HUL’s Dapada unit becomes 1st FMCG factory in India to be recognised as an ‘Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse'

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has joined the Lighthouse Network with its Dapada facility, which produces home care products such as Surf Excel, Rin, and Vim. This is the first FMCG production facility in India to receive this designation. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has designated the Global Lighthouse Network as a group of manufacturing facilities that have applied advanced technology, innovations, and sustainable practices to modernize business operations.

“Using Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies like augmented reality, big data and analytics, and IoT, the Dapada factory deployed artificial intelligence/machine learning-led solutions to accelerate the pace of innovation and speed of response to consumer demand,” said Mr Willem Uijen, Unilever’s Head of Supply Chain for South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Dapada facility has seen a demonstrable benefit as a result of this digital transformation, with a 39% reduction in manufacturing cost (per tonne) and a 50% reduction in end-to-end product development lead time. In a similar vein, the site has been able to cut quality flaws in half. On the sustainability front, Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 54% and water use has decreased by 31%. Making our personnel future-ready was a critical component of the digitization process. As part of the change, 48% of the workers were upskilled and reskilled.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.