off.

Think a happy thought.

‘Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.’

Steve Napieralski has been in the lifting and rigging industry for 36 years — seven years working for a manufacturer of lifting equipment before setting up his own businesses. In 1995, he started as a manufacturer’s representative dedicated to the lifting and rigging industry, and in 2004 he founded OZ Lifting Products. He is a graduate of Winona State University and holds three patents. Napieralski has been affiliated with associations since 1992 with his membership in Associated Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF).

OZ Lifting breaks ground on new facility

October 11, 2024 | Winona Post | By Ashley Blum

 

Steve Napieralski, founder and president of OZ Lifting Products, and his wife, Jane, celebrate the groundbreaking of their new facility on Innovation Drive in September 2024, marking an exciting milestone for the company and the Winona community.

 

OZ Lifting Products LLC, a local manufacturer known for its high-quality davit cranes and industrial lifting equipment, is thrilled to announce the groundbreaking of a new 40,000 square-foot facility on Innovation Drive in Winona, previously home to the Wenonah Canoe kayak facility. This significant expansion marks an exciting new chapter in the company’s 20-year history.

Founded in 2004 with just two employees, OZ Lifting has grown to 25 full-time team members and established a strong presence in USA and globally within the lifting and rigging industry. Notably, OZ Lifting Products was the first in the North American market to introduce composite cranes, a groundbreaking innovation for which Steve Napieralski holds a patent. This pivotal development put OZ on the map in the industry and set the stage for its continued success. The company’s innovative products, including the patented lightweight CompOZite davit crane — which weighs only 83 lbs. but boasts a lifting capacity of 1,200 lbs. — and the Premium Hoist series with overload protection, are recognized worldwide, showcasing the talent and expertise that Winona has to offer.

Pictured is an architectural mock-up of OZ Lifting Products’ future Innovation Drive facility.

Steve Napieralski, president of OZ Lifting Products, expressed his gratitude, “We’ve come a long way, and we’re excited about this new facility. It is four times the size of our current building, which will help us serve our customers even better. Our roots are firmly planted in Winona, and we’re proud to call this community home.”

The new facility will not only enhance OZ Lifting’s capacity to innovate and expand its product line, but it will also bring additional job opportunities to the area, contributing to the local economy. As a company dedicated to staying in Winona for all four of its relocations, OZ Lifting is committed to supporting and uplifting the community that has supported them for two decades.

“This expansion is a testament to the hard work of our team and the strong relationships we’ve built in Winona and beyond,” Napieralski added. “We’re excited for the future and grateful for your support along the way. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to grow and innovate.”

OZ Lifting launches Hoist Clamp

The OZ Lifting hoist clamp presents a quick, easy, and safe way to hang hoists from its pipe- and wall-mounted arms.


July 24, 2024 | Hoist Magazine

 

Winona, Minnesota-based OZ Lifting Products has launched a clamp for connecting hoists to their mounting arms.

The hoist clamp presents a quick, easy, and safe way to hang any of the company’s electric chain or manual hoists, under 0.5-ton capacity, to its pipe- and wall-mounted arms with the required hardware. The user is able to mount the hoist clamp anywhere along the mounting arm at full rated capacity of 1,000 lbs.

The clamps are sold separately if users already have a mounting arm, but they can be sourced with the pipe- or wall-mounted arms.
When the arm is in the reversed position, the clamp may be attached anywhere along the horizontal pipe.

The clamps are sold separately if users already have a mounting arm, but they can be sourced with the pipe- (model OBH230) or wall-mounted (OBH230-WALL) arms. The OBH230 was originally developed for the construction industry, mainly on jobsites with scaffolding; it is sized for scaffolding pipe diameter. The OBH230-WALL, meanwhile, has wider application uses.

Richard Miller, sales manager at OZ Lifting, said: “Our mounting arm is very popular, and we have received feedback on options to mount a hoist with a traditional top hook. This led to the development of the hoist clamp, so once again it is an example of product innovation being driven by the point of use.

“It opens the door on a variety of applications,” he continued. “Most users prefer to use a complete solution from a manufacturer, versus trying to piece the equipment together with a sling, chain, rope, etc. They get the benefit of a solution that has been load tested and approved at source. We provide the customer the option to order as they choose; we often build to suit and can accommodate the different styles and configurations that are available.”

The mounting arm — tested to a minimum safety factor of 3:1 — is essentially a mini jib crane and can be installed in either ‘upright’ or ‘reversed’ orientation, depending on the needs of the customer and application. When the mounting arm is in the upright position, the hoist clamp may be attached to the outermost horizontal pipe; when the arm is in the reversed position, the clamp may be attached anywhere along the horizontal pipe.

End use applications will be varied and widespread; the mounting arm is already utilized in many industries and environments. Miller reiterated its suitability in the construction and manufacturing sectors but pointed to growing market share in many other vertical markets.

The OZ Lifting hoist clamp features steel construction and a long-lasting powder coat finish for added durability. It is in stock and ready for distribution to the manufacturer’s extensive dealer network.

Lifting the World

“A fascination with davit cranes started in 1988 — and we can learn a lot from the product’s journey since,” says Steve Napieralski, president at OZ Lifting Products.


June 2024 | International Lift & Hoist | The Insider | By Steve Napieralski

We have to better position our solutions in the widening shop window.

We’re working hard as a sector to raise our profile, as this year’s Global Lifting Awareness Day (GLAD; see insert) will prove on 18 July, but we don’t always do enough to help those who find us understand what our products do, and, more importantly, how they help.

Many people flicking through the pages of this journal will be familiar with all types of cranes, hoists, hooks, shackles, and slings; but others, especially those new to end user communities, are looking to all of our content for help in learning more about our wares. Imagine being a new starter at a wastewater plant or heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) company. Countless scenarios where an item needs safe lifting and moving will be presented every shift, and experienced operatives aren’t always good at passing on knowledge.

Our hard work will go to waste if, when we shine a spotlight on our industry, people remain in the dark. We want to celebrate lifting as a specialist market that delivers life-changing, life-saving solutions to the point of use, but complicating our messaging, or focusing on the wrong elements of our equipment and technologies, creates confusion.

To explain my point, I want to take an opportunity to chart the journey of the once humble davit crane (sometimes called a davit, davit arm, or, mistakenly, a jib crane). The intention is not to promote our company commercially, but to demonstrate how lifting tools, like this, can help to change — and lift — the world, if we present them properly.

The first thing we can do as a manufacturer or provider of equipment is to get good at answering simple questions:

• What does your company do?
• What does this crane do?
• Why should I use it instead of that one over there?
• How much can it lift?
• How do I assemble it?
• And so on

They sound straightforward to answer but have a listen to conversations next time you’re in an elevator, sitting next to a group at a breakfast meeting, or even at a trade show; it’s amazing how poorly simple questions are answered.

Here’s a question that everyone at our company has got good at handling:

What is a davit crane?

The answer: a davit crane is made up of a mast, boom, and winch.

People instantly picture it, even if we’re not in an environment at the time where we can immediately produce an image.

We add: a base and cable assembly are needed to operate a davit crane.

It’s almost as if the eyes of the person asking the questions light up; they start to understand and they become intrigued.

 

What’s a davit crane base?

We get asked a lot of questions about davit crane bases, and being good at answering them has certainly helped. We once sold four composite davit cranes and 80 bases to a single wastewater facility, for example.

As discussed in the main body of this article, a davit crane is made up of a mast, boom, and winch, but a base and cable assembly are needed to operate it. Even throughout a single facility, there might be a need for permanent, static, or frequently moved davit cranes. Regardless, it is necessary to choose an appropriate base; there are three main options (each one comes with a mounting template), plus our new wheel base:

Pedestal: commonly bolted to the floor in a facility. Users mount the base where they need to make a lift and move the crane from base to base.

Socket: used in an area where the installer will pour cement around the base to keep the surface area flat and create high mounting strength.

Wall-mount: allows a davit crane to be attached to the wall of a facility to save floorspace, perhaps on a production line or at a workstation.

Wheel: allows users to move the crane to various points within a facility; the applications are limitless. The main benefit is that users do not have to permanently mount a base at the pick location.

 

 

Of course, it might also be the case that we’ve explained the product so well that a mast, boom, winch, base, and cable assembly, are not the right choice. We can then move the conversation onto other equipment or help them find what they’re looking for. We are a material handling company that offers unique lifting solutions, of which davits are a big part of that product mix, but we don’t have a solution for every end-use scenario — nobody does, and they shouldn’t pretend to.

This is important because the way we interact with newcomers to our equipment ranges creates a first impression of our wider sector. I said at the outset that we need to think about how we position our products in a shop window, and we’re all shopkeepers working in the larger lifting equipment superstore. The way we listen, respond, consult, help, guide, and support will all dictate how we’re perceived as an industry. A retail worker knows that if they understand what they’re selling and they’re polite to the customer, they’re more likely to put something in a bag for them to take home.

There are many different products that can be categorised as lifting equipment. Add in all the ancillary tools and supporting technologies, and the list gets longer still. If explaining what a product is, what it does, and how it does it, are all important, being able to point out how it is similar and different to another solution is also necessary.

Again, we can use the davit crane as a case in point. We often get asked how a davit is different from a jib crane. Remembering what a davit crane is (made up of a mast, boom, and winch), a jib crane is made up of a mast and an I-beam. This allows a trolley mounted to the I-beam to accept a chain hoist, allowing the load to wheel back and forth on the beam. There are similarities, but important differences.

As salespeople, what we need to focus on is what a product does, always steering the conversation towards the right one being selected for the job or application at hand. Portable davit cranes are more cost effective and versatile than jibs and are more popular with those sourcing lifting equipment for environments where there might be many requirements for the same crane on a single day, all in different locations, at the same facility.

This type of dialogue has been happening in my life ever since I saw my first davit crane back in 1988, when I was immediately drawn to the mechanics of the mast, boom, winch, base, and cable assembly; it was a product that made sense to me, and I saw its potential. Fast forward nearly four decades and we’re at the point in davit manufacturing where we’ve seen composite materials used to add corrosion resistance and reduce the weight of cranes by 40% compared to traditional steel models.

 

Have your answers ready

Global Lifting Awareness Day, which will be celebrated at the hashtag, #GLAD2024, on 18 July, will invite newcomers to the industry to explore our product ranges and ask us questions about them. Are you ready?

It was great to see the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) moving products, inspection, and training to the front of its campaign, sharpening its focus on the importance of surrounding these three cornerstones of lifting with high quality.

As LEEA says, we want people to make buying choices always based on quality. To make that happen, we have to present ourselves as experts in our field and authentic stakeholders that have end users’ best interests at heart.

Someone might buy their first davit crane as a result of #GLAD2024, which is a prospect I find as exciting as seeing my first davit system 36 years ago.

 

By getting good at answering simple questions, and authentically positioning davit cranes only as the solution in the right instances, we’ve taken them on a journey from zero to hero. It didn’t happen overnight; we were the first company to try it and the material took time to be accepted in the marketplace. It was a real paradigm shift for those that were used to davits made from steel. To a lesser extent, we also had to walk the market to acceptance of our Tele-Pro model, which allows users to leverage the benefits of other lifting technologies in the range, while telescoping the boom in and out under load. We now have six different lines of davits made from carbon steel, aluminium, pultruded fibreglass, and carbon fibre.

What helped us take all these innovative steps was that we had a reputation for presenting our products in a way that was understood and trusted. Were it not built on those foundations, I’m not sure we could have taken this journey, and davit cranes wouldn’t be used to the extent to which they are from automative to warehouse facilities, and everywhere in between. Our composite and telescope series are now our most popular davits. There’s certainly a lesson there that the lifting industry — indeed, any sector — can learn from.

That said, our work continues. One has never stopped perfecting the art of presenting industrial products to market. We’re getting more and more eyeballs on our sector. These newcomers will be curious and inquisitive, and we must make sure we have the answers to, one, keep them interested; and two, leverage their involvement so our products reach their full, innovative potential.

Steve Napieralski has been in the lifting and rigging industry for 36 years — seven years working for a manufacturer of lifting equipment before setting up his own businesses. In 1995, he started as a manufacturer’s representative dedicated to the lifting and rigging industry, and in 2004 he founded OZ Lifting Products. He is a graduate of Winona State University and holds three patents. Napieralski has been affiliated with associations since 1992 with his membership in Associated Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF).