Behind every Lion product lies a story of precision, innovation, and engineering excellence, writes Mahdokht Aghel of J.L.Lennard.
In Australia and New Zealand, the company’s packaging operations show how cutting-edge technology can boost both quality and efficiency, with Lion’s collaboration with Taptone playing a key role in this transformation.
J.L.Lennard spoke with Ross Anderson, senior packaging engineer at Lion, who has spent more than a decade contributing to the company’s ongoing journey of packaging excellence. As part of a dedicated technical team, Anderson works on every detail of Lion’s packaging across its Australian and New Zealand operations – from defining material specifications to ensuring that every finished product meets the highest standards in the market.
“Our work touches everything from machinery selection to sustainability initiatives,” Anderson explains. “We’re constantly exploring ways to reduce material usage, increase recycled content, and adopt technologies that make packaging smarter, faster, and more reliable.”
Precision engineering meets operational flexibility
Lion first integrated Taptone equipment in 2020, starting with one site and expanding to other facilities. A key driver for choosing Taptone was its advanced pressure detection and level inspection capabilities, which allow Lion to streamline leak detection and improve operational efficiency across a wide range of beverages and container types.
“The Taptone systems have become our go-to solution for container inspection and fill-level detection,” Anderson says. “They catch subtle deviations that older systems failed to identify. With the flexibility to handle different containers in the future, we’re essentially future proofing our production lines.”
Across the network, commonality of parts and functionality has empowered engineering team members to move between lines seamlessly, minimising downtime and maximising productivity.
Enhancing quality and efficiency
The impact of Taptone is tangible. Early installation challenges, such as validating upright can pressure detection, were quickly addressed with support from JL Lennard technicians. The result: fewer false rejects, smoother line operations, and confidence that every product leaving the facility meets exacting standards.
“One challenge was developing a reliable protocol for test containers to validate the system daily,” Anderson recalls. “It took some engineering ingenuity, but now it’s fully integrated into our operations, and the performance improvements speak for themselves.”
The power of a Centre of Excellence
Much of this success stems from Lion’s Packaging Centre of Excellence, a technical hub that oversees packaging, quality, engineering, and sustainability. This cross-functional approach ensures that new equipment purchases meet validated technology standards while supporting best practices across all production lines.
Looking to the future
Anderson is particularly interested in online inspection systems that could analyse container integrity in real time, reducing the need for labour-intensive offline checks. “A system like that would allow us to continuously monitor quality, save time, and guarantee consistency,” he says.
Reflecting on Lion’s collaboration with Taptone and J.L.Lennard, Anderson concludes: “The ease of use, accuracy, and actionable trend data have been game-changing. I would absolutely recommend Taptone equipment and J.L.Lennard as a partner to other companies in the beverage and packaging industry.”
Setting the standard
Thanks to Lion’s scale, Taptone’s precision, and J.L.Lennard’s expertise, Australia and New Zealand’s beverage packaging is entering an exciting new era of innovation. Every container and every fill represent not just a product, but a story of engineering, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of perfection.
For Ross Anderson and his team, packaging is more than a process – it’s a craft, and each innovation is a step toward redefining what world-class beverage packaging can achieve.
This article was first published in the November–December 2025 print issue of PKN Packaging News, p52
