Unilever boosts operations and sustainability through digital twins and data-driven insights

Unilever, a global leader in consumer goods and manufacturing, undertook a deep digital transformation to empower employees and meet evolving consumer demand. Shifting from a project-based mindset to a platform strategy, Unilever used Microsoft Azure as an architectural backbone, enabling real-time data democratization and agility across its supply chain. The company implemented Azure IoT-based digital twins in its factories, enabling automated data collection, advanced analytics, and machine learning for operational improvements such as controlling moisture levels and optimizing production batch processing. Power BI allowed Unilever's employees to create their own reports and reduce false alerts in production lines, leading to increased productivity and reduced manual effort. By introducing Power Apps, employees built and deployed quality assurance tools, which replaced paper-based processes, streamlined factory operations, and contributed to sustainability by saving energy and materials. Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 strengthened global connectivity and knowledge sharing among Unilever’s 155,000 employees, further enhancing productivity and rapid decision-making. The digital strategy, developed in partnership with The Marsden Group, delivered 90% fewer actionable production alerts, significant energy savings in factories, and built a data-intelligent organizational culture to support future growth. Unilever democratized access to insights for non-technical staff, built strong collaboration communities for sharing best practices, and created the technological foundation to expand digital twins to dozens of global plants, accelerating value realization.