MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) Dapada factory, which manufactures home care products like Surf excel, Rin, and Vim, has joined the `Lighthouse Network’. In a statement, HUL said Dapada is the first FMCG manufacturing site in India which has been accorded this status.
The Global Lighthouse Network is a community of manufacturing sites recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for applying advanced technologies, innovations, and sustainable practices to modernise business operations. The Network includes sites that have implemented end-to-end digitisation across the value chain, pushing the boundaries of technological advancement.
Read More:-Too early to predict impact of Russia-Ukraine war on Indian economy: Pinaki Chakraborty
Such technologies result in reduced manufacturing cost, greater agility, and speed. As a result, the Dapada site has shown a clear impact through the reduction of manufacturing cost (per ton) by 39% and end-to-end product development lead time by 50%.
Established in 2001, the Dapada site produces three million units per day for brands like Surf excel, Vim, Rin and Wheel. This site started its digital journey in 2018 and is known to be the first Unilever dedicated home care site globally to be recognised as an E2E lighthouse factory, paving the way for rapid digital transformation in South Asia.
Sanjiv Mehta, President of Unilever South Asia and Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever, said: “The WEF recognition is a testament to our sustained focus on making the Supply Chain future fit as part of our ‘Reimagine HUL’ agenda. This is the first time an FMCG factory in India has been awarded this status, and I hope more will follow as Unilever increasingly digitises its supply chain function. I would like to thank all our employees in Dapada who have leveraged the factory’s transformation and transitioned to this new, digital way of working.”
Read More: National Pension System: Govt mulls ways to make NPS more attractive
HUL said through this transformation, the factory was able to reduce its carbon footprint, enhance productivity and provide superior product quality to consumers while being mindful of cost competitiveness in an increasingly challenging market.
“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,” says Willem Uijen, Unilever’s Head of Supply Chain for South Asia and Southeast Asia.