24.08.2006

New company for Omega/HTN

Leen Stehouwer, owner of scissor lift producer Omega lift PLC and Hoogwerker Techniek Nederland PLC, producers of the highly specialized HTN crawler mounted scissor lifts that are used primarily in major green house construction, are to be merged into a single business Omega Platforms PLC.

The new company will take over all existing activities of its predecessors, including production, after sales service and sales. The company will also take over the Merlo telehandler sales activity of HTN, many of which are shipped with special modifications, including self propelled work platforms.

All aerial lifts will in future carry the Omega brand name, the company also says that it is adding articulating boom lifts to its product range.
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Omega Platforms takes over from Omega and HTN

The Omega range of which will going forward consist of:

- Tracked scissor lifts from seven to 18 metres
- Wheeled scissor lifts from eight to 26.5 metres
- Articulating boom lifts from 12 to 21 metres
- Special customised aerial work platforms
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A 26.5 metre Omega lift

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The HTN scissor has 180 degree rotation and hydraulic levelling

In order to cope with the expansion that the company anticipates, it is planning to move to new 6,000 square metres production facility in De Lier, which is located between The Hague and Rotterdam.

Vertikal Comment

Leen Stehouwer has produced some of the most amazing self propelled work platforms the world has ever seen, including massive 360 degree crawler mounted scissor lifts with platforms that even dwarf those found on larger mast climbers.
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Leen Stehouwer with another of his designs

In order to move into the mainstream market he established Omega Lift with Mark van Oosten, Designing a standard range of more modest crawler mounted units that sold in small numbers.

The company then decided to move into narrow aisle heavy duty wheeled scissor lifts, bring them into head to head competition with Holland Lift and JLG Liftlux.

Last May Stehouwer split with van Oosten who joined Nifty Lift
to head up its German operation. Since then the company has maintained a far lower profile.

One has to wonder what Stehouwer sees for the long term.

Moving from a specialised niche producer into the mainstream is not easy at any time. Most producers that plan for such a move, expand from a strong niche product/market base.

For example SkyJack has a strong scissor lift market from which to fund its entry into booms, Nifty Lift had a strong trailer lift/micro boom market base to expand into a full line boom producer.

With Holland Lift expanding its production and its model range while working with Haulotte on the smaller models and JLG appearing to have settled into producing the full Liftlux range, one wonders what “base” Omega will use to fund its expansion?

Stehouwer is an excellent and enthusiastic engineer and is clearly able to turn his designs into good functional products. Expanding into a larger full line producer requires a great deal more than this though. The challenge will be sales, marketing and distribution, together with buyer’s confidence that the expanded business will stay the course.

We wish Mr Stehouwer every success with his new venture.