Desking products work as part of a close-knit system in the workplace. So when one component changes—say, regular desks are replaced by sit-stand ones—the system must adjust. New York–based manufacturer Innovant was among the first to notice that at standing desks, frequently used items were often situated farther away. “We’re delivering solutions where the storage goes up and down with the desk,” says Innovant’s director of marketing and design, Bruce Wells. “It’s becoming a game changer.”

Innovant has built its growing business on this kind of adaptation. “We have believed from the very beginning that we could offer the marketplace a bridge between standard product solutions and total custom,” says Charles Braham, president of the company. In today’s workplaces, where distinctive design is key, standardized products do not adequately respond to a company’s specificities, but developing a completely bespoke design can be financially (and practically) daunting. Innovant, Braham says, has found the sweet spot: “With nearly three decades performing this art, we feel we have it well practiced and know how to create this magic.”

Early on, the company coaxes out the details that matter to clients and designers. Then the team’s finely honed methodology kicks in, cycling through drawings, renderings, and samples to rapidly develop solutions. “There’s about a dozen different things that are very difficult for an untrained eye to understand,” Wells says. “They all look the same, but whether something is pointed this way or that way can make an enormous difference [in] how it works.”