Welcome to Sprinkman 2.0!

A Letter From Our President:

W.M. Sprinkman Corporation has recently experienced a growth spurt that has mandated many changes in how we manage our work.  The cliché that has proved itself very valid is, “What got you here, won’t get you there.”

In the past, we had individuals that wore many hats and worked very hard.  Our challenge was scale.  As the size of our brewhouses, cellar tanks, and number of full brewing installations grew, we needed to separate tasks into logical segments.  Sprinkman has enjoyed a good reputation primarily due to the “can-do” attitude of our past leadership and personnel.  We still believe in that today, which is why we formalized procurement, project management, process design, mechanical design, quality and safety.

Five years ago, none of these areas had formal charters, processes and procedures.  We continue to evolve these areas and their support systems so we can maintain the level of service to our customers that built the foundation of the company.

We have some new players on our team that come to us with wonderful ideas and experiences.  Many of them have worked at companies who went through similar transformations which provide us some great insight.  I have highlighted a few of them in the Spotlight section below.

These are some of the new faces that are excited to build what we refer to as Sprinkman 2.0. We borrowed the concept from one of our customers, MadTree Brewing in Cincinnati, OH.  MadTree’s new facility, dubbed MadTree 2.0, includes a Sprinkman 100-BBL brewhouse with 300/400 BBL tanks in the cellar and plenty of room to entertain and grow.  The jump to “2.0” for Sprinkman refers to a monumental leap forward in how we design, engineer, manufacture and install the equipment I am so proud to put my family's name on.

I’m blessed that my father created a foundation to build from.  His reputation in our industry was something we strive to live up to every day.  While our approach and some of the faces may have changed, the mission has not:  We engineer, manufacture, install and support sanitary processing systems.

I want to thank you for the business and opportunities you have brought us in the past, but I am even more excited about working with you in the future.  If you ever have questions about Sprinkman, please drop me an email or give me a call.

Sincerely,

Brian
Brian Sprinkman, President
414-325-2153 /  brians@sprinkman.com

Employees Spotlight:

Troy Brown – Project Manager

Prior to joining Sprinkman, Troy was a Project Manager at KHS USA where led project teams and managed capital packaging equipment projects.   He has worked on projects ranging from small single equipment installations, turnkey solutions, and large brewery expansions.  With 9 years of experience in the food and beverage Industry ranging from Inventory Control, Production Control, and Project Management Troy brings extensive knowledge within the industry to the Sprinkman team.  Troy received an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management and a Project Management Graduate Certificate.  He also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Administration from UW-Milwaukee.  With being a solutions-oriented Project Manager Troy’s passion is to drive successful project execution for Sprinkman and customer satisfaction on the overall project.

Michael Heidtmann – Field Services Manager

Michael was born, raised, and attended college in Germany, receiving a degree in Mechanical Engineering and launching a career in sanitary food processing that has literally taken him around the globe.  Beginning as a Field Service Engineer specializing in fats and oils, including Margarine, Dressings, Mayonnaise and Ice Cream production, Michael later began working on installing and commissioning production systems at plants all over the world.  Michael has a self-proclaimed “passion for field processing work” and in his new role at Sprinkman, he is leveraging his 19 years of processing experience to expand our field service capabilities, crews and skills to become more responsive to the needs of our customers.

Marcus Traber – Process Engineer

Marcus joined Sprinkman in early 2017 as a Technical Sales Manager for our brewing customers nationwide.  This past summer Marcus transitioned to the engineering team and is now a Process Engineer focused on the brewing industry.  Marcus is passionate about the brewing process and he has been an active part of over a half dozen brewhouse start-ups and has helped design Sprinkman’s Pub & Pilot Brewhouse line among other things.  Prior to coming to Sprinkman, Marcus was a Product Manager for Ampco Pumps.  He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

Laura Burke – Senior Process Engineer

Laura comes to Sprinkman with 9 years of experience as a Process Engineer in the food and beverage industry.  She studied Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York and proceeded to work for engineering consulting firms specializing in food and beverage. This gave wide exposure to clients across the industry. Laura’s project background includes bakeries, both confectionary and conventional, snack foods of all varieties, liquid beverages such as wine and soda, along with many dairy projects. Laura has worked with fluid milk, ice cream, sour cream and yogurt; servicing clients ranging from small private labels to co-packers to national industry leaders and everything in-between. Her greatest strength being adaptability to the client’s needs; from preliminary engineering and estimation for capital funding approvals through detailed engineering, competitive bids and installation & start-up.

Nathan Vander Pas – Senior Process Engineer

Nathan is a Senior Process engineer who joined Sprinkman after serving as a Senior Process Engineer for Seiberling Associates. With almost six years of experience is the Food and Beverage Industry, Nathan worked extensively with clients such as Yoplait and Leprino Foods while at Seiberling, specializing in CIP Systems and Sanitary Process Design. Sprinkman provides Nathan with the opportunity to develop solutions for customers and see them through from beginning to end across a wider variety of industries.  Nathan studied at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering, where he was a member and Technology Chair of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Bill Schumacher – Regional Sales Manager

Bill is joining Sprinkman this month, but he is far from a novice in the field of sanitary processing.  With over 30 years of sales management experience, he has a solid history of being a top performer and has received accolades from his customers over the years for exceptional service on projects both big and small.  Bill credits his success to having the ability to continually engage all stakeholders in a project, both internal and external, and be the critical liaison between the customer, engineering, estimating, and project management.  A creative and forward thinking communicator who readily inspires confidence, trust, and respect, Bill previously worked at A&B Process and with valued organizations that include Inbev/Anheuser-Busch, GEA Process Eng., Tetra Pak, Kraft-Heinz, Sargento, Cargill, ConAgra and CRB. For Sprinkman, Bill will be based in Wisconsin and manage processing customers in the Upper Midwest states.