The growing consumer preference for personal care products through social media platforms has facilitated the Unilever Dubai Personal Care (DPC) factory to broaden its array of offerings, encompassing a wider selection of premium and niche products.
“DPC was set up with an AED 1 Billion AED (€250K investment). We have subsequently invested in growing its capabilities to produce many new products. We as a business are also looking into launching more premium and niche products from this site aside from our regular products which consumers already love,” said Mahmoud Abdel Naly, Head of Unilever and Well-being Supply-chain, Middle East and Turkey.
“This factory is primarily a hair and skin care products site, which is a growing business all around the world and within the region. Especially with the advent of TikTok trends, consumers are keener to care of themselves than before”, he added.
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The DPC factory adopts cutting-edge technologies and possesses the capacity to produce 250 million units of 400 distinct types of products.
“We are currently catering to the entirety of the Middle East with our skin and hair care products as well as exporting to parts of Latin America and have also exported to North America in the past as well” he added.
According to him, Dubai was chosen because it stands out as one of the most dynamic business hubs globally, reinforced by world-class infrastructure. The city boasts a highly competitive business environment and holds trade agreements with numerous countries both regionally and globally. Additionally, it serves as a magnet for talent in a region marked by turbulence, occupying a coveted position as the gateway between the East and the West.
DPC serves as a benchmark for incorporating cutting-edge technology throughout Unilever, integrating 4th Industrial Revolution (IR) technologies into all facets of its operations. It has been acknowledged by the World Economic Forum as an ‘Advanced Lighthouse of 4th Industrial Revolution’—a first within Unilever and the UAE, and the initial non-energy site in MENA to receive such recognition.
DPC’s AI-driven Approach:
Utilizing state-of-the-art technologies such as robotics, machine learning, and AI allows swift delivery of products to the market. The factory can promptly augment its production capacity to meet the demands of the market.
For instance, quality control is overseen by harnessing the power of machine learning, complemented by the integration of high-speed cameras on the production lines to automatically reject substandard products. Additionally, AI is utilised to enhance resource efficiency, such as energy usage, resulting in a reduction of the environmental impact by lowering CO2 emissions. This approach also leads to decreased water consumption and waste generation.
