Case Study
MilliporeSigma - Sheboygan Falls Manufacturing Campus
MilliporeSigma operates at the forefront of life science innovation, collaborating with the global scientific community to solve critical challenges in research, development, and manufacturing. As a leading supplier of advanced materials, analytical technologies, and laboratory services, the organisation maintains sophisticated manufacturing and distribution operations worldwide, including their substantial production campus in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.
The Sheboygan Falls site represents a significant industrial operation combining laboratory facilities, production areas, and extensive warehousing infrastructure. The two warehouse buildings selected for this EndoTherm expansion—designated Pro 3 and Pro 4—serve critical logistics functions within the facility’s supply chain, maintaining climate-controlled environments for storing temperature-sensitive scientific materials, reagents, and finished products destined for research laboratories and pharmaceutical manufacturers globally. These large-footprint structures operate continuous heating systems throughout Wisconsin’s harsh winters, where temperatures routinely plunge well below freezing, creating substantial natural gas consumption that represents a major operational cost and carbon emissions source.
Find out more in our article relating to this case study – What MilliporeSigma’s EndoTherm Projects Reveal About Energy Efficiency in Life Sciences Manufacturing
Why MilliporeSigma Extended Their EndoTherm Programme
The warehouse pilot built directly upon a successful EndoTherm trial previously conducted in one of the campus’s laboratory buildings, demonstrating the organisation’s methodical, evidence-based approach to efficiency improvements.
Having validated the technology’s performance in a complex laboratory environment, MilliporeSigma recognised that the company’s extensive warehouse portfolio offered even greater potential for energy cost reduction due to the large volumes being heated and relatively simpler heating systems compared to precision-controlled laboratory spaces. The warehouses’ consistent occupancy patterns and established sub-metering infrastructure enabled precise measurement and verification across the extended 16-month pilot period, providing robust data to support potential rollout across the broader manufacturing campus and possibly other MilliporeSigma facilities globally.
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Industrial Warehouse Heating Challenges
Vast volumes requiring constant temperature maintenance: Large-scale warehouse facilities must heat enormous cubic footage to protect inventory integrity and ensure worker safety, with high ceilings and expansive floor areas creating exceptional heating loads that consume massive quantities of natural gas, particularly during severe Midwestern winter conditions.
Product integrity and regulatory compliance requirements: Life science materials, pharmaceutical ingredients, and laboratory reagents require strict temperature control to maintain product quality and meet regulatory specifications, preventing any energy-saving strategies that could risk temperature excursions or compromise stored materials valued potentially in the millions.
Industrial energy costs impacting competitive positioning: Manufacturing operations compete globally on cost efficiency, making energy expenditure a significant factor in overall competitiveness, whilst volatile natural gas pricing creates budgetary uncertainty and pressure to identify low-risk efficiency measures that reduce exposure to energy market fluctuations.
Corporate sustainability commitments and stakeholder expectations: Major science and technology corporations face increasing pressure from investors, customers, and employees to demonstrate environmental leadership through measurable greenhouse gas reductions, requiring scalable solutions that can be validated, reported transparently, and replicated across global facility networks.
Limited downtime windows in operational facilities: Active manufacturing and distribution sites operate on tight production schedules with minimal tolerance for system shutdowns or maintenance activities that could disrupt material flow, favouring efficiency improvements that can be implemented quickly without requiring extended facility closures or production interruptions.
EndoTherm’s installation delivered substantial benefits for Millipore Sigma, the warehouse sites saved over 81,100kg CO2e, proving that EndoTherm can play a crucial role in helping companies, particularly in relation to warehousing, meet their environmental commitments without compromising operational performance. This GHG reduction is equivalent to:
