DENI FERFOLJA CELEBRATES 30 YEARS WITH tna

Here at tna, we believe that our successful business is entirely down to our people, who make tna a great place to work and a great company to do business with. This quarter, we shine the spotlight on design engineer Deni Ferfolja, who has been with tna since 1984, and has just celebrated his 30th year with the company.

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Asked about how he landed his first job at tna, Deni recalls how Alf contacted the university he was studying at, looking for a talented young graduate engineer for some contract design work. Of the two selected, Deni was the only one to show up on the day of the interview, so was offered the position. Asked how long he thought he would take to see the job to completion, Deni answered, “Six weeks.” And the rest is history…

Deni’s very first job was to proof read tna founder Alf Taylor’s design brief for the groundbreaking robag^® 1 prototype. He remembers how their early drawings were all done in pencil on drawing boards and telexed around the world, before finally switching to their first computer; a 640KB, 10MB IBM XT clone in the mid eighties. Fast forward to 2014 and 3D CAD design technology, and Deni is as passionate and dedicated to his craft as ever, continuing to work on new modules and ancillary equipment to extend robag^® functionality.

Over the past three decades, Deni has accumulated invaluable knowledge of the packaging industry and has certainly seen tna through many changes. What has remained the same though, is that tna remains true to its original core values. ‘At tna, people are treated with respect – we’re a dedicated team who’ll always try to help each other out,’ Deni shares. ‘It’s great to work in an environment of engineering innovation, supported by a great team around the world.’

He understands the importance of building long-term relationships, both among his colleagues and with customers, and appreciates that there is the constant drive to improve and expand the product portfolio. On what he might consider his greatest achievement at tna so far, he says it is building the first 40 R2 machines after the prototype, designing, coordinating and building the first R2Ci integrated machines, and designing and building the prototype of the Trenza machine, before developing the final end product.

Deni says, “These 30 years with tna have been extremely fulfilling. It is inspiring to work for a company that started from humble beginnings to become a world leader in packaging, with more than 250 employees globally. Because tna continues to grow, there is always plenty of interesting work and scope for development. I’m thankful to have been given many opportunities throughout my career at tna. Each employee is well-supported, respected and made to feel a valued member of the tna family.”

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