With a diverse portfolio of products to market, one manufacturer pushed on with digital transformation to realize its laudable sustainability goals.
How can a global consumer goods and industrial chemicals manufacturer with a diverse portfolio of well-known brands use digital transformation to achieve its target of becoming three times more energy efficient by 2030?
With sustainability at the heart of its strategy, Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business unit wanted to reduce energy consumption and align with ISO 50001 standards at all its production sites. With a digital transformation plan in hand, the firm was able to successfully optimize collection, use and communication of energy consumption and emissions data across its supply chain.
As a result, the team has improved supply-chain resource efficiency of on-site production by 5–6% annually. Commented its Corporate Director (Digital Transformation & Engineering Laundry & Home Care), Wolfgang Weber: “When we started implementing AVEVA digital solutions in 2013, we were already achieving a 3% year-on-year energy saving on every ton of product produced. By the time we had completed the implementation, we were seeing a clear increase in energy efficiency. For example, energy consumption was reduced year-on-year by up to 16% in 2020, saving €8M YOY in 2020 against a business-as-usual operation. To put this into perspective, the energy saved is equivalent to the capacity needed to support the three million inhabitants of two European capital cities, Amsterdam and Vienna.”
Delivering sustainable outcomes
The technology partner chosen by Henkel, AVEVA, enabled the firm to address all the information system architecture requirements needed to realize the desired emissions savings—all within 18 months.
According to Henkel’s Corporate Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain Laundry & Home Care, Dr Dirk Holbach: “Sustainability and efficient use of resources is firmly anchored in our corporate values — and this isn’t something recent. We were one of the first companies to start publishing an annual sustainability report 30 years ago and today we have our sights set firmly on our long-term sustainability goals and are proud that our commitment has recently been recognized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) designating several of our factories as sustainability lighthouses.”
Digital technologies play a vital role in helping organizations to realize sustainable ambitions, commented Kim Custeau, Senior Vice President (APM and MES), AVEVA. “Our offerings are enabling our customers to integrate legacy solutions seamlessly, providing advanced analytics that drive sustainable decision-making through actionable insights. Our business goals are technologically advanced and aligned to support the global sustainability agenda.”
