Over 30 Years of Innovation
North Star Imaging (NSI) was founded in 1986 by Ken Ness as a Non-destructive Testing (NDT) equipment representative and accessory supplier based in the St. Paul, MN area. The firm specialized in industrial X-ray testing. NSI served the upper Midwestern states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
In 1991, NSI manufactured their first Digital Radiography system. Throughout the 1990’s, NSI continued to expand their equipment representative and accessory supplier business across the USA. In 2002, NSI manufactured their first Computed Tomography system.
In 2004, NSI outgrew their St. Paul, MN site and moved into a brand new facility in Rogers, MN. In 2006, the company formed their Inspection Services Group (ISG), which provides need based consulting services for anyone needing X-ray and/or Computed Tomography scanning. The company’s X-ray and Computed Tomography systems and services business continued to flourish and in 2009 they expanded their Rogers complex by 33% to keep up with demand.
In 2010, NSI was acquired by Illinois Tool Works (ITW) and became part of ITW’s Test and Measurement segment. ITW is a leading diversified manufacturing company with over 100 years of history and over 800 individual business units.
In 2012, with demand continuing to increase both nationally and internationally, NSI nearly doubled the square footage of their facility in Rogers, MN.
In 2013, NSI was awarded with ISO 9001:2008 certification as a result of significant changes and improvements to their Quality System to increase efficiency, reduce errors and enrich customer satisfaction.
In 2015, NSI opened two additional facilities, one in Irvine (CA) and the other in High Wycombe (UK) to meet the growing demand for need based inspection services.
In 2016, NSI opened an Asia office in Suzhou, China.
In 2018, NSI opened an additional facility in Marlborough, MA, making this the 6th global facility of NSI, with each site offering as-needed Inspection Services to customers.
In 2020, NSI moved our California facility to a larger location in Aliso Viejo, California to make room for our new High Energy X-ray System.
