Interpack live: Tna Solutions enters virtual reality realm with new brand positioning

09 May 2023 --- Tna Solutions is exploring virtual reality at Interpack 2023 with its Extended Reality (XR) technology that enables remote commissioning, installation and maintenance of production lines while reducing its carbon footprint.

Thiago Roriz, chief operating officer at tna Solutions, tells PackagingInsights that the company waited for Interpack to launch its new products. 

“We are showing, for the first time, a virtual reality. We can go virtually into a factory with the customer. All our resources together with our customers are remote around the world.”

Tna Solutions is also revealing a rebrand for the first time with a new brand positioning related to environmental sustainability. Roriz describes what it is demonstrating at Interpack as “the most innovative launch of product and service, it is all related to virtual reality.”

PackagingInsights is reporting live from Interpack at booth B83 in Hall 8A.

Entering a virtual reality
A headset allows the customer and company to connect inside the factory. One of the functions is to review layouts and the impact of the layout on a factory while working on layout changes. 

Tna Solutions says it waits until Interpack to showcase new developments. Roriz explains that digitalization has streamlined the packaging industry by allowing companies to service their machines remotely. He tells us how during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic, tna Solutions worked to speed up the process of launching remote machine services.

“You have an operator from a customer in a factory close to a machine. He puts a headset on, and our service engineers are supporting them, the expert from a computer sitting at home or maybe in one of our offices.” 

“So that has streamlined the process, whereas before, we would need to send somebody on the airplane. Now the person can have a service that can support our customers in around 30 minutes via remote technology.”

Not having to send a technician to repair machinery leads to a lower carbon footprint, which removes the need to travel.

Innova Market Insights pegged “Meaningful connections” as a top trend in 2023 for packaging. 

The market researcher found that consumers exist in a connected world, and packaging is increasingly seen as a valuable platform for digital engagement. Technologies like QR codes, NFC and AR have begun to emerge in recent years as cost-effectiveness and consumer appetite grow.

Additionally, PackagingInsights recently held a webinar about the connected packaging trend and how it is expected to grow. 

COVID-19 causing change
Roriz explains that COVID-19 did not only increase connected themes in the packaging industry but also how people consumed products. 

“When we were in lockdown, there was a mental health impact on people. What we saw in our industry was snack and comfort food-related. People were consuming more snacks when they were at home. So what we were expecting was reducing sales when actually it was the other way around.”

The boost and peak in the snack industry forced tna Solutions to develop solutions for better and faster production lead times while finding ways of visiting its customers remotely, explains Roriz. At Interpack 2023, tna Solutions shows off its packaging machinery. 

“We developed internal technologies like remote conferencing and videos. So all that brought a lot more speed and technologies to support our remote customers and cope with the high peak demand we saw at that time.”

Revealing a rebrand
Regarding the company’s rebranding, Roriz says that tna Solutions are trying to communicate its value to those who enter its booth at Interpack. 

“We have a lot more of a warm kind of booth where we value the people in the booth as well as the material that we were working to build the booth, which is all [environmentally] sustainable material – wood related – and that’s one of the biggest things we do.”

He continues that the brand’s repositioning during the show is demonstrated “by the people you talk to, the material we use to build the booth, and the products we have in the booth.”

Machine solutions
Tna Solutions is also showcasing many of its packaging machinery at Interpack. What it is calling the “Perfect Fit Fair,” is a vertical form fuel and seal packaging machine with an auto supply system. 

“That is increasing around 3% of the efficiency of the operation of the machine. We have a case packing system that we are launching at 200 bags per minute, whereas the industry usually works at around 120 bags per minute. We are revolutionizing the industry speeds on case packaging processes,” assets Roriz.

Tna Solutions uses virtual reality goggles to help its customers with machine repairs and factory layout. Tna Solutions is also exhibiting the latest iteration of its flagship vertical form fill and seal (VFFS) packaging system, the tna robag 3e, complemented by the tna auto-splice, for the first time in Europe. Together the machines can increase production uptime by up to 5% with a 200mm increase in overall floor space.

The company’s proprietary sustainability calculator is also available for visitors to assess how using single-serration jaws on VFFS packaging systems can help reduce film consumption and enhance environmental sustainability credentials.

Machinery for snack flavoring
A representative at the tna Solutions booth at Interpack also tells us about its OMS5 (on-machine seasoning) for the snack industry. 

“We can apply many flavors and oils. We can put it all in one drum accurately and consistently. We’ve got a vibratory motion for perfect control and to apply the correct amount of seasoning.”

He continues that the OMS5 allows for quick changeovers to get the products onto the market as fast as possible. 

“We’ve got quick changeover kits to do quick flavor changes and we can make quick changes within 10 minutes. So we can produce one flavor and then within 10 minutes produce another flavor.”

“We can package anything from pet food to snacks. So pellets, potato chips, extruded snacks. It’s all been done through the system,” he concludes.

By Sabine Waldeck with live reporting from Radhika Sikaria