When a finishing house is singled out by Products Finishing as a Top Shop, the recognition comes down to data. The program benchmarks hard numbers across the industry including quality, throughput, investment and workforce, and it highlights operations that consistently run at a high level. That objective lens helps buyers separate claims from capability.
What Top Shops Measures and Why It Matters
Top Shops looks at four pillars: finishing technology, shop floor practices and performance, business strategy and people. For procurement teams, those pillars align with real risk: process control, schedule risk, cost creep and staffing gaps. A shop that ranks in the top tier on these measures is less likely to surprise you with scrap, late turns or communication breakdowns.
What This Says About Nico Products
Nico Products, The Lindgren Group’s division in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been recognized in Top Shops again for 2025. Our history with this program spans multiple years, including prior recognition in plating and anodizing. Combined with Nadcap and ISO certifications, this paints a clear picture of an operation built for disciplined work in aerospace, defense, medical, electronics and demanding OEM programs.
How You Feel the Impact
- Reliable delivery: Strong planning and in process checks reduce rework loops that stretch lead time
- First pass yield: Tight baths, capable masking and lab support push more parts to pass the first time
- Clean paperwork: Certifications, test results and process data arrive complete and correct which keeps audits calm
- Capacity you can plan on: Ongoing investment in people, equipment and footprint translates to steadier schedules and faster changeovers
What Comes Next
Benchmarking is not a one and done exercise. We use our Top Shops scorecard to set quarterly targets for on time delivery, scrap and rework, lead time and throughput per employee. You may not see the scorecard, but you will feel the result in fewer emails, fewer expedite fees and fewer line down moments.
Bottom Line
Recognition is good. Repeatable performance is better. The 2025 Top Shops honor confirms that The Lindgren Group operates as a high quality production system. We run two Minnesota plants under audited quality systems with an in house lab to support them. That foundation, plus disciplined process control, trained people and documented flow, delivers steady lead times, high first pass yield, clean cert packets and capacity that scales from prototypes to full programs.
Call to Action
Ready to review lead times, certifications or a new project? We will map the process, confirm lead time and align the spec to your performance targets.