How talent and technology are boosting factory performance and productivity

AI, robotics and digital technology are transforming the factory floor, providing huge opportunities for manufacturing.

However, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) and management consultants McKinsey, it is businesses that focus on investing in their human workforce that will lead the future of industrial transformation.

The Frontline Talent of the Future initiative was created by the WEF and McKinsey as a way of showcasing how investment in factory frontline talent can drive powerful benefits for business.

Four Unilever sites that manufacture products for Unilever Power Brands Knorr and Hellmann’s were involved in the programme: Pouso Alegre, Brazil; Kilbourn, US; Tianjin, China; and Poznan, Poland.

Investing in our frontline

Recent pilots at these and the other nine factories involved in the initiative showed that prioritising talent innovation could lead to 28% improvement in productivity and operational health and safety metrics.^[a]

“At Unilever, we believe that when you take care of people, they take care of the business. We are seeing a positive impact from the investment we are making in our colleagues in factories,” says Richard Sharp, Chief HR Officer responsible for Supply Chain.

Jennifer Han, Chief Product Supply Officer, Foods, agrees, stressing that the power of this kind of investment lies in its alignment with market imperatives.

“We have given our factory leaders and local HR the flexibility to adjust and improve the solutions that fit their site’s unique needs and the autonomy to be proactive and reactive to local market movements,” she says.

“For instance, while Kilbourn’s talent innovations aimed to address stagnant volume performance, Tianjin’s goal was to upgrade their talent, offering to meet the rapid business growth and digital transformation in the region.”

Responding to market demands

On average, three out of four of the Unilever factories in the programme saw a 27% improvement in productivity metrics and a 41% improvement in waste-reduction metrics from 2020 to 2024. They also saw an average improvement of 11% in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

OEE is the gold standard for measuring manufacturing productivity. A high OEE means equipment is running at maximum potential which boosts factory performance while indirectly lowering costs, increasing profitability and improving overall competitiveness.

All four factories involved in the programme saw improvement in their OEE scores.

Jennifer credits the uptick at the Pouso Alegre factory in Brazil in part to the factory’s talent innovation programme.

“Its digital transformation strategy combines robust technical training with the enhancement of soft skills, creating a dynamic environment of innovation, collaboration and continuous growth that empowers our team to tackle digital challenges,” she explains.

“The improvement in OEE provided greater flexibility within the supply chain, enhancing our capacity to meet market demands effectively and thereby strengthening the site’s competitiveness.”

Increasing productivity by reducing waste

In addition to its importance in terms of sustainability, reducing food waste is another productivity driver. “It’s not just about producing more, it’s about producing smarter, using fewer resources and generating less waste for each unit of product,” says Jennifer.

AI and automation are certainly helping address this issue, but for Jennifer, it is the factory teams that are at the heart of any significant change.

“They are the ones who are best placed not only to flag where waste issues are occurring but also to come up with solutions,” she says.

Since 2019, the Pouso Alegre factory has saved 18,000 kilo tons of packing material, raw ingredients and finished products from going to waste.

And this is a trend that can be seen repeated in Kilbourn where waste was reduced by 42%, in Tianjin where waste reduction saved an estimated €52,000 from 2021 to 2024 and in Poznan which achieved a 27% decrease in waste per ton of produced product in the same period.

Harnessing talent and technology

“The manufacturing industry can really learn from the best talent innovation practices used at sites that are performing at the highest levels,” says Richard.

New AI and automated solutions in Poznan, for example, have allowed employees more time for higher-value tasks and equipped them with future-ready skills, while in Tianjin comprehensive training systems using digital tools have enhanced employee skills in data analysis, visualisation and interpretation.

These activations have contributed to a 79% increase in employee engagement at Poznan between 2021 and 2024, while Tianjin clocked a 98% employee engagement score in 2024.

Similarly, positive results have been seen at Pouso Alegre where more than 160% project savings were delivered, thanks to a transformative initiative that rewarded employees who excelled in leading projects.

But it is perhaps at Unilever’s largest condiments factory by tonnage/production volume in Kilbourn, US that the impact of talent innovation is best reflected.

Recognised as one of three best-in-class ‘talent spotlight sites’ by the WEF and McKinsey, Kilbourn introduced a working culture of optimisation and innovation that led to transformative changes across the factory floor which contributed to OEE scores being boosted by 16%, production waste reduced by 42% and a 60% reduction of absenteeism achieved between 2021 to 2024 thanks to a more engaged workforce.

“An engaged workforce empowered by technology can truly achieve remarkable results on the shop floor,” Richard concludes.

“It is only when teams and technology are working in harmony that we can achieve the optimised productivity we are aiming for.”