USA | Unilever has partnered with Accenture to scale the use of AI-enabled digital twins across its global manufacturing network.
Next-generation technology will help factories improve quality, boost efficiency, and respond more quickly to consumer demand. The multi-year programme marks a further step in Unilever’s journey to apply pioneering technology across its value chain as the company sets out to shape the future of the consumer goods industry.
Digital twins are virtual models of factory equipment and production lines. They use live data from physical systems on the shop floor to monitor and predict how machines and processes perform.
By integrating digital twins with AI-enabled insights and agentic capabilities, Unilever is equipping manufacturing teams with advanced tools to identify issues earlier, simulate scenarios more quickly, and make smarter decisions throughout the production cycle.
Building on digital twins already in use, Unilever plans to expand adoption over the next 18 months by building more than 40 new digital twins, creating a scalable blueprint for global rollout.
Accenture has supported Unilever in deploying industrial AI capabilities that leverage advanced analytics and AI agents to predict maintenance needs, improve performance, and enable teams to act faster. As the system learns and employees gain confidence in its accuracy, it can progressively make certain adjustments automatically with human oversight.
Digital twins are already delivering tangible benefits across multiple Unilever sites:
- Superior quality and improved throughput for personal care: In Raeford, North Carolina, United States, a digital twin powering the production of iconic brands including Dove, Degree, and Axe predicts 95 percent of process flow restrictions in deodorant stick manufacturing, delivering a 20 percent reduction in waste and a 10 percent uplift in capacity.
- Lower energy consumption for home care products: In Haldia, India – dedicated to powder detergents such as Surf and Sunlight – an energy twin optimises fan speeds, temperature setpoints and moisture controls, helping achieve a tangible reduction in thermal energy consumption over two years, supporting delivery towards Unilever's scope 1 and 2 climate target.
- Better mayonnaise consistency, less waste: In Poznan, Poland – home to producing such iconic brands as Knorr and Hellmann’s – a digital twin stabilises viscosity variation in mayonnaise, while reducing minor stoppages by up to 20 percent and cutting waste by nearly 30 percent.
- Elevating the quality of Dove soap: At Gandhidham, India – one of the largest personal care sites in South Asia – a digital twin helped reduce quality defects by 30 percent over four years through real-time control recommendations, as measured in distribution centres just before the product is delivered to the customer.
- Efficient ingredient use, consistent quality: In Cu Chi, Vietnam – where Unilever produces liquid home care products such as OMO laundry detergent – an intelligent mixer powered by an AI digital twin optimises raw material dosing, preventing overuse and delivering one to two percent savings on premium ingredients while maintaining superior product quality.
Unilever's operational excellence, efficiency and sustainable growth across its supply chain have been recognised by the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network, where Unilever holds the highest number of designations in the consumer goods sector.
Its manufacturing AI partnership with Accenture builds on previously announced efforts to scale next-generation technology across business operations, including identifying and testing new AI solutions through the AI Horizon3 Lab in Toronto, Canada.
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