VITALI-INTL Lifting Equipment Ltd. (VITALI-INTL) operates one of the most advanced manual hoist factories in Asia. The company’s top quality manual hoists are mainly exported to American and European markets.
In our recent interview, Dennis Wong, Managing Director of VITALI-INTL, gladly announced, “I am now the sole owner of VITALI-INTL, it has become 100% wholly owned by Hong Kong people, and it is also a zero-debt company.” With eagerness and confidence, Dennis shared with us the latest development of VITALI-INTL.
OEM manual hoist supplier active in the world markets
VITALI-INTL focuses in the manufacturing of chain blocks, lever hoists and related lifting equipment. “Recently we introduced patented fused brakes to some of our chain block and lever hoist models, the lifting capacity ranges from 0.25t to 30t.”
VITALI-INTL also produces load chains in their own factory. “The heat treatment and load chain production are the most critical production processes. These processes rely on our experienced staffs and advanced equipment. We do not rely on any outsourcing factories.”
Zhejiang Province is traditionally the location for hoist and lifting equipment manufacturing in China. The first hoist factory in China started up there. As time goes by, private enterprises flourish and the economy becomes well developed. The trade surplus of Zhejiang Province now ranks no. 1 in China.
VITALI-INTL’s factory is located in Haining City in Zhejiang Province. The building area is 15,000 sq. m. The factory is equipped with advanced production equipment and testing facilities.
The annual production of chain blocks and lever hoists has reached 350,000 units. The production of Grade 80 and 100 load chains exceeds 2,000 tonnes. The large production capacity matched with quality services attracts orders from customers all over the world. Among them are Fortune 500 companies and companies from Europe with more than 100 years of history.
VITLALI-INTL gained official support from the local Haining City Government for enterprise development. This support, together with the implementation of Dennis’ remarkable marketing strategies and product knowledge, facilitate the growth of VITALI-INTL’s sales network to include more than 70 countries and areas in the world. The VITALI-INTL brand is trusted for quality, safety and reliability.
The VITALI-INTL advantage
Compared to western countries and Japan, China’s chain hoist manufacturing started late and not growing rapidly until in the 1980s when China opened up the economy. Compared to other manufacturers, what are so special about VITALI-INTL’s hoists?
“The quality of Chinese manufactured manual chain hoists has been improving fast. Still, we have advantages over these manufacturers in the areas of technical expertise, manufacture experience and model varieties. Our main competitors nowadays are Japanese manufacturers and not Chinese manufacturers.
For our technical expertise, we have introduced a range of testing machines suggested by our customers from the UK and Germany. These include chemical determinator, metallographic microscope, measuring projector, salt spray tester, endurance test machine etc. We are technically supported by companies from the UK and Germany which are old companies with history of over 100 years. They provide us with the latest and most advanced manufacturing techniques that we can implement right away.
Moreover, we are highly experienced in OEM manufacturing. Thanks to our advanced manufacturing techniques and years of improvement, the quality of our hoists compared favorably with hoists from Japan. With our large scale of production, we have generous supplies of steel inventory. Plus the fact that we are a debt-free company, we can achieve low costs of production. As a result, we can offer highly competitive prices compared to hoists manufactured overseas or even in China.
Finally, we offer more model varieties of hoists. Hoist manufacturers in China do not offer model change or alterations in design very often. We are different as we put in much effort in design and improvement. Our K-II and K-V ranges are our latest designs and these hoists are good looking, high quality and dependable. Many of our designs are patented.”
Widely used, all over the world
Lifting equipment is used to cope with a wide range of lifting jobs. Lightweight manual chain hoists are smaller in sizes while offering high maneuverability. They are used stand-alone or as a component of a lifting system.
Acting mainly as OEM manufacturer, VITALI-INTL’s hoists are not directly supplied to the end-users. Nevertheless, their products are widely used in many applications. “Our hoists are used in industries such as petrochemical, mining, construction, logistics, among many other industries. Our chain blocks and lever hoists are used in oilfields in the US and Europe, in areas such as Houston, North Sea, and also in Malaysia. For mining, our hoists are commonly used in the mines in South Africa and Canada. We have significant market share in the above mentioned areas.
Since the establishment of VITALI-INTL, the company has been focused on international sales. The coverage of markets spans all over the world. “We have over 20 years of experience serving the world market. Our products are exported to the USA, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Middle East and countries in Asia. In particular, our share of exports to Europe and North America markets exceeds 50%.”
Focus on management, act positively to competition
Competing in a diverse world market, Dennis has implemented strategies to improve VITALI-INTL‘s performance.
“First we strengthen our level of management, so as to make sure that our product quality, services, and new product development are up to the highest standard. At the same time, we find ways to streamline our manufacture processes to improve efficiency. Every new worker joining the company has to go through a proper training program. We introduce automation in the production processes which reduces production costs while improves quality.
A comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is implemented to manage the entire company, the system collects data to provide insights into where we can gain efficiencies, cut costs, or make additional investments.”
Dennis says, “We need to increase our production capacity. We have customers all over the world, and sometimes our production could not meet the demands. Our factory has been expanded to 15,000 sq.m. Still, providing available stock and increasing our production capacity are among our top priorities.
On the other hand, we are constantly upgrading and introducing new products. In the near future we are going to start the production of electric hoists. Electric hoists are expected to generate great value for our company.
We lay out a Five-year Plan for the future development of VITALI-INTL. Through these efforts we aim to become the leading hoist company exporting from China, that is, to become the “Foxconn” in hoist manufacturing. Moreover, we target to be the main competitor to hoist companies from Japan.”
VITALI-INTL is committed to “offering top quality manual hoists at a decent price level”. The company aims to constantly improving on quality and bringing in innovations of products and services. At the same time, enhancing production efficiency and to ensure stock availability. Excellent after-sales services promote customer satisfaction. All these contribute to the sustainable growth of VITALI-INTL. We expect to see VITALI-INTL to create an even stronger international presence in the hoist sector.
Dennis Wong, Managing Director, VITALI-INTL Lifting Equipment Ltd, is from Hong Kong. In 1988, he first entered lifting equipment trades. In 1993, Dennis joined a Chinese-foreign joint venture manufacturing hoists in Chongqing, he acted as the representative of the Hong Kong side. In 2000, Dennis established VITALI International Lifting Equipment Ltd in Hong Kong, specializing in sales and marketing. The factory, VITALI-INTL Lifting Equipment Ltd, is located in Zhejiang Province, China. In September 2012, Dennis became the sole owner of the companies, and VITALI-INTL became solely owned by Hong Kong investor.
This article is published on LRW Magazine vol16, 2014.
