The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes Foremost Farms, a milk solids processing facility, for attaining 50001 Ready status at its Plover, Wisconsin facility. DOE’s 50001 Ready program, managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), provides a self-paced, no-cost way for organizations to build a culture of structured energy improvement that leads to deeper and more sustained energy savings.

The Foremost Farms Plover facility obtained 50001 Ready recognition in July 2019, and has surpassed its 2.5% energy reduction goals by 20%. The plant began working with Energy Performance Services and Leidos as part of Wisconsin Focus on Energy’s Strategic Energy Management program to improve its bottom line in this narrow-profit-margin industry.

50001 Ready has led to overall facility improvements and has increased buy-in from management by delivering clear points of reference on progress. Tracking energy performance has highlighted opportunities for process optimization and led to improvements in product quality. In addition to reducing the facility’s energy bills, the program has created greater staff awareness of energy intensive processes and enabled them to reduce production losses by incorporating new best practices into the plant’s operational procedures.

“Our employees understand our production process and equipment inside and out,” said Justin Pope, Director of Environment, Health and Safety for Foremost Farms USA. “They also understand where the opportunities for improving our energy efficiency reside.”

Learn more about how Foremost Farms earned 50001 Ready status.