There is a widespread push in North America to replace hydraulic lifting systems with electromechanical systems. This trend has been going on for many years in Europe and is now really taking hold in North America. Many engineers are now tasked with the job of eliminating environmentally unfriendly hydraulic oil with systems that are purely electromechanical. When making this changeover, a number of important factors need to be considered to make sure the new design will work properly, efficiently, and reliably over the life of the system.