Krones expands dairy, craft beer equipment lines with W.M. Sprinkman acquisition

The Wisconsin food and beverage industry experienced a shakeup this week, with Krones Inc. acquiring W.M. Sprinkman Corp.

Krones, the North American subsidiary of German company Krones AG., purchased Sprinkman, a multi-generation family company now based in Waukesha, for an undisclosed amount with the intention of bolstering its product portfolio in North America. Krones employs 500 people at its North American headquarters in Franklin, and will add Sprinkman's 125 employees.beer brewing equipment

Sprinkman will retain its brand and become a wholly owned subsidiary. Sprinkman's headquarters will remain in Waukesha and its production facility in Elroy will remain operational.

"They have a strong brand in the brewing and dairy industries and that's very much aligned with Krones," said Susan Paprcka, Krones' head of marketing and corporate communications.

Paprcka said that before about 18 months ago, most of Krones' manufacturing presence was in Germany. The company has tried to return more manufacturing to its North American footprint, and the acquisition of W.M. Sprinkman contributes to that goal.

"We're giving our subsidiaries more control over their marketplace so we can serve our customers better," Paprcka said. "We needed a little bit more horsepower in processing technology locally."

W.M. Sprinkman primarily excels with brewing and dairy processing technology, and both of those industries are ones Krones hopes to enhance with the addition of Sprinkman. Krones' German-produced brewing equipment, branded Steinecker, typically serves large scale brewing operations, and Paprcka said Sprinkman's proliferation in the American craft brewing scene, in breweries like Milwaukee Brewing Co.'s new location, makes Sprinkman Krones' ideal complement.

"That gives us a little bit more agility to service different customers in the craft brewing area," Paprcka said. "They also manufacture the tanks, which we're not as strong in."Paprcka added that dairy is a much smaller footprint for Krones in the United States, and that Sprinkman presents a definite growth opportunity in that industry.

“Bringing Sprinkman into the Krones family not only adds an experienced team of employees and a great customer base, but also helps round out our U.S.-based process engineering and manufacturing capabilities,” said Holger Beckmann, president and CEO of Krones Inc.

W.M. Sprinkman president Brian Sprinkman added that the partnership will allow them to "exponentially widen" their product and service offerings.