Luca Menassi, General Manager Asia, TNA Solutions, explains how integrated technologies are helping confectionery manufacturers improve precision and efficiency
As confectionery manufacturers face growing product diversity, cost pressure and operational complexity, the ability to simplify production while maintaining precision and efficiency is becoming a key competitive advantage.
At interpack 2026, TNA Solutions previewed its next-generation confectionery innovations under the theme ‘innovation simplified’, demonstrating how advanced engineering and integrated system design can help producers improve throughput, consistency and flexibility across high-mix environments.
Today’s mogul lines must handle a wide range of products – from single-colour jellies and marshmallows to layered, centre-filled and functional gummies – each with different processing requirements. Maintaining consistent depositing accuracy across these variations is critical, as it directly impacts multihead weigher performance and the number of confectionery pieces per bag. Even small deviations in depositing can impact product quality and yield.
To address this, TNA has introduced a new top-driven depositing pump that ensures uniform stroke across the entire pump array, regardless of position. This enables precise and consistent weight control and cavity filling across a broad range of recipes. When combined with an optional servo-driven valve bar, the system provides greater accuracy and repeatability, supporting more complex formulations. This innovation is fully retrofittable on legacy TNA models and is also designed to be compatible with all moguls in the market.
Enhanced Precision
Precision is further enhanced through the integration of an in-line tray weighing system, which measures product weight both before and after depositing. This enables real-time adjustment of pump stroke during operation, replacing traditional manual sampling with continuous monitoring. The result is tighter weight control, reduced product giveaway and improved yield – particularly important for high-value or functional formulations.
Starch handling, another critical stage in starch-moulded confectionery production, has also been re-engineered. A new spring-loaded seal mechanism, integrated within a patented starch filling containment system, creates a controlled environment during filling, levelling and transport. By preventing overflow at tray edges, the system reduces contamination and eliminates the need for compressed air cleaning. This not only improves hygiene and reduces starch loss but also enhances safety in ATEX-sensitive environments while lowering energy consumption.
Flexibility
Flexibility and uptime remain essential in high-mix production environments, where frequent product changeovers are driven by seasonal launches, limited editions and expanding product portfolios. TNA’s clean-in-place hopper design, combined with remote-controlled compartment valves, enables autonomous deep cleaning of all internal surfaces.
In addition, a redesigned piston bar mechanism reduces mechanical changeover time by approximately five minutes per change. For operations performing multiple changeovers per day, this translates into significant gains in line availability and overall equipment effectiveness.
