THE multi-billion dollar global access industry owes its origins to the founder of UpRight, Wallace "Wally" Johnson, the genius who single-handedly created the markets for both scaffold towers and aerial work platforms. M......THE multi-billion dollar global access industry owes its origins to the founder of UpRight, Wallace "Wally" Johnson, the genius who single-handedly created the markets for both scaffold towers and aerial work platforms. Mr Johnson, an extremely gifted mechanical engineer from Berkeley, California, first turned his hand to access equipment in 1946, as a solution to painting his house. After a fruitless search for scaffolding that could cope with the uneven terrain surrounding his home, he decided to design his own aluminium scaffold tower with adjustable legs. Johnson was an astute businessman as well as a great inventor and he immediately recognised the commercial potential for his adjustable towers. He founded UpRight Scaffolds, which soon outgrew his small workshop in Berkeley and moved to larger premises in nearby Selma in February 1947. By the end of the 1950�s, UpRight�s "Instant" alloy towers had become the market leader in the USA and the company shipped its first export orders to Europe in 1958. After achieving global domination, Wallace Johnson set out to do it all over again by inventing the world�s first mobile aerial work platform. In 1972, he opened a new factory in Selma to produce the "Flying Carpet" scissor lift. This innovative product soon outstripped scaffolding as the company�s main source of revenue. When Johnson died in 1980, UpRight Inc. was sold but his pioneering, inventive ethos lived on. UpRight expanded the range with the X-Series scissor lifts, followed by UpRight�s first sigma arm lift, the SL20, in 1986. A Speed Level version which self-levels on rough terrain was introduced in 1990. It remains a unique machine to this day. During the 1990s, the UpRight range of powered access platforms quadrupled. The first trailer mounted boom, the TL33, arrived in 1995, followed in 1996 by UpRight�s first self-propelled boom, the SP37 (now remodelled as the AB38). The company�s appetite for innovation took compact scissor lift design to new heights in 1996, with the launch of the MX15 and MX19 micro-scissors. UpRight International fell into decline shortly after the turn of the century. However, the aerial lift side of the business was reinvigorated following its sale to UK company The Tanfield Group Plc. Tanfield established UpRight Powered Access in June 2006 and has already made great strides in restoring confidence in the brand. We believe in the same philosophy of innovation, dedication and good old fashioned hard work which made the UpRight name synonymous with quality and ingenuity the world over. UpRight Powered Access products are now sold in almost every country in the world and are supported by a network of more than 140 independent dealers and distributors. We have a unique heritage and expertise built from over 55 years spent safely lifting millions of people to their place of work.
