How Unilever Expedites Product Innovation, AI, Automation and Robots

We saw similar trial adoption in the 80s and 90s.

How Unilever Expedites Product Innovation, AI, Automation and Robotics

Liz Dominguez 

Image  Unilever  Dove

Robots are having a heavy hand in product innovation at Unilever, thanks in large part to the efforts being implemented at the company’s Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) in Liverpool, according to a recent blog post. 

These innovations are having a global impact, influencing product discovery, research, and manufacturing in not just the U.K., but across the sea in the U.S. as well. There’s three special “ladies” to thank, per Unilever, and they’re named Ariana, Shirley, and Gwen. 

These three robots are working alongside 250 R&D experts at Unilever’s 120,000-square-foot facility to help develop science-backed products through the power of automation. 

According to Unilever, MIF has the highest concentration of robots doing material chemistry in the world, and each machine is designed to crunch “colossal amounts of data and maintain consistency across samples and testing.”

The company makes it clear, however, that it isn’t looking to replace human efforts; it’s merely freeing up time by reducing time-consuming, repetitive jobs so that experts can focus on invention and exploration.

“The MIF’s purpose is to create a community of talented future research leaders, exchanging ideas with academic colleagues and accelerating the discovery process,” said Unilever. “Our partnership here allows us to tap into the best minds and resources in robotics, which strengthens our insights and capabilities to power next-level innovation, scientific discovery, and produce products with superior performance.”

Will robot management be a job of the future? CGT thinks so. Find out more.

Robots   Ariana

Beauty bot Ariana is preparing mass amounts of hair fiber samples in mere seconds in order to create hair products for Unilever’s brands, including Dove’s Intensive Repair line. Using a patented Fiber Repair Actives technology, Unilever can help consumers reconstruct inner hair fibers to reduce breakage and repair from within the hair strand. 

Shirley

This robot is helping to expedite and mimic the process of hair washing and rising, running through 120 samples of hair every 24 hours. Shirley can rise, detangle, and blow dry hair, speeding up the analysis process so researchers can create accurate haircare product formulas, such as for the TRESemmé’s Colour Radiance Booste product line. The range of products uses tech that Shirley helped invent in order to better protect hair surfaces and keep color vibrant longer within hair fibers.

Gwen 

Robot Gwen plays an important role in the sensory aspect of products, generating, measuring, and analyzing foam. As Unilever uses foam in many of its products to deliver ingredients, the company said it’s important it can accurately attribute performance related to the amount, quality, and type of bubbles and froth. 

“Understanding its physical, chemical and consumer relevance is important in product development,” said the company.