Unilever's Journey to Optimizing Packaging Designs & Reducing Prototype Costs with IoT
Applicable Industries
- Life Sciences
- Packaging
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Intelligent Packaging
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
About The Customer
Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company with a strong presence in over 190 countries. The company's product portfolio includes food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products. Unilever is known for its commitment to innovation and constantly seeks ways to differentiate its products from competitors. In this case, the company was focused on enhancing its Lynx (Axe) brand, a popular male grooming product line. The challenge was to design a new deodorant packaging concept that would stand out in the market, but Unilever lacked the necessary in-house expertise to adopt a simulation and analysis approach for the design and testing of the new can.
The Challenge
Unilever, a global leader in the consumer goods industry, was seeking ways to maintain its innovative edge in the male grooming market. The company was particularly focused on differentiating its Lynx (Axe) brand from competitors. The challenge was to design a new deodorant packaging concept that would stand out in the market. However, Unilever lacked the necessary in-house expertise to adopt a simulation and analysis approach for the design and testing of the new can. They needed a development partner to assist with the design and testing of the new packaging concept.
The Solution
Unilever partnered with Altair ProductDesign to tackle this challenge. The initial deodorant can design concept was created by Unilever, with Altair ProductDesign conducting optimization to define material layouts for stiffening the cap’s button and optimizing the load path through the can’s side walls. A more detailed model was then developed to investigate a series of ‘what if’ scenarios such as loading values, geometry changes, and material options. This process identified areas for reinforcement throughout the cap and measured the effects of different material properties on stiffness and stress. These were then ranked against manufacturing cost, providing valuable metrics for material selection decisions. Altair ProductDesign also equipped Unilever with a set of new process tools developed specifically for packaging design. The ‘Atlas’ system, developed over a 4-5 year period in close collaboration with Unilever’s Capability Development team, allows Unilever’s CAD and concept designers to perform analysis studies very early in the design process.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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