Inno+ does business worldwide with the top players in the agricultural market. The company in Panningen develops sustainable climate systems and air scrubbers for barns. "With our innovative barn technologies, we have an answer to the challenges in the agricultural sector. This offers plenty of opportunities for growth," says Guus Verhaag, Sales and Service Director. To streamline this growth internally, Inno+ is looking for an Operations Director.
Maurice Ortmans, Founder & Guus Verhaag, Sales and Service Director
In over twenty years, Inno+ has evolved from a startup to a global player and technological leader. At the helm of the innovative company with around 30 employees is Maurice Ortmans. Coming from the animal feed industry, he encountered the impact of constantly changing conditions in barns on production. "The climate conditions in a barn are rarely ideal. For a significant part of the year, it is either too cold or too warm. This affects the well-being and production of the animals."
What solution did you come up with at Inno+?
Maurice: "Within Inno+, we have developed technical solutions to maintain a constant climate in barns worldwide by cooling and preheating the incoming air. To prevent heat stress, we developed our InnoCool solution. InnoCool ensures that the incoming air is cooled and dehumidified, preventing heat stress in animals. With our InnoCool solution, we can create the same climate in barns worldwide, even in humid tropical areas."
How do you heat a barn without using extra energy?
Maurice: "About sixty percent of the food animals consume is converted into heat. Each animal is like a little heater. In many barns, heat is lost through the ventilation system. We thought: what if we could recover that heat? With our InnoHeat solution, we capture a significant portion of this heat through the air scrubber and return it to the heating system. The energy recovery results in savings for the farmer and a significant improvement in the indoor climate."
Emission reduction also became a major theme for Inno+. How does this work?
Maurice: "The air scrubber plays an essential role in improving air quality inside and outside the barn. This is becoming increasingly important, as farmers worldwide face the same challenge: reducing ammonia, odor, and particulate matter. Our InnoClean air scrubbers bring air into contact with water. The water is sprayed over a filter pack, filtering out harmful substances from the air. This process can occur chemically or biologically. Both pig and poultry farms, calf farms, and manure processing facilities use our systems."
"We are a close-knit and dedicated team, with a lot of creative and technical talent."
Guus, you joined Inno+ a year and a half ago. What is your role?
Guus: "By the time I joined, Inno+ was already an innovative company with many technical solutions. However, due to rapid growth, there was not enough overview. We were not showcasing enough of what we have to offer. As Sales and Service Director, it is my task to commercialize our technical solutions. We now operate on three levels: InnoCool, InnoHeat, and InnoClean. With the motto 'We energise farming!' that's our vision. With a growing world population, the demand for food continues to rise. While available space decreases, and animal welfare, environment, energy, and water use become increasingly important issues. We believe in a vital, sustainable food production without causing inconvenience to humans, animals, or the environment."
Your Synergy+ approach offers more than just technology. What does that plus entail?
Guus: "We are the only company that offers technology for cooling, energy savings, and emission reduction. With our technology, we enable farmers to maintain a healthy return on their businesses in the future, despite all the challenges we have already mentioned, or even make them more profitable. Additionally, we don't just sell systems; we also partner with the farmer in usage. We measure and record a large amount of data, which we convert into practical information for the livestock farmer through our unique Inno+ Portal. This way, we continuously guide our customers to optimize the operation of the installations as much as possible."
Since 2016, Inno+ has been part of the German company Big Dutchman, a market leader in livestock housing and agrotechnology. What does this collaboration bring you?
Guus: "Big Dutchman is a German family business. They sell complete housing systems worldwide, including feed and climate systems for laying hens, broilers, and pigs. With Inno+, they can offer added value to the market. For Inno+, the investment power and network of Big Dutchman are valuable. In the coming years, we aim to triple our revenue. Half of it we want to achieve ourselves, and the other half through the sales channel of BD, with locations all over the world."
Where do you see growth opportunities?
"The scale-up in Western Europe is coming to an end. The key step farmers here will take in the next thirty years is to invest optimally in existing locations to achieve maximum returns. This provides ample opportunities for us. We also see a growing interest in our products in America and Asia. As we develop bulky products – transport is expensive and unsustainable – we are working on production sites on those continents."
Tripling revenue is a significant growth ambition. What role will the new director play in this?
"Especially commercially and operationally, we face a major challenge. Here in Panningen, we are building a third hall, which will at least double our production capacity. The air washers account for 80 percent of our production."
The internal management must be able to keep pace with the growth. That's why we are looking for someone with extensive experience in managing operational processes during a growth phase. Think of daily organization, engineering, project management, monitoring deadlines and budgets, planning resources such as personnel and machinery. Someone who understands the challenges of a growth phase and navigates projects through the organization effectively."
What should the Operations Director bring to the table?
"We are looking for a connector and someone who knows how to take action. Someone who encourages cross-departmental collaboration. The director we seek is no stranger to leading a company organization through a strong growth phase. They are good at maintaining an overview and are not afraid to take initiatives and make decisions. In this role, you will be on-site a lot, so living in this area should appeal to you."
What kind of company is Inno+?
"We are a regional company with about 30 employees, rooted in the South of the Netherlands. At the same time, we do business with the top of the market from Panningen. In other words: local roots, global impact. We combine the strength of an international player with the warm, personal character of a regional company. We are a close-knit and involved team, with a lot of creative and technical talent. Furthermore, innovative and proactive thinking is in our DNA. We are pioneers. We also expect this from our people: to lead the way. You must have this intrinsic drive here."
Publication: April 2026
Photographer: Linde Joosten
