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Unilever invested €949 million in its R&D in 2023
Unilever invested €949 million in its R&D in 2023 and have 20,500+ patents protecting its ideas. The company has 5,000+ R&D experts working for it across the world, including 500+ PhDs
In 2023 alone, new product innovations developed by its experts added €1.8 billion to its turnover.
New tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing the process and speed at which its experts make new discoveries.
Scientists can now map millions of enzyme and molecule combinations. This will help Unilever develop new solutions that otherwise would have taken decades to research.
AI is also used to test the efficacy of products in different scenarios and conditions. And it can streamline its manufacturing by creating processes that can be replicated in its factories globally at scale.
“This is all helping the company to bring new innovations to market at a pace previously unimaginable. We are responding to consumer needs, faster and better than ever before,” Keith Rutherford, Home Care R&D’s Head of Innovation, said.
The Materials Innovation Factory (MIF), co-founded by Unilever, the University of Liverpool and Research England, has the highest concentration of robots doing materials chemistry in the world. They dial up data learnings, maintain test consistency and work 24/7.
Recently, MIF’s robots helped it develop its new laundry detergent, Persil Wonder Wash, which uses a unique combination of enzymes in a patent-pending Pro-S technology.
Persil Wonder Wash not only works to clean stains and remove odors in wash cycles as short as 15 minutes, it also leaves less product residue and delivers on fragrance.
To test these laundry-cleaning capabilities in the discovery phase, robots at the MIF operated round the clock, carrying out tests that usually take weeks to complete.
The robots can be programmed to mimic cycles from different top and front-loading washing machines used around the world, customizing water types, temperatures and types of cycle.
The data provided by these tests is invaluable. Using computational science, we’re able to rapidly change variables, which help the company to predict how well a product will perform.
“Using robots allows us to maintain consistency across sampling and testing, ensuring the data we share with our colleagues across the world is of the highest quality,” said Home Care R&D’s Head of Innovation Keith Rutherford.
“We’re also freeing up time for our scientists, which provides room for them to be creative, to experiment and invent, rather than taking on repetitive jobs.”
“This is all helping us to bring new innovations to market at a pace previously unimaginable. We’re responding to consumer needs, faster and better than ever before.”
Newly opened in 2023, the Product Innovation Lab in Port Sunlight transforms science and technology into superior products.
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