Multiple CompOZite Davit Cranes shown at work.


When Napieralski and his staff develop a new


product, they sit down and think about how it might be installed, where the pinch points and problems are. “We’ll physically go and install it, so when we launch it, we can keep it very simple while focusing completely on the customer—because we understand their problems. We genuinely think about how our products are being used.”


“Some companies had it but it didn’t work and it wasn’t repeatable,” he pointed out. “So, in 2002, I was introduced to a couple Australians that used to work for CM [Columbus McKinnon] way back in the day, and they had a lever hoist and a chain hoist that worked— had repeatability and the overload protection. Tey were looking for someone in the U.S. to kind of run with that product, and that’s really what planted the seed with me to move forward.” And move forward he did. “I was looking at the


marketplace and saw that no one was really addressing that, and then I had a window of opportunity at McMaster-Carr. Tey do line revisions basically once every four or five years, and they’d been doing a line revision on lever hoists. I had a great relationship with them already, and they became my first customer—gave me an order before I even had the company formed. Truthfully, the rest is history.” Partnerships began stacking up for Napieralski— leading to the present, where, in addition to bigger companies, he enjoys a wide range of distribution among AWRF (Associated Wire Rope Manufacturers) members. “I started the business basically importing product, and I’ll continue to import, but now I’m shifting the focus of the company to start building and designing innovative products that I’m going to make here in the U.S.” To that end, if it could be said that yet another column supports the OZ infrastructure, innovation would be its name. “I was the first one in the industry to come out with a product made of composite material for the lifting business,” he added. “I think there’s a need for lightweight material that is strong—which is totally in line with composites and carbon fiber. In fact, we’re already working on a next generation of cranes and material. Te innovation component is really exciting to me, and it really gets the company inspired too.”


A Win-Win One OZ product that has made some serious noise in the micro-crane space is the CompOZite Davit Crane. OZ Engineering Manager Greg Lucas believes their customers ultimately drove the development of the product. “Te initial inspiration came from Steve, who has an extensive background in davit cranes,” said Lucas. “He felt there was a need, and a market, to make davit cranes more portable and easier to use, from the perspective of the customer. So, what we did was set out to redesign, and in some ways, re-invent a davit crane from the customer’s perspective. In other words, build


“WE FEEL THAT WITH ALL OF OUR OVERSIGHT AND IN-HOUSE RIGGING AND TESTING, WE DISTINGUISH OURSELVES,” NOTED NAPIERALSKI. “IT COMES AT A COST, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT HAS CREATED JOBS HERE IN THE U.S.”


The CompOZite Davit Crane on display at the AWRF P.I.E. in 2017


it the way the customer would if they had access to the resources we do.” Te team’s first concern, according to Lucas, was


the overall weight of the product. “In our view current offerings in the market were too heavy and cumbersome to be considered portable and easy to use. We addressed the weight by using advanced composite materials


WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE MAY–JUNE 2018 31


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