Across history, if those purchasing goods wanted a tweak to their product, wished to return it, wanted something different entirely or even had a complaint, they have not always been considered to have the right to ask.
No one truly knows when this changed. There’s a historical mystery around when today’s prevailing consumerist credo, ‘the customer is always right,’ first came in. Was it ancient Chinese merchants, scrupulous in their business dealings? Or was it the famous hoteliers and department store retailers of the early 20th century, such as Marshall Field, John Wanamaker and Harry Selfridge, who, wanting to move past a customerdismissing caveat emptor, and make good customer relations a unique selling point, sought to kowtow to buyer demands? Regardless, the ethos is now an essential cornerstone of global commerce and merchandising, and it drives commerce well outside the Anglosphere. Le client n’a jamais tort. Der Kunde ist König. The customer, wherever they are, is always right.
For those in lifting and material handling applications, especially those involved in the manufacture and retail of below-the-hook (BTH) devices, a customer-first approach also guides business. Hardly surprising when such devices have to meet the lifting and load-securing needs of customers across a variety of heavy and precision industries, where safety and precision are paramount and each operating environment is defined by specific, unique characteristics.
Indeed, IntelMarketResearch analysis shows that market drivers of below-the-hook needs today are very broad: from infrastructure developments in Asia and the Middle East, to technological advancements (such as the Internet of Things and automated manufacturing), to growing manufacturing demand for sectors like wind energy. It’s not surprising that BTH manufacturing tries to meet customers where they are at.
That’s not to say there are clear trends in what is wanted. Although traditional BTH devices are varied – mechanical grabs and clamps, securing loads in warehouses and steel yards; vacuum lifters to lift glass, metal and plastic sheets without damage; magnetic lifters for ferrous materials; and C-hooks and coil lifters, extremely common in rolls of steel and paper in warehousing – it is still traditional lifting beams or spreaders that dominate, which distribute weight evenly across pipes and containers. Indeed, lifting beams make up 27% of the market share according to IntelMarketResearch 2025 numbers.
But below-the-hook devices are often customised, and it is acute customisation that appears to be driving buying decisions when it comes to these specialist devices. Again, hardly surprising given the broad application. Lifting and spreader beams and bars are common in construction in civil engineering, vacuum lifters in automotive and aerospace engineering, C-hooks and magnetic lifters in metal fabrication. Given each operating space has its own characteristics and restraints, says Dan Sherwood, engineering specialist with a below-the-hook focus at Mazella Companies, a major player in the BTH manufacturing space, a main driver of below-thehook innovation and manufacturing is meeting what the customer needs.
“We deliver standard lifting beams a lot of the time, and the standard pluses, which are a little bit different from catalogue items (essentially changing dimensions or adding additional pick points),” says Sherwood. “But a lot of what we run into is where we have to get creative, to come up with things that may not have been seen before or are deviations from what has come previously… not necessarily lifters that would fall under designated categories of lifter or manipulator.” Given Intel Market Research analysis shows that industry dependent precision is a major driver of overall growth and that newer sectors, such as wind energy, which demand customised below the- hook adaptations such as load stability and remote operation, Sherwood’s experience lines up with industry norms.
Indeed, as Sherwood sees it, Mazella’s business is largely driven by customers needing a “Serial Number 001”: a fully customised below the- hook device. As laid out within the Mazella product offering, the reason this broad type of BTH device is popular in the market is that it takes into account the exact load needed, as well as the lifting environment, be it the number and location of lifting lugs or headroom or obstruction, as well as the environment, too. Customised device manufacturing considers obstacles, heat and chemical makeup of the environment (prevalent in steel mills) and outdoor environments, which can degrade, corrode or wear down the below-the-hook device, which then may need additional protection.
Of course, there is then the nature and repetition of the task at hand, which drives below-the-hook buying decisions. Questions such as whether the load need to retain a specific finish, can it afford to get scuffed and whether the below-the-hook device needs additional protection to prevent negative factors such as steel-on-steel scuffing. How this device then adds to the overall capacity of the crane or hoist is also a driving below-the-hook question, as is cost. Crucially, custom-engineered lifting solutions for specialised applications can cost in the region of tens of thousands of dollars, which is a particular consideration in emerging markets (where budget restrictions play a role), and training and maintenance costs can accumulate to 20–30% annually.
What this adds up to, says Sherwood, is a variable market. “This means there’s not necessarily one most popular [below-the-hook product],” he says. “Of course, we can get beams or C-hooks out all day long if we want, but our bread and butter is a customer coming to us and saying: ‘I don’t know how to pick this…how do we do it?’”
Safety concerns front and centre
It’s not as though acute lifting needs exist in a vacuum, however. “The biggest thing [at the moment in the market] is that more and more people in the industry are aware of safety standard requirements,” says Sherwood.
Here, the ASME BTH-1 and ASME B30.20 are centre stage. Dictated by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), ASME B30.20 essentially covers the tagging, load testing, maintenance, inspection and repairs and operator responsibilities of below-the-hook devices as relates to six types of below-the-hook devices, including vacuum devices, magnet lifters and clamps. Elsewhere, the ASME BTH-1 standard is deeper still, and gets into the safety requirements of details regarding below-the-hook manufacturing. Furthermore, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines regulate below-the-hook devices via general crane, rigging and material handling standards. There are safe listing regulations for cranes, industry requirements for operating environments and related to inspection, labelling, training and safe use regulations. In essence, OSHA enforces the rulebook of ASME. “And when it comes to B30.20 and BTH-1, equipment has to meet these standards,” says Sherwood.
Safety drivers are having a special effect on the below-the-hook market right now. Again, a big market driver is modernisation in factories needing below-the-hook devices to reduce risks with newer occupational safety standards dictating the use of certified equipment. Indeed, with BTH-1 coming into effect in the late noughties, the life span of lifters and belowthe- hook devices that started being used then is coming into effect and dictating that newer devices need to meet standards such as BTH-1. “It’s kind of like a grandfather clause on these devices…there’s 20 years max life span on these devices,” says Sherwood. “They’re ageing out.”
Indeed, safety regulations are driving a lot of work that providers like Mazella are seeing. “Now people have to meet these standards,” says Sherwood, adding that if OSHA come in those using non-regulation-adhering devices “might get popped”. He says at just one company, they’ve switched out hundreds of below-the-hook devices that were homemade to “properly engineered and manufacturing” – a reference to a time before the tight BTH-1 standard existed and firms could make their own lifters or hooks at engineers’ discretion rather than standardised regulation.
In Sherwood’s view this doesn’t mean the lifters would necessarily fail from a mechanical point of view (or past standards) but they’re coming up to their life span and that means they’re ageing out. “Now with the safety standards and safety factor requirements none of those [below-thehook devices] are good anymore and if OSHA comes in, that can catch you some trouble,” he adds. At least on Mazella’s side, as a manufacturer of below-the-hook devices, such movement is driving what customers want, especially in recent years. That is: compliant below-the-hook devices. “You can’t just get John in the machine shop to make something up,” adds Sherwood.
Work smarter, not harder
The drive towards safety and compliance is also having an impact on the ‘smart’ nature of below-the-hook devices. Smart below-the-hook devices, as opposed to more traditional below- the-hook devices, might look the same: a lifter, a beam, a clamp. A key difference, however, is that smart devices include sensors and might enable connectivity or autonomous management of tasks or data collection to measure what’s happening, alert operators to risks, automatically adjust lifts or be able to better understand the wide span of safety and maintenance needs.
This could be load cells to alert to potential overloading regards weight, tilt, balance and orientation monitoring, automatic release mechanisms to prevent vacuum or clamps from releasing if still carrying a load. Alternatively, it might be data logging to help forestall overload or help with predictive maintenance or inform operator assistance and move towards at least part autonomous lifting. All critical when it comes to safety. “There is a big push towards keeping people from touching loads,” says Sherwood. “Whether that’s through mechanical or electronical…we have options in the product line.”
Indeed, there’s a broad range of products on the market when it comes to smart below-thehook devices. Mazella, for one, manufacture what the company describes as a very popular ‘no touch’ Elebia hook, which allows remote control, has a built-in fail-safe no-open device, detects if the crane or hoist is overloaded and has automatic torque limits that can cancel unsafe operations. “This automatic open and close crate hook allows engaging with loads in areas that [businesses] either don’t want to put a person in or can physically get someone there…it’s a remotecontrolled hook and we’re seeing these taking off like crazy because touch-free initiatives are being put in places everywhere,” says Sherwood. This is so-called smartness led by safety.
However, the ‘smart’ market is not just being led by keeping people out of harm’s way. The Caldwell Group retails (among countless devices) a telescoping coil that has sensors to detect the diameter of the metal coils it bears, can underwrite automatic handling, with other sensors that enable protection of the load as well as sensors that manage weight. In short, it allows the belowthe- hook device to manage data collection. Elsewhere, HVR Magnet manufacturer’s magnetic grippers that fit into automated systems (such as factory settings that prioritise automation and humans being at a safe distance) for welding, picking and placing. Of course, safety, like Mazella’s Elebia hook, is front of mind here, but it is centred alongside productivity. “But it is mainly safety…driven by those new safety people in companies…and they need to clean up the lifting devices,” says Dan Corral, below-the-hook manager at Mazella Companies.
Indeed, a smart-below-the-hook is a logical next step as industries embrace automation and intelligent production systems. HVR Magnet’s magnetic grippers claim to boost efficiency, reduce operational costs and streamline while foregrounding safety (in processes such as unloading, bending and welding) – critical in steel production, automotive manufacturing and manufacturing of renewable technology, such as wind and precision machining.
It’s a similar safety bent that’s made the Elebia hook popular, says Sherwood. The Elebia auto-hook is part of Mazella’s broader no-touch offering, popular in the steel industry which over recent decades has increasingly focused on safety. Many steel mills are now prioritising implementing no-touch environments in order to keep workers out of harm’s way. For one, hooks in steel mills are used from melt shop to shipping but one of the critical uses is in handling graphite electrodes, which weigh several tonnes and are incredibly hot. The Elebia hook, being smart, can be remotely controlled (from over 450ft away keeping operators away from hot loads and indeed repetitive heavy manual labour), has failsafe technology, meaning the hook won’t open and risk dropping debris on workers.
Mazella go further with their smart products. In steel production, electrode addition (critical for maintaining thermal energy for melting scrap steel) can be completed via Mazella’s no-touch system, which uses automated below-the-hook devices that can lock, suspend, rotate, weigh and measure pressure as well as oversee critical control. This not only keeps safety and efficiency front of mind but enables continuous production and sensors (such as a weigh scale) can help track electrode consumption, which better calculate overall usage and can determine cost-per-tonne of steel. “Traditionally, someone had to get on top of the furnace,” says Sherwood. “But sometimes these bumped off electrodes because of slack [human error] on the crane hook…and that’s where these Elebia hooks have come into their own because of keeping people out of harms way and preventing catastrophic accidents.”
And though not smart per se, and in line with the customer-oriented products that Mazella pride themselves in offering, customisation options come as standard: be that a custom shank to fit the hook to the crane block, shield for heat resistance, protective bumpers to protect product being carried and LED light system to showcase whether the crane and hook are ready to lift – critical for operators manipulating the system remotely from away. Crucially, smartness or not, the robust nature of the product is also critical: Elebia is said to be able to complete three million cycles without mechanical failure.
The overall picture this paints is one where it’s not just safety that drives smart offerings – but it is safety that is primarily driving growth in the below-the-hook market. Total growth for those that retail below-the-hook devices is projected to be a consistent 4.9% CAGR from 2025 to 2032: rising from £1.47bn last year to £1.95bn. This is driven by safety foremost, particuarly those new safety standards that requires use of certified lifting equipment. Of course, this then influences purchasing decisions. This is borne out by the data: the purchasing of below-the-hook lifting devices has grown 18% over the past years in sectors that previously had high risk profiles. Smart below-the-hook especially can minimise worker exposure to dangerous lifting situations.
Indeed, this is where the field is headed next. “The next step is to have the human aspect taken out of [the manual work],” says Sherwood. This means smart integration driving safety.
Not just safety, not just smartness
There are other considerations. The Elebia Hook, for one, isn’t just about safety but about outcomes and productivity. In material handling environments, the need for productive and increasingly automated decisions is also driving decisions. But this doesn’t always mean that companies are always looking for automated or smart below-the-hook solutions. “Companies are looking for what technology can make them safer,” says Sherwood. “But they’re not asking to change their process to add more technology for the sake of it.”
Indeed, as Sherwood lays out, sometimes it’s less technologically adapted below-the-hook solutions that companies might still turn to – as long as they are safety complaint. “The simpler the device the less downtime you’re going to have on it,” he says. “Less breakdowns, less parts… less talented maintenance staff.” In Sherwood’s view, it’s not as though smart below-the-hook devices, such as the Elebia Hook, are complicated per se, but they have more inputs. And they also come with a bigger price tag. “And they require a pretty big maintenance team to get that type of device running.” What this means for the market, says Sherwood, is a balance: “It’s about where does technology make life easier, more efficient and how technology can make that happen.”
In many ways, this returns to the customer’s needs. Of course, safety regulations and growing smart below-the-hook options frame buying decisions but, says Mazella’s Corral, any below-thehook decision by the buyer is still about the task at hand, whatever industry they are in. “It’s about size [of what needs lifting or manufacturing], it’s about load or the capacity,” he says. “That’s why there’s demand for custom designs…that’s [been popular] over the last few months.”
Of course, customers need to adhere to safety regulations, the need to replace older, non-complaint devices (we’re at a point where those are ageing out, says Corral) but as buying industries, be it steel production or manufacturing lines, try and improve safety and get humans out the loop it might be that smart devices, which can enable remote, come into their own.
Not that Sherwood sees a total takeover of smart devices just yet. “I don’t see [a move towards total smart below-the-hook] in the next five years… I just see a harder push on getting those older devices up to the newest standards… and doing everything we can to design free type solutions,” says Sherwood.
Meeting the customer where they’re at is critical. Indeed, they are, as the adage goes, always right.
