You won't find any fancy-looking equipment at the creamery operated by Phoenix-based Danzeisen Dairy LLC. Tucked into a mixture of farm, industrial and residential properties in Phoenix's Laveen neighborhood, the creamery relies on retrofitted vintage milk processing equipment, much of it from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and all of it from U.S. manufacturers, to produce its craft dairy products.

Cedar Crest Ice Cream makes an impressive amount of ice cream in its 45,408-square-foot facility in Manitowoc, Wis. The plant currently produces approximately 26 million pounds of product annually. The company uses the space wisely and continues to upgrade equipment and technology as product demand increases.

As the company prepares to build a new processing facility, one that will more than double its current 16,000 square feet to approximately 40,000 square feet, it is working to maximize production rates and efficiencies at the Marshall, Calif., plant in which it has been operating since the company’s inception in 1994.

Dairy plant managers work to keep their processing equipment running as frequently as possible to optimize plant efficiency and minimize operating costs.

In northwest Wisconsin, about 25 miles from the Minnesota border, Schuman Cheese makes award-winning cheeses with techniques borrowed from French and Italian cheesemakers.

Ed Hawkins invented a blue cheese buttermilk salad dressing that he served in his steakhouse. When customers asked if they could buy a bottle to take home, he knew it was a hit.

Rob Graves is a dairy farmer and dairy processor who owns Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, Colo. He sells his white and flavored milks up and down the front range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Business was good for the fourth-generation farmer. Demand was growing from home delivery customers, restaurants and Whole Foods. Graves had plans to expand the milk processing plant. That is, until yogurt got in the way.