The move is a bid to meet the demands of food processors for one-stop suppliers who can andprovide intergrated processing and packaging lines.
Australian-based TNA, which has supplied packaging equipment for the past 20 years, said it willinitially target snack food manufacturers. It is starting up its processing division by offering anut and legume fryer, and a spiral conveyor.
The nut and legume fryer users a lower volume of oil compared to competing products, while thespiral conveyor allows users to heat, cool or proof their products, the company claimed.
"Our goal is to evolve from being a manufacturer of packaging machinery to pioneering the supply of seamless packaging and processing solutions," said Alf Taylor, TNA'smanaging director.
By offering customers a complete processing and packaging production line, TNA says it can nowinclude operational elements such as power supply, voice and data cabling, wastewater management and buildingdesign as part of its installation service.
"And by accommodating these demands with greater speed, flexibility, quality, reliability and less wastage, TNA delivers lower costs per bag per minute, while reducing ongoing running and maintenance costs," said Taylor.
With the availability of a turn-key processing and packaging production line, project managers no longer have to 'cherry-pick' and coordinate multiple quotes from multiplesuppliers, said Mario Pino, international sales manager of TNA's processing division.
"There are many experts in the world, manufacturing high quality equipment, but only produce a small piece of the entire line," said Pino.
As a solutions provider, TNA claims its new division is not just a response from problems posed by customers. It also involves improvements to existing machinery.
TNA supplies turn-key, integrated packaging and processing equipment for food production companiesworldwide. It has an installed base of about 2,000 systems.