Made in America has seen a downward trend over the decades, but somehow Innovox has weathered the storm and kept up 25+ years of manufacturing in its St. Paul, Minn. factory.
CEO and Founder, Chris Oswood, like many audio manufacturers, launched Innovox as a hobby in his garage. As an integrator, he had continued frustration with the sound quality of the speakers in the market at the time, so he built his own.
Quality Control
“We’ve continued to manufacture in the US for several reasons,” explains Oswood. “It’s part of a strategy to deliver a range of effective loudspeakers to our customers in a responsive manner – to quickly match project timelines in a customized or project-optimized way. This isn’t possible with off-shore production.”
Innovox takes it a step further and outsources components locally as well, including Digital Audio Labs for electronic assembly, Versa Electronics for PCBs, Intek Plastics for ABS extrusions and chassis just to name a few.
“We believe product quality is much higher,” says Oswood. “We’re able to work more efficiently with the engineering departments in these companies – often in a face-to-face manner and draw on their specific expertise. The same thing is true of quality control because we can readily visit these factories if problems arise.”
Environmental Sustainability
Sustainability practices are also a large part of Oswood’s business model and core values. “We elect to use sustainable and ROHS materials, and not just because we ship to international markets that require them and because we are frequently specified into LEED-certified projects, but because I believe it’s a responsible business practice.”
Oswood even rejected a vendor’s suggestion to manufacturer the Flex speaker enclosures from PVC because of the environmental impact of producing this material. In addition, Oswood uses low VOC acrylic-based finished on all products.
“It really comes down to education,” explains Oswood. “Helping our customers understand the difference between a product designed to serve a specific purpose or solve a specific problem – and a commodity, broad-market product and how that can make a big difference in the success of a project.”
Oswood also reinforces the satisfaction in employing local people and how important it is to be part of the community.
or more information about Innovox Audio please contact Kelly Perkins at kperkins@innovoxaudio.com or by phone at (612) 298-7688.