TNA’s countdown to interpack innovations gathers pace

For its part, Australian headquartered TNA Solutions will showcase how confectionery manufacturers can simplify increasingly complex production environments while improving throughput, consistency and efficiency, under the theme ‘innovation simplified,’ writes Neill Barston.

Notably, as Confectionery Production has previously covered, the business has placed significant investment into enhancing automation features across its processing and packaging machinery portfolio.

Its advanced capabilities will be ably demonstrated at this year’s interpack, between 7-13, with the company exhibiting in Hall 14, stands C56 & D56. (see our exclusive video with event director Thomas Dohse below).

As a complete confectionery line solutions partner, the company is enabling producers to do more with less — reducing waste, minimising manual intervention with its inherent risks and maximising equipment availability across the entire line.

With manufacturers facing growing SKU complexity, labour shortages and rising operational costs, the firm’s upcoming mogul enhancements are designed to boost productivity, enable faster changeovers and improve process control.

Delivering reliable outputs of over 3,000 kg per hour, these innovations maximise throughput and product quality while reducing waste and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). They are particularly suited to jelly, gummy, marshmallows and liquorice applications, where precision and flexibility are critical.

TNA is redefining starch tray filling — traditionally one of the most critical operations for ensuring high-quality mould printing and uniform starch dispersion. A new spring-loaded seal mechanism, integrated within a patented starch filling containment system, creates a controlled environment during filling, levelling and transport, preventing overflow at tray edges and eliminating the need for further compressed air cleaning.

As the company notes, the results include cleaner trays and more consistent stacking, supporting stable downstream processing, reduced airborne starch dust, improving operator safety and equipment hygiene in ATEX-sensitive environment, Lower starch losses. There is also reportedly reduced energy consumption by eliminating compressed air use.

As confectionery formats become more complex — from layered and centre-filled products to premium textures — weight accuracy is emerging as a critical cost driver. Even small inconsistencies can lead to significant product giveaway or costly rework at scale.

To address this, TNA has developed an in-line tray weighing system that measures product weight in real time, both before and after depositing. This allows the mogul to self-adjust the pump stroke dynamically during production, ensuring consistent weight control across every batch.
By replacing traditional manual sampling with continuous monitoring, manufacturers can significantly reduce product giveaway and waste. At the same time, early detection of out-of-spec trays enables faulty product to be removed before downstream processing, protecting yield and maintaining consistent product quality throughout the line.

tna remote support systems have helped companies including Mister Bee. Pic: tna

Key considerations 
As the business noted, flexibility is essential in today’s high-mix confectionery environment, where manufacturers must manage frequent product changes, seasonal launches and multiple SKUs.

Furthermore, TNA’s clean-in-place (CIP) hoppers and remote-controlled hopper compartment valves are designed to significantly reduce changeover time, minimise machine and factory contamination, and improve operator safety. Sealed hopper lids, equipped with high-force cleaning balls, enable autonomous deep cleaning of all internal contaminated surfaces while preventing spillage or spray escape.

The automated hopper compartment, fully integrated into the hopper and lid design, allows operators to remotely configure hopper settings and lock them to the selected recipe, reducing the risk of human error and avoiding unnecessary downtime.

In addition, TNA’s latest piston valve design simplifies the changeover process, reducing it by approximately five minutes per change. For operations performing multiple changeovers per day, this translates into a meaningful increase in available production time and overall line productivity.
Combined, these innovations eliminate the need for operators to access the machine for piston bar changes, hopper cleaning or valve compartment adjustments. This reduces labour requirements, saving up to 25 minutes per changeover, while also creating a safer and cleaner working environment.
By minimising downtime and simplifying maintenance, manufacturers can respond more quickly to changing production demands without compromising throughput or efficiency.

As the company noted, its advanced  new top-driven pump architecture delivers improvements in both performance and usability. This has been designed as  a modular system, it simplifies installation, maintenance and upgrades, reducing the need for complex disassembly and minimising disruption to production.

The new piston bar drive architecture ensures uniform piston stroke across the entire pump array, regardless of position and location, enabling precise and consistent weight control in every candy piece.