Unilever is expanding deployment of AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network, with more than 40 new virtual production twins scheduled to go live over the next 18 months in partnership with Accenture.
The rollout builds on proof-of-concept results from existing deployments, where digital twins have delivered measurable improvements in waste reduction, capacity uplift and quality control across personal care, home care and other product categories.
At Unilever's Raeford facility in North Carolina, a digital twin supporting deodorant stick production predicted 95 per cent of process flow restrictions in manufacturing, enabling 20 per cent waste reduction and 10 per cent capacity increase. The system identifies issues earlier and allows manufacturing teams to simulate scenarios and optimise production cycles in real-time.
At the Gandhidham site in India, digital twin technology reduced quality defects for Dove soap bars by 30 per cent over four years through real-time control recommendations applied before distribution.
Across home care manufacturing, digital twins have also optimised ingredient dosing and energy consumption. At the Củ Chi plant in Vietnam, an AI-powered intelligent mixer system achieved 1-2 per cent savings in premium ingredient use whilst maintaining product quality. At the Haldia plant in India, an energy-focused digital twin optimised fan speeds, temperature setpoints and moisture controls, delivering tangible thermal energy reduction over two years.
Adam Raeburn-James, global vice president for digital business operations at Unilever, said scaling AI across operations was 'a commitment to superior products, sustainability and empowering our teams across our factories'. The digital twin rollout supports Unilever's climate target to reduce absolute operational greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent by 2030 from a 2015 baseline.
Nicole van Det, chief executive at Accenture Netherlands and Nordics, said Unilever was 'setting the benchmark for how industrial AI creates measurable value in the consumer goods sector'.
Unilever scales AI-powered digital twins across global manufacturing
