Couldn’t do business without you! BUSINESS BEHIND THE SCENE

By LISA LOEWEN

Photos by JASON DAILEY

Topeka is home to numerous manufacturing companies that produce everything from potato chips to tires, pet food to printed materials, steel fixtures to awnings. These large companies and the products they make are well-known household names. But what is not so well-known are the local companies working behind the scenes to provide products and services to keep those manufacturers up and running.

When you think of Frito-Lay, Mars Wrigley or Hill’s Pet Nutrition, you can almost envision the machines on the factory floor, the conveyor belts moving product down the assembly lines as their mechanical parts hum and buzz. Consider the software and technology required to keep all those machines working together, optimizing efficiency and coordinating processes, and the depth of knowledge required to keep those systems integrated. That is where Automation Controls Inc. comes in.