Cole-Parmer
Cole-Parmer is a Vernon Hills, Illinois-based manufacturer and direct distributor of specialty laboratory equipment, fluid handling, water quality testing, and NIST-traceable calibration instruments, serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, environmental, food and beverage, education, and government research customers globally under the Antylia Scientific umbrella.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1956
- HeadquartersVernon Hills, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Cole-Parmer does
Cole-Parmer, founded in 1956 and headquartered in Vernon Hills, Illinois, is a manufacturer and direct distributor of specialty laboratory equipment, instruments, and consumables serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, environmental testing, food and beverage, education, and government research markets. Its product portfolio spans fluid handling (peristaltic pumps distributed under a Watson-Marlow arrangement, flexible tubing including silicone, Viton, Tygon, and PTFE), water quality testing (pH meters, conductivity and turbidity meters), laboratory equipment (centrifuges, incubators, balances, refrigerators), test and measurement instruments, and safety products, alongside branded sub-brands including Traceable (NIST-traceable calibration instruments), Environmental Express, Environmental Express Oakton, Digi-Sense, Spex, and the i-FILL single-use dispensing pump. The TraceableLIVE platform adds cloud-based remote monitoring, instant alerts, secure data logging, and automated compliance reporting on top of Wi-Fi- and Ethernet-enabled Traceable instruments, and InnoCal provides recurring calibration services with NIST-traceable documentation.
The company generates revenue primarily through direct hardware sales (catalog equipment and consumables) with unit pricing, volume discounts via a Buy More And Save program, and quote-based pricing for custom or non-catalog items, supplemented by professional calibration services. Go-to-market is sales-led, anchored by an e-commerce storefront at coleparmer.com, telephone sales (1-800-323-4340), a US dealer network, and regional support offices in Canada, China, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom. Customer segments are led by pharmaceutical and biotechnology buyers (drug discovery, quality control, genomics, vaccine development), with environmental, food and beverage, education, and government research as secondary verticals. Cole-Parmer operates as a subsidiary of Antylia Scientific, following its 2014 carve-out from Thermo Fisher Scientific for $480 million by GTCR, and was recapitalized in 2019 with Golden Gate Capital alongside GTCR; the most recent disclosed acquisition was SPEX SamplePrep in January 2023.
Cole-Parmer firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cole-Parmer
- Legal name
- Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, LLC
- Website
- https://coleparmer.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1956
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Cole-Parmer is a Vernon Hills, Illinois-based manufacturer and direct distributor of specialty laboratory equipment, fluid handling, water quality testing, and NIST-traceable calibration instruments, serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, environmental, food and beverage, education, and government research customers globally under the Antylia Scientific umbrella.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cole-Parmer industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Laboratory Equipment and Scientific Instruments
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Pump and Compressor Manufacturing (33391), Rubber and Plastics Hoses and Belting Manufacturing (326220), Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (423450), Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing (334514)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Gaskets, Packg & Sealg Devices & Rubber & Plastics Hose (3050), Wholesale-Medical, Dental & Hospital Equipment & Supplies (5047), Totalizing Fluid Meters & Counting Devices (3824)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Laboratory Consumables & Plasticware (Tips, Tubes, Plates, Filters) (HLAGAIAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Diagnostic & Laboratory Packaging (Specimen Containers, Transport Tubes) (IMALAIAF)
Keywords
Where Cole-Parmer is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vernon Hills
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Cole-Parmer business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Lab Equipment and Instruments: Sale of laboratory equipment including pH meters, peristaltic pumps, balances, centrifuges, and other analytical instruments
- Laboratory Consumables and Supplies: Sale of consumable products including tubing, filters, glassware, plasticware, chemicals, and safety products
- Calibration Services: Professional calibration services for instruments, offered through InnoCal brand
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard product pricing with volume discounts |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Quote-based pricing for special requests |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Cole-Parmer product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cole-Parmer manufactures and distributes specialty laboratory equipment, instruments, and consumables for pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, environmental, and research markets. The product portfolio spans pH meters, peristaltic pumps, flexible tubing, balances, centrifuges, water quality instruments, safety products, and Traceable brand calibration devices, supported by professional calibration services and the TraceableLIVE cloud-based remote monitoring platform.
Product overview
Cole-Parmer is a manufacturer and distributor of specialty laboratory equipment serving pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, and other research-based markets. The company operates as a comprehensive laboratory equipment and supplies platform offering products across multiple categories including water quality products (pH meters, electrodes, turbidity meters), fluid handling (peristaltic pumps from Watson-Marlow, flexible tubing), laboratory equipment (centrifuges, incubators, shakers), test and measurement, and safety products. Cole-Parmer distributes both its own branded products (Cole-Parmer, Traceable, Environmental Express, Oakton, Digi-Sense, Spex) and represents third-party manufacturers. The company also provides services including calibration (through InnoCal), custom temperature probe manufacturing, and the Cole-Parmer Lab Setup Program. Their Traceable brand offers NIST-traceable calibration instruments with cloud connectivity through the TraceableLIVE platform for real-time environmental monitoring.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Traceable: Brand offering monitoring instruments, digital thermometers, and calibration products with NIST-traceable calibration services.
- TraceableLIVE
- VapLock
- i-FILL
Products and services
- pH Meters Digital pH measurement instruments for laboratory, industrial, and field use, available in benchtop, handheld, and pocket configurations with automatic temperature compensation and multi-point calibration.
- Peristaltic Pumps Precision fluid handling pumps using peristaltic technology for laboratory, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications, available in fixed and variable speed models from Watson-Marlow.
- Flexible Tubing Specialized tubing and hose products including silicone, Viton, Tygon, PTFE, and pump tubing for fluid handling applications across laboratory and industrial settings.
- Traceable Brand NIST-Traceable Calibration Instruments NIST-traceable calibration instruments including digital thermometers, monitoring hygrometers, data logging thermometers, and Wi-Fi data loggers for temperature monitoring and compliance reporting.
- Digi-Sense Instrumentation and Measurement Products Instrumentation and measurement products for laboratory and industrial applications sold under the Digi-Sense brand.
- Spex Sample Preparation Equipment Sample preparation and analytical equipment offered under the Spex brand, added through the acquisition of SPEX SamplePrep.
- Environmental Express Water Quality Testing Products Water quality testing products including pH meters, buffer solutions, conductivity standards, electrodes, and environmental sampling equipment.
- Oakton Premium Water Quality Instruments Premium water quality instruments including pH meters, ion meters, and portable meters for laboratory and field applications.
- TraceableLIVE Cloud-Based Remote Monitoring Platform Cloud-based remote monitoring platform that connects to Traceable Wi-Fi and Ethernet enabled instruments to provide real-time visibility, instant alerts, secure data logging, and automated compliance reporting.
- i-FILL Single-Use Dispensing Pump Single-use dispensing pump technology for protecting sensitive fluids with repeatable performance in pharmaceutical and biotech applications.
- VapLock Closed-System Solvent Safety Products Closed system products for solvent containment that reduce vapor exposure and hazardous waste in laboratory settings.
- InnoCal Calibration Services Professional calibration services for laboratory instruments through InnoCal, including certificate documentation and NIST-traceable calibration.
- Cole-Parmer Lab Setup Program Comprehensive lab setup service to help customers configure and establish their laboratory equipment and workflows.
- Custom Temperature Probes Custom-designed temperature probes tailored to specific application requirements.
Companies that use Cole-Parmer
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Cole-Parmer technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Cole-Parmer partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Antylia ScientificparentCole-Parmer is described as 'an Antylia Scientific company.' Antylia Scientific is the parent company that also owns sister brands including Environmental Express, ZeptoMetrix, and other laboratory equipment and supplies brands.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cole-Parmer competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hanna Instruments: Specialist manufacturer of pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and other water-quality measurement instruments. A close direct competitor to Cole-Parmer's Environmental Express/Oakton water quality and pH meter lines.
- Watson-Marlow: Specialist in peristaltic pumps and fluid handling technology for pharma and biotech. Cole-Parmer explicitly distributes Watson-Marlow pumps, and the two compete in the same pharmaceutical fluid handling category.
- Sartorius: Bioprocessing and lab equipment manufacturer serving pharma and biotech with fluid handling, filtration, and weighing products. Directly comparable to Cole-Parmer's fluid handling, filtration, and balances categories, especially in bioprocess applications.
- Mettler-Toledo: Global leader in precision balances, pipetting, and analytical measurement instruments. Directly comparable to Cole-Parmer's balances and scales and test/measurement categories, especially in pharma QC labs.
- Eppendorf: Specialist in liquid handling, cell handling, and sample preparation instruments for life-science labs. Competes directly with Cole-Parmer's peristaltic pumps, pipettes, and benchtop lab equipment categories.
- Avantor (VWR): Distribution-led lab supplies and equipment provider (VWR brand) with a comparable catalog-distributor model serving pharma, biotech, and academic customers. Overlaps directly with Cole-Parmer's e-commerce catalog and core lab-consumables and equipment offering.
Broad incumbents
- Thermo Fisher Scientific: Former owner of Cole-Parmer and the dominant global scientific instruments and lab supplies company. It competes across the same pH meters, fluid handling, and lab consumables categories, but at much greater scale and with a bundled reagent-plus-instrument go-to-market motion.
- PerkinElmer (now Revvity): Analytical instruments and life sciences provider covering environmental, food, and pharma testing. Overlaps with Cole-Parmer's environmental testing, water quality, and analytical lab equipment categories.
- Agilent Technologies: Major analytical instrument and life-science tools vendor with chromatography, spectrometry, and lab automation products. Competes with Cole-Parmer's higher-end analytical instrument categories and has a much larger R&D budget.
Emerging players
- InnovaPrep: Smaller specialist in sample preparation and bioaerosol/concentration technologies that competes with parts of Cole-Parmer's fluid handling and sample prep portfolio, including the recently acquired SPEX SamplePrep line.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cole-Parmer social profiles
Digital presenceCole-Parmer financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cole-Parmer leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Cole-Parmer subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
Cole-Parmer funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cole-Parmer M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cole-Parmer
What does Cole-Parmer do?
Cole-Parmer manufactures and distributes specialty laboratory equipment, instruments, and consumables for pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, environmental, and research markets. The product portfolio spans pH meters, peristaltic pumps, flexible tubing, balances, centrifuges, water quality instruments, safety products, and Traceable brand calibration devices, supported by professional calibration services and the TraceableLIVE cloud-based remote monitoring platform.
Is Cole-Parmer a public or private company?
Cole-Parmer is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Cole-Parmer founded?
Cole-Parmer was founded in 1956. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Cole-Parmer based?
Cole-Parmer is headquartered in Vernon Hills, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cole-Parmer make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Lab Equipment and Instruments are the primary driver. The others are laboratory Consumables and Supplies and calibration Services.
Who are Cole-Parmer's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hanna Instruments, Watson-Marlow, Sartorius, Mettler-Toledo, Eppendorf and Avantor (VWR). Broad incumbents are Thermo Fisher Scientific, PerkinElmer (now Revvity) and Agilent Technologies. InnovaPrep is listed as an emerging player.
Does Cole-Parmer have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cole-Parmer.
What industry is Cole-Parmer in?
Cole-Parmer's product category is Laboratory Equipment and Scientific Instruments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAH, Laboratory Consumables & Plasticware (Tips, Tubes, Plates, Filters), with a secondary code of IMALAIAF, Diagnostic & Laboratory Packaging (Specimen Containers, Transport Tubes). Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.