Wornson-Polzin Dental Lab Triples in Size

A laboratory in a circa-1900 brick building in downtown Mankato, Minnesota may conjure up images of old-fashioned cozy charm but, for the 34 employees of Wornson-Polzin Dental Lab, the space felt anything but cozy.

"We were on the third floor and, in a Minnesota winter when the winds were whipping, you could stand by the window and feel cold air coming in," recalls William Homer, the lab's removables manager.

And the problems didn't end there.

The layout and workflow of the 4,000-sq-ft operation was abysmal. "Shipping and receiving was crammed into a narrow, closet-like room; case pans were piled everywhere; and people were constantly running into each other," says Ernie Pettengill, president of the National Dentex-member laboratory.
The building's electrical capacity was also maxed out, so the lab couldn't install one more piece of equipment without blowing circuits. And, since on-street parking was scarce, employees had to pay almost...