Enter the Dragon: MEC aims to capitalise on Dingli firepower to expand product range

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In a world of global trade wars and a slowing US construction market, one might expect US-based Chinese-owned aerial work platform specialist MEC to be taking a cautious approach to business.

Yet the California-based firm, which is wholly-owned by Chinese multinational Dingli and manufactures its machines in China, says that despite new import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and recent declines in US construction spending, the company sees 2025 as a good time to launch a series of new products.

“We are in the beginning stages of our global growth efforts,” MEC’s President David White tells Access Lift & Handlers at this month’s ARA show in Las Vegas.

Demonstrating MEC’s new rotating jib boom lift, the 66RJ, White says that the company is aiming to expand both in North America and globally, positioning itself, with Dingli’s help, as a premium brand.

“This is a North American-focused machine. It is a strategic message in itself,” he says. “Our approach has always been kind of niche where we are always doing something a little bit different.”

Gary Crook and David White, MEC. Photo: KHL

MEC, an established player in the access market for the last 45 years, has been partnering with Dingli for the best part of a decade. In 2018 the Chinese giant bought a minority stake in MEC and in 2023 it increased its ownership to 49.8%, announcing plans to buy the remaining shares.

At the time the Dingli said that it did not plan to make any significant changes but would rather provide more capital to be spent on improvements to production facilities and establishing a new Dingli Group research and development facility and a new parts centre.

Dingli also has partnerships with Italian-based Magni Telehandlers and German spiderlift manufacturer Teupen, both of which host a Dingli research and development centre.

“MEC really owns its own product designs. We have a complete engineering team that creates the specifications,” says David Baxter, the company’s recently appointed vice president of marketing and product management. “Dingli manufactures to those specs, and then we bring the units to the North American market with the sales, service, parts support, and warranty that our rental partners expect. We fit like a glove—both sides focus on what we do best.”

The result is an expanding series of high spec product lines which continue to roll off production lines in Zhenjiang but are engineered and developed in the US.

Opportunities to grow market share

“Even though the North American market may be softening for some, we’re in expansion mode,” says Baxter. “We’ve been filling out our product line and see significant opportunities to grow our market share.”

The 66-RJ is a case in point. It offers a 72-foot working height and a 56-foot outreach with both vertical and horizontal jib motions. It features a maximum restricted capacity of 900 pounds and an unrestricted capacity of 600 pounds, which, MEC said, saves time and increases efficiency on the jobsite. Three steering modes — two-wheel steering, four-wheel steering and crab steering — also ensure the machine can be precisely positioned where it needs to be. An optional extra deck provides 20 inches of additional height for limited access overhead applications.

First launched in 2024 alongside its articulated and telescopic boom lift (the DualReach 85-J), the company innovated once again this year by adding the rotating jib which the company says was based on customer feedback.

“The rotating jib has proven itself in industrial,” says Gary Crook, the firm’s VP for engineering. “We heard customers and end-users talking about the difficulty in threading through steel beams and various structures.

“There’s a clever balance between maintaining productivity and safety,” he adds. “So we aim to maintain having little to no impact on the speed at work, but making it safer.”

Further expanding its line of boom lifts, MEC also announced further new boom models, options and updates for the industry in order to offer more alternatives for rental customers to diversify their boom fleet it said, including smaller siblings for the 85-J.

Mec’s stand at the ARA show. Photo: KHL

The newly announced DualReach 60-J diesel boom lift offers versatile operation with both telescopic and articulated modes, eliminating the need to rent multiple lifts, MEC said. It provides a 66-foot working height, a 6-foot jib and dual capacity options of 600 pounds unrestricted and 900 pounds restricted. The DualReach 65-J is also available, offering the same features with a 71-foot working height.

And MEC is growing other product lines too.

At the ARA show, the company also announced that had expanded its line of micro scissor lifts to 14 models, something the company claims is “the largest line of micro scissor lifts available in the North American market.”

The line includes the Micro 2032 slab scissor that MEC says sets a new benchmark with an industry-best 800-pound lift capacity. It also includes its Micro 26-XD slab scissor lift, which MEC says is the tallest in its class and is built with an Xtra-Deck that allows 20 additional inches of platform height to safely reach tight overhead areas. And rounding out scissors on stand was the 3232SE slab scissor lift, which MEC said is “the only 32-foot slim scissor lift with the ability to drive at full height, eliminating the need for outriggers.”

As part of MEC’s strategy to continue this expansion, the company also recently announced a number of changes to its leadership and management team.

These include promoting Brian MacFarland, former parts and service vice president to become the company’s new executive vice president, and promoting Kyle Walle, former director of parts to the role of vice president, parts and product support. The company also appointed industry veteran Baxter as MEC’s vice president of marketing and product management. He previously spent 17 years with UpRight and JLG in product management and business development roles before moving to the home accessibility sector.

Speaking about MEC’s innovations, Crook says, “It’s often a nuance of some sort that’s really important from the customer. If that can get captured and heard by engineering, then a real understanding can be made.

“If the nuance is lost, then, sadly, something that could really have been a breakthrough gets lost in the noise, which is a real shame.”