Full speed ahead in 2015: See what’s next!
support | 3 mins read
January 16, 2015
Alf Taylor, tna co-founder and chief executive officer, takes a look back at 2014 and the trends having a significant impact on the food processing industry leading into 2015.
2014 was an exciting time for tna. After kicking off the year with several new product launches, we celebrated our acquisition of FOODesign at interpack 2014 – without doubt, this was one of the highlights of our year! After joining with the leading food processing equipment provider, we are proud to say we can now offer total solutions to manufacturers worldwide offering effective, turnkey results.
Our team has significantly expanded over the last twelve months too. With numerous key appointments and new offices in Germany and Thailand, our commitment to servicing customers’ needs, no matter where they are in the world, remains at the forefront of everything we do. And as we kick off the New Year, we start to look forward to what lies ahead and how we can continue to evolve and meet the ever changing demands of our customers and the food packaging & processing industry.
Reaching new heights
With the food packaging and processing market expected to see record growth over the next decade , the industry is also projected to reach new heights in terms of technology. Performance, in particular, lies at the heart of any food processing line. In line with this, we anticipate the performance of vertical packaging systems to dramatically improve and reach levels previously not believed possible. At one time, industry leaders maintained that snack foods could not be packaged faster than 85bpm. Now we’re expecting them to reach a staggering 250bpm – and relatively soon too!
At the same time, however, consumer demand for reduced bag sizes in healthier snack options and new flavour variations creates significant challenges for equipment manufacturers when it comes to optimising overall throughput efficiency. Performance and production line design flexibility are therefore imperative to minimise periods of downtime for product changeovers and set-up.
Automation, automation, automation
At the end of 2013, we identified increased system automation as one of the main trends driving innovation in the sector. Growing levels of consolidation within the packaging and processing industries means that there is growing demand for all elements of the entire production line to work together seamlessly. By providing functionality and giving users more value, effective control systems ensure the whole line can be controlled from a single point. Over the past year, we have seen a number of food processors making the giant leap to automating their entire production lines and we believe this tendency will only increase over the next twelve months.
Total solutions approach
One of the main trends, which continues to drive global growth, is the demand for increased system integration. Lead by rising demand for greater system efficiency and performance, more processes such as design, purchasing, installation and maintenance are being outsourced. By subcontracting all equipment to one total solutions provider, there is more focus on customer needs to have sophisticated technologies that offer flexibility, simplicity and efficiency. Equally, operators do not have to employ their own engineers and can be sure that each process is dealt with by an expert.
At tna, we welcome the challenges which lie ahead and look forward to continue working alongside our customers to find innovative systems and services that suit their needs.
Here’s to a successful 2015 – stay tuned to find out more about our upcoming innovations!
