ELS has provided lifting solutions for nearly half a century

Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment has grown significantly since 1971.

Today, Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment Inc. (ELS) is a leading Ontario manufacturer and supplier of standard and custom overhead material lifting equipment for industrial use. The ELS team designs, produces, and installs cranes and other lifting systems that always exceed client expectations while making work environments safer and more efficient.

The company’s longstanding success is the result of nearly half a century of growth, improvement, and expansion into a major source of innovative material lifting equipment.

From carpets to shipbuilding

It all began in 1971, when a Kitchener, Ont. entrepreneur named Jim Muir founded Mentor Dynamics, a new company devoted to structural steel fabrications. One of its early successes was an extensive carpet handling system that one customer still uses today. In 1975, Muir worked with the shipbuilding industry to develop a low-friction lining system to move bulk material in self-unloading ships. Mentor patented this fastening process and soon lined dozens of ships, most of which are still using the system.

A major transition occurred in 1989, when Carl Young bought the company and expanded its focus to designing and manufacturing small-to-mid-sized overhead and gantry cranes; Mentor also became a distributor of hoists and specialty cranes. Nine years later, the company was purchased by Paul Whittaker, who changed the registered corporate name to Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment Inc.

The year 2008 saw another important milestone: the company moved to its present location in Elmira, Ont. and changed its public operating name to Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment, or ELS. Additional space was added to the company facility to accommodate a tooling-integration division. The building expansion continued in 2011, as ELS added 8,100 square feet of warehouse and production space. Finally, in 2015, a second plant opened in Elmira, a 9,300-square-foot facility dedicated to producing the Destuff-IT line of material lifting equipment.

ELS continues to design world-class material-handling solutions that enable clients to accomplish their operating goals. Today, the company serves a variety of important industries, including aerospace, agriculture, construction, oil and gas, packaging, transportation, heavy equipment, education, nuclear power, infrastructure, and many others.

To learn more, contact ELS.

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