Unilever unveils $272m Dubai manufacturing plant
At 100,000 square metres the facility is the biggest in the region
The region’s largest personal care products manufacturing plant, was recently inaugurated by consumer goods giant Unilever in Dubai Industrial Park.
The official opening took place in the presence of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Emirates Group, the UAE national news agency WAM reported.
Also in attendance were: Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Sanjiv Kakkar, executive vice president of Unilever MENA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and Abdulla Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Wholesale City, as well as senior officials from the Tecom Group.
Unilever will manufacture products at the factory, label them with ‘Made in UAE’ and export 80% of them to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. This manufacturing plant has an area of 100,000 square metres and plans to deliver the highest output of 100,000 tons per annum of products a year.
The facility utilises state-of-the-art technology, which combined with a modular design, ensures shorter, faster and highly responsive production lines that are highly flexible to match market demand. The facility is also designed to reduce waste and energy consumption, in line with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan strategy.
In addition to supply chain efficiency, the advanced technology will enable automatic quality control, scanning at a rate of 350 bottles per minute, while also ensuring the highest safety standards.
“The new plant would support the country’s long-term goal to achieve sustainable economic growth, by contributing to the development of the manufacturing sector and the diversification of the national economy,” said Polman.
With construction commencing in mid-2015, Unilever’s new facility was completed in 18 months with 2.8 million man hours and zero safety incidents.
