Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

One Knoxville manufacturer is responsible for every customized Gatorade bottle on the planet. Those patented caps you’ve seen at the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and the Olympics, every single one came out of John Lin’s facility in Hardin Valley.

But Lin isn’t resting on that contract. When he took over as principal at Technical Response, he made a deliberate bet: automate aggressively, then use that efficiency to diversify into new markets. So far, it’s working.

“When I took over as CEO, my focus shifted toward diversification and efficiency. Our business was completely dependent on another business, and now we’re in a much better place,” Lin said.

From one product to many

Teknovation first toured the Technical Response facility in 2024, when Lin — then vice president of global operations — believed customization was the company’s primary growth engine. The Gatorade customization program launched in December 2023, and within the first year, volume jumped nearly fivefold.

Three years later, that growth has leveled off. Rather than chase the same ceiling, Lin redirected his energy toward the 84,000-square-foot facility’s broader capabilities.

Today, Technical Response’s product lineup extends well beyond water bottles. Top sellers now include back massagers sold on Amazon, guardian owls, FancyPans, select medical devices, and compression molds for a range of applications. Lin sees particular opportunity in compression molding, a market currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers, and plans to build an in-house mold-making and repair service to capture domestic demand. He said an apprenticeship program to develop that expertise in-house is also in the works.

The automation advantage

The diversification push is only possible because of what Technical Response has built on the floor. The Hardin Valley facility runs 26 injection molding machines ranging from 40 to 650 tons, along with a fleet of custom-built machines that have dramatically accelerated production.

One of them was built specifically for the Gatorade bottle caps. Lin’s fastest time assembling a cap by hand: 69 seconds. The robot arm does it in seven seconds flat.

The bottle-blowing machines are equally as effective. At peak production, a single machine can produce 2.45 million bottles per year. Technical Response runs seven of them. You can imagine the output possibilities of this product.

“Labor availability continues to be a challenge across manufacturing, impacting both cost and viability. To address this, we’ve built an in-house automation team and established trusted external partnerships to design and implement custom automation solutions,” Lin said.

Robotic arms are now stationed throughout the facility, programmed to handle repetitive tasks and equipped with sensors that allow them to work alongside employees safely. Lin said the shift toward automation has pushed him to hire more engineers, a trend he expects to continue.

The next addition arrives in July: a humanoid robot the team will use to explore new automation possibilities.

“Here, we are adapting to technology very fast. We’re even getting a humanoid for our team to play with. It will be here in July,” Lin said.

With all of the changes to his facility, Lin said he and his team are also stepping into a consulting role, working with other Knoxville-area manufacturers to implement lean practices and new automation techniques. He is confident that his team can implement automation faster than the international competition, with a better price tag and shorter run time to begin operations.

It’s his way of saying that Technical Response may have some automation and diversification lessons worth exporting across the region, to help other American manufacturers be more successful.

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