Unilever’s factories and distribution centres play a critical role in business performance and growth. Read how our site in Mannheim, Germany, is driving operational excellence through a combination of digital upskilling and advanced technology.

• Our site in Mannheim supplies Dove Bars to over 50 countries. It’s part of a network that ensures the products reach consumers across the globe
• The factory pioneers programmes and innovations to continually improve Dove Bar quality worldwide
• As one of Unilever’s largest distribution centres, it’s capable of shipping 320,000 pallets (over 60 million units) a year

Unilever’s site in Mannheim, Germany, began life as a soap production factory in 1899. Today, it’s home to a world-class manufacturing facility for our Dove Bars and a highly advanced distribution centre for our Home Care, Personal Care & Beauty and Wellbeing products in Germany.

It’s an example of how we’re continually investing in the latest technology and skills to ensure we meet the evolving needs of our customers and consumers, and drive sustainable business growth.

“This global powerhouse is setting the pace for operational excellence,” says Factory Director Silvia Rissel. “By deploying cutting-edge technologies, we’re continually improving productivity and efficiency. We’re able to respond to shifts in customer and consumer demand, equip our workforce with digital skills and limit our impact on the environment.”

A focus on efficiency and sustainability

The manufacturing site at Mannheim is part of a network of four sites that supply Dove Bars to customers all over the world. These sites share data in real-time through digital twin technology, enabling us to build a smarter, faster and more efficient global operation.

A digital twin is a virtual replica of the system it’s modelled on. It monitors, analyses and identifies opportunities to improve production. Learnings from the analysis are fed back into the system, so adjustments can be made with minimal interruption to operations.

While the Mannheim Dove Bar process has always operated 24/7, through automation and digitisation, the factory team has become increasingly leaner and more efficient. Digitisation is also enabling us to continually improve OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) – a measure of manufacturing productivity and efficiency.

For example, we use digital technology to count the number of Dove bars on the production line and compare this with the number of boxes feeding into the packaging lines. Before the stock on the line runs out, it automatically calls for more packaging to be brought to the line. As well as being highly efficient, this ensures accurate tracking and management of stock.

We recently made significant investments in the factory’s production lines to expand capabilities and support future growth, and in on-site solar power to improve energy efficiency. We also redesigned our packing lines to supply Dove Bars in 100% paper packaging, saving around 500 tonnes of plastic every year.

Ensuring superior quality

The factory pioneers programmes to ensure that every Dove Bar produced across the world is of consistently superior quality. For instance, we’ve been piloting AI-enabled cameras to automate quality checks. These are capable of inspecting 800 bars per minute – faster than our current high-speed production lines – and will go into operation later this year.

“We believe in crafting unmissably superior products, and our Dove Beauty Bar is a great example,” says Marcela Melero, Chief Growth Officer for Dove Personal Care, North America & Dove Masterbrand. “While ordinary soaps can strip skin of essential moisture, Beauty Bars contain moisturising cream to hydrate the skin alongside mild cleansers to wash away dirt and germs.”

“Our production sites are essential in creating these iconic bars and ensuring we get them into the hands of consumers in more than 180 countries around the world.”

Industry-leading distribution centre

Our Mannheim site is also home to one of Unilever’s largest distribution centres. What started out as a small storage facility was rebuilt in 1999, and now houses a cutting-edge warehouse management system that automatically manages and tracks all materials, with minimal operator input.

With a storage capacity of over 36,000 pallets, the centre delivers finished goods from 30 plants across Europe. At full capacity, it’s capable of picking 4 million cases (24 million units) and shipping 320,000 pallets (over 60 million units) a year.

Importantly, with a 99.8% ‘customer case fill on time’ (CCFOT) rate, the centre is vital to ensuring in-store product availability, which in turn is instrumental in driving growth for Unilever.

The industry standard for CCFOT in logistics can vary, but a common benchmark is around 95%. This metric measures the reliability of delivering the correct quantity of products to customers within the agreed timeframe. Achieving high CCFOT rates is crucial to delivering to consumers the products they want, when they want them.

Looking to the future

While the distribution centre can already respond quickly to peaks in customer orders, we’re currently investing in a ‘layer picking’ operation so we can react even faster. This is about using automation to pick full layers of products from pallets instead of individual cases or units. Due to be fully operational in 2026, this will increase picking capacity by 50% during peak seasons and generate yearly savings of over €1 million.

“We’re accelerating digitisation and new technologies across our operations to enhance productivity and deliver products quicker, with the same unmissable quality that our consumers have come to trust,” says Silvia. “With initiatives like plastic-free products, solar energy and apprenticeships fostering young local talent, there’s a bright future for our manufacturing site at Mannheim.”