Unilever trials portable travel factories

Unilever has unveiled a portable “travel factory” that operates inside a 40ft (12 meter) sea container, able to be moved all over the world.

Currently being trialed in Wageningen, The Netherlands, the digital factory produces liquid bouillon for Unilever's Food Solutions business, with the possibility to expand production to ketchup, mayonnaise and ice cream in the future.
The travel factory can be shipped worldwide, allowing producers to localise production and respond quicker to changing demand in local markets. Producers can also use the factory to produce small volumes for product trials, freeing up mass production lines.

 “Nano factories”
Olivera Trifunovic, Unilever engineering manager and project lead of the travel factory, said: "This travel factory reflects a new dynamic model where thousands of “nano factories” could be run from a central system, allowing us to have flexible production lines wherever, and whenever, needed. I'm incredibly proud of our team who have worked so hard, and so quickly, to bring this start-up to life”.

She explained the unit can be used for both retail and foodservice productions, "The travel factory has the ability to produce both types of products in certain pack formats”. Trifunovic added: "Unilever has over 300 factories across 69 countries and many of these are big facilities that are designed to manufacture products in large quantities, at high speed. But sometimes we need to produce a small volume (perhaps a seasonal variant) or test a product before launching it. It's not commercially (or indeed environmentally) viable to use a mass production line for this.
"The intention is never to match the output of a large factory, but if needed we can incrementally increase production with any number of these units. Ultimately, a network of travel factories gives us greater flexibility in our supply chain. A dynamic model like this could see thousands of local production lines all across the world."

Unilever’s travel factory is remotely run using IoT sensors that feed into the central Platform Eco System, leveraging live production data. Sensors on the line feed data back continuously so adjustments can be made and any problems fixed quickly.

End-to-end capabilities
The factory requires about two to three operators per container and is fitted with all-in-one utility capabilities, requiring just one electricity cable and a single water hose to operate. It covers the end-to-end automated process, from raw materials to cooking through to packaging to produce 300 tonnes of liquid seasoning per eight-hour shift.
If the trial is successful, Unilever hoped to expand the travel factories capabilities to other parts of its business, including beauty and home care. It also planned to lease, rent and sell the factories to entrepreneurs.

Source: foodmanufacture.co.uk, just-food.com