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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

FastLane - Bar Code Scanner Upgrade

With the help of: Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP)

About

Mike-Sell's Potato Chip Company, a producer of potato chips and other snack foods, is one of Dayton’s most iconic companies. Mike-Sell’s bills itself as the oldest continuous operating potato chip company in the United States. The company celebrated its 100th birthday in 2010. Mike-Sell's products are produced in Dayton and Indianapolis. Their potato chips continue to be produced at the same Dayton location that was used when the company first started in 1910.

The Challenge

The manufacturing facility had a single point of failure: an obsolete bar code scanner that every single bag of chips had to pass through. This piece of equipment not only tracked the production throughput, but it also rejected off-quality products. This scanner and its PLC (programmable logic controller, an industrial computer control system) had no replacement parts available, jeopardizing the daily production of Mike-Sell's beloved chips! Mike-Sell's turned to FastLane, part of the Ohio MEP and the MEP National Network™, for help.
The Mike-Sells team is extremely pleased with the results of the project and the overall positive impact to our manufacturing operations. Many thanks to the UDRI/FastLane team for their support and involvement with the project! 
— Steve Hangen, CIO

MEP's Role

FastLane and the third-party solution provider worked with Mike-Sell's staff to determine that replacing the same bar code scanner was not the best solution. Instead, a new bar code scanner/PLC was installed, which provides additional functionality and aids the production operational metrics including improved scanning accuracy, new visual display dashboard providing throughput tracking and a 24-hour support line. Working with FastLane and the third-party integrator allowed Mike-Sells to have a smooth integration with a vertical start-up, resulting in a positive impact to both production and operations.  

Created February 1, 2022