Unilever has completed a £150m investment in its Port Sunlight site, which aims to “strengthen” the company’s UK supply chain from manufacturing through to delivery.
The investment in the consumer goods giant’s UK home in Wirral – which creates brands including Persil, Comfort, Cif, TRESemmé and Lynx – includes manufacturing upgrades across its home care operations and a new advanced automated distribution centre.
Port Sunlight is an important hub for Unilever, home to its advanced manufacturing and R&D, with around 2,000 employees working across both parts of the site.
The new advanced automated distribution centre has been directly connected to Port Sunlight’s three existing on-site factories, which will reduce the requirement for lorries to move goods between the factories and distribution centres in other locations.
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Spanning 10,000m2, the centre is powered by 2,000m of automated conveyors and eight giant, 30m high stacking cranes handling up to 17,000 pallets, equating to 13,600 tonnes of product each week.
By taking hundreds of lorries off the road each week, Unilever said it will deliver a “significant estimated 27% reduction in primary logistics” – the lorries that transport products from factory to warehouse – saving an associated 827 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
The centre is powered by 100% renewable energy, with solar panels, heat pumps and solar reflectance painting, with around 40 employees re-trained to manage and operate it.
The investment at Port Sunlight includes a new advanced automated distribution centre
High-tech manufacturing upgrades have also been made in the site’s home care factory, which will increase laundry capsule production three‑fold, claims the company, while enabling the manufacture of smaller, more complex capsule formats.
This supports the launch of Persil’s new advanced four-chamber capsules, which feature new cleaning technologies developed at Unilever’s R&D laboratories in Port Sunlight.
“This is a landmark moment for Port Sunlight,” said Marc Woodward, Head of Unilever UK.
“The completion of investments in home care manufacturing and the opening of a new flagship distribution centre will support the growth of our business, and reinforce Port Sunlight’s role as a strategic hub for our UK and European operations.”
Port Sunlight has three factories, two of which are for the company’s home care business, while the other is for its personal care, beauty and wellbeing business.
Madeleine McLeod, Factory Director for Port Sunlight Home Care, added: “The investment completion we are announcing today makes us future-fit, boosting our capacity and efficiency as we roll out our latest home care innovations.
“Port Sunlight represents Unilever’s proud manufacturing heritage in the North West.
“A heritage we are taking forward with our talented workforce, supported by the latest in high-tech automation and cutting-edge technology.”
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