Innovance Inc. makes the last step count

The printer was doing its job. At GPS Digital RPD, a nine-person dental manufacturing business making 100–120 partial-denture frameworks a day, the awkward part came afterward. Finishing was holding up production. Mass Finishing, an Innovance business, supplied an HZ-12 barrel finisher as an extra preparation step before final finishing. In its published case, MFI reports a saving of 20–30 minutes per batch. The existing equipment stayed. The sequence changed.

That little intervention is a useful introduction to Innovance. Manufacturing progress creates its own loose ends. Faster production still needs clean parts, controlled surfaces, reliable assembly, and somewhere for the metal chips to go. Innovance has assembled businesses around those tasks. For a buyer, the interesting question is which part of the process needs help.

01 / The company behind the handoff

Based in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Innovance is a holding company with five manufacturing brands: Lou-Rich, ALMCO, Mass Finishing, Panels Plus, and Jorgensen. President and CEO Merritt Becker leads the parent. Each name opens a different door into industrial production. The customer might need a fabricated assembly, a polishing process, or equipment for building wall panels.

Lou-Rich supplies contract manufacturing: machining, welding, fabrication, painting, and assembly. Its published capabilities include more than 40 machining centers and design-for-manufacturability work. An equipment maker can bring a complicated build to a supplier that handles several connected operations. Its markets include agricultural machinery, medical equipment, food-service equipment, and industrial products.

ALMCO, whose roots reach back to 1946, makes industrial washing and finishing equipment. Its machines remove burrs, polish surfaces, and clean parts; its offering also includes compounds, tumbling media, service, and process development. Mass Finishing works in the same broad surface-finishing world, with centrifugal barrel and disc machines among its equipment. The overlap gives customers more than one process to investigate.

Then the portfolio branches. Panels Plus builds machinery for wall panels and floor cassettes, including wood and light-gauge steel systems for building-component producers. Jorgensen supplies conveyors, coolant filtration, and chip-processing equipment to machine builders and metalworking businesses. These are distinct specialties. A wall-panel producer and a dental laboratory arrive with very different problems.

02 / The owners wear work boots, too

The ownership story started before the corporate name. Lou Larson and Rich Ackland founded Lou-Rich in 1972; their first names supplied the sign. Lou-Rich established an employee stock ownership plan in 1992. Innovance was formed in 2004 to expand and diversify the business through acquisitions. By 2012, the group was fully employee-owned.

In 2022, Innovance first passed $100 million in annual sales. That year it also created an R&D group. The progression matters: an existing manufacturing business became the base for a broader portfolio, with development resources added alongside acquisitions. The group’s history is measured in workshops and operating companies accumulated over decades.

The February 2024 purchase of Jorgensen made the ownership model concrete. Innovance committed to keeping all 65 employees and bringing the team into employee ownership. Jorgensen’s existing conveyor and filtration expertise complemented the other manufacturing brands. A business with a long family history gained a different ownership structure while retaining its industrial identity.

“We do what we say and what is right.”Innovance’s published integrity value

Ownership also has an administrative side. Innovance shares finance, human resources, marketing, information technology, and safety-related support across its operating businesses. Its stated strategy favors long-term investment and continuous improvement. The practical proposition is straightforward: give manufacturing managers corporate support while they concentrate on their products and customers.

03 / Buy the recipe with the machine

A machine catalog only gets a buyer so far. Mass Finishing’s customer examples range from Conn-Selmer’s musical instruments to Roush Yates’ motorsports components. Different parts need different treatment. The business sells equipment and consumables, but also helps customers establish how those materials and machines should work together.

Its sample-processing service makes that expertise tangible. Customers send parts and describe their desired finish, production volume, and budget. The lab selects media and processing conditions, records the results, and returns the parts with a confidential report. Sample processing is free. Buyers can judge their own components before making an equipment decision.

The service continues beyond the first sale. MFI’s processing lab supports existing customers developing a process for a new project. In September 2026, the company described a visit from Poland’s medical manufacturer ChM, whose employees tested parts and learned how to operate their HZ-85. The deliverable included an understanding of the process they would take home.

For purchasing teams, that suggests a more useful comparison than a machine’s specifications alone. Ask what application work accompanies the quote, what consumables the process requires, and who helps when the next part has a different shape. Innovance’s businesses earn revenue through components, machinery, supplies, and services. A customer’s buying decision can therefore involve both an initial piece of equipment and an ongoing technical relationship. The laboratory visit shows what that relationship can look like in practice.

04 / A better finish has conditions

The limits are instructive. In MFI’s account of 3D Logics, the customer valued technical advice that included saying when barrel finishing was unsuitable. Material, geometry, and surface requirements determine the approach. A successful process for one component supplies a useful question for the next one, rather than an automatic answer.

For existing customers, the group also offers a Partner Recognition Program with preferred pricing of up to 10% on selected products. A sales representative connects the buyer with another Innovance business, and the discount must appear in the quote. Eligibility matters: the offer covers specified lines and cannot be combined with other promotions. It is a concrete reason to explore a sister company, while leaving the central purchasing question intact: does this equipment solve the particular production problem?

There are newer signals to watch. Mass Finishing announced ISO 9001:2015 certification in May 2026. Jorgensen received a 2026 Southeastern Wisconsin Top Workplace designation based on employee survey feedback. Those address different questions: how work is organized, and how employees experience it.

For a manufacturer considering Innovance, the sensible starting point is a drawing, a sample, and a clearly described production problem. Its distinction lies in the combination: specialized manufacturing businesses, shared support, and employees with an ownership stake. The dental example offers a particularly portable lesson. Before replacing a production line, look closely at what happens between its steps.