This episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations is the opening session of our June 25 Spotlight on Scaling Up seminar. Alf Taylor, Managing Director & Co-founder at TNA Solutions, and Nadia Taylor, the company's Director and Co-founder, share their story.
The keynote speakers share their adventure from husband-and-wife engineering consultancy to an international food packaging and processing solution provider with a headcount of over 600 and offices in 30 countries, which began with one invention for bagging snack food quicker than anything else available.
Episode guide
0:36 – Introduction to the event and the presenters
5:02 – How Alf and Nadia Taylor met. “We fell in love among the potato chips” at Arnott’s Snack Foods.
6:22 – The company’s origins and the breakthrough invention, the Robag.
7:45 – Customer Smith’s Chips Australia funds the first Robag.
9:15 – The intention was always to remain a family-owned business.
10:05 – Setting up the first overseas office in Birmingham, UK.
11:20 – The difficulties of being Australian and some unfair preconceptions.
12:20 – The ANCA connection.
14:15 – Patent protection didn’t stop three overseas copycats. It took five years and $6.5 million, but they won the case and $8.5 million.
16:05 – Going from a bagging equipment maker to providing the entire line to food companies.
19:30 – Maintaining customer relations across so many markets.
20:30 – Middle East misunderstandings.
22:03 – The company’s biggest project.
23:01 – The origins and focus of the Nadia and Alf Taylor Foundation.
26:10 – If you’re dedicated, you can make an internationally-relevant business. It doesn’t even have to be high-tech.
28:18 – Even with the headaches, patents were still worthwhile.
29:35 – The importance of an early grant to help get overseas.
31:10 – Australia is a brilliant place to do it, believes TNA.
Further reading
Spotlight on Scaling Up event wrap-up
TNA solutions offers digital twins technology for food manufacturers
Australia’s niche champions – tna Solutions innovates to success
