Snaxpo 2018
tna’s robag 5 doubles bagging speed for 100-calorie confections and snacks
The company’s previous system had speeds of 140 bags per minute.
According to Shayne De la Force, tna’s chief marketing officer, the robag 5 was driven by consumer demand for smaller snack packs, especially those under 100 calories.
“Millennials are the biggest snack consumers in North America, representing around 27% of the US savory snack consumers. They need convenience, sustainability, and healthier options,” De la Force told BakeryandSnacks at Snaxpo, held in Atlanta, Georgia, last week.
“[The new system] is able to double the packaging speed aimed at mostly small bags with the same footprint,” he added.
“Traditionally, the maximum [number of bags] most potato chips manufacturers are doing is between 100 and 120 per minute, and there are a couple who are doing 135 to 140, but that’s very rare.”
The challenge for snack companies is they need to add extra production to their packaging systems if they are doing a mix of 20g bags and 50g bags, De la Force noted.
“With robag 5… you can actually do away with six extra machines that you would actually need to be able to do these smaller bags,” he said and manufacturers can expect “a very quick return on investment” after they purchase the equipment.
However, De la Force said manufacturers who own tna’s previous bagging technology will not be able to get a discount for the updated version.
New features
tna has added new features to robag 5, including a tna intelli-weigh 0220 omega high-speed scale, which features 20 weigh heads.
In addition, tna’s adoption of the ultrasonic back seal technology has enabled its engineers to overcome the thermal transfer limitations of traditional heat seal methods to provide better seal integrity.
Performance 5.0
De la Force told BakeryandSnacks robag 5 is part of tna’s Performance 5.0, the company’s full line of high-speed packaging technology.
Performance 5.0 also includes a recently launched ropac 5 case packer, which can pack 300 bags per minute.
“That’s why we needed a packaging system that operates at a similar speed to feed into the case packer,” he said.
