World Economic Forum recognizes Hindustan Unilever Limited’s Doomdooma site as a Lighthouse factory

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DIBRUGARH: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has designated Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) Doomdooma site in Tinsukia, Assam, as an Advanced Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) End-to-End Value Chain Lighthouse.

This prestigious recognition comes as a result of the site’s adoption of the 4IR technologies, such as AI, automation, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things at scale. The Doomdooma factory (DDF) will become Unilever’s third plant in South Asia to receive this honour. Previously, the HUL’s Dapada site received this recognition in 2022, followed by the Sonepat site in 2023.

HUL stands out as the only company in India, with three factories in the country earning the Advanced 4IR End-to-End value chain Lighthouse recognition. The World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network honours the most digitally advanced factories that transform operations, enhance efficiency, drive sustainable growth, and upskill their workforce. The Doomdooma site runs the 4IR technology in almost every process, with more than 50 initiatives currently in place across the end-to-end (E2E) supply chain.

Rohit Jawa, CEO and MD, Hindustan Unilever Limited, said, “We are proud of the Doomdooma site securing this prestigious recognition. By integrating advanced technologies, we have revolutionised our operations, significantly enhancing productivity and product quality. Such initiatives are not only beneficial to our business but also represent a significant step towards building a better future.”

Yogesh Mishra, Executive Director, Supply Chain, HUL, said, “This recognition is a testament to our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence and testifies to the increasing strengths of AI and digitisation. It underscores our unwavering commitment to leveraging these technologies to drive efficiency, sustainability, and growth across our operations. We are committed to demonstrating that innovation, sustainability, and workforce development can go hand in hand.

With an annual production capacity of +5.4 billion units and a team of 675, the DDF site, which is India’s largest beauty & wellbeing manufacturing unit, produces over 130+ SKUs of beauty products, including Glow & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Clinic Plus, TRESemmé, and Dove. Operating in a remote region with limited resources, the site partnered with local institutes to create a skilled workforce and was able to implement 50+ digital use cases to improve end-to-end supply chain agility.

Here are some of the key 4IR applications employed at the factory, which led to the Lighthouse recognition:

Boosting e-commerce efficiency

An AI-powered vision system maps product features and detects anomalies in real time. This enables rapid one-click changeovers between products, reducing changeover times by 85%.

Unmissable product superiority through data and insights

Generative AI-enabled consumer insights are used at the site to improve product quality swiftly. The site has achieved 97% accuracy in analysing consumer feedback, which helps in optimising operations.

Dynamic planning to meet real-time demand 

The site uses an AI-enabled digital planning system, analysing over 10,000 product combinations to meet real-time demand, reducing the frozen period from 14 days to one, and improving product availability by 92%.

Enabling sustainable packaging

Using a digital twin approach, the teams are able to create a digital replica of the machine, simulate and test operations virtually, leading to a 60% reduction in laminate plastic waste and a 21% reduction in virgin plastic use.

Enhancing labour productivity

An in-house-developed AI-powered workforce allocation tool has boosted labour productivity at the site by nearly 400% by assigning staff to high-priority lines based on their skills and providing targeted training to address skill gaps.

“Across our Global Lighthouse Network, digital technologies are revolutionizing production ecosystems,” said Kiva Allgood, Head of the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, World Economic Forum.  “From AI-driven control towers to zero-code workflows, Lighthouses exemplify sustainable innovation, setting benchmarks millions can follow to drive transformational change across the entire ecosystem.”

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