Henkel in a digital transformation mode

On an unusually warm day, as one tours Henkel’s headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany, it is not just the sheer size of the site that spans 1.4 sq. km and the fact that it churns out millions of Pritt sticks and home care products, that hits you. It is the company’s all-pervasive focus on digital transformation, driving innovation and exploring disruptive new business models, that draws greater attention at the two-day event held on the sprawling site, housing nearly 400 buildings. 　

Henkel’s focus on IoT development in a hitherto vastly unexplored hair care market is a case in point. When one talks about IoT or Internet of Things—broadly understood as a network of objects connected to the internet, collecting and exchanging data using embedded sensors—the first things that probably cross the mind are connected home systems or fitness trackers. But IoT does not stop at just smart kitchens or fitness gadgets. The beauty care segment that is still nascent in the IoT space, is fast gaining traction. And Henkel, rather than chase the already contested skin category, is focusing on the hair care segment to build competitive advantage.

Customised hair products

Henkel’s newly launched Schwarzkopf Professional SalonLab is the first end-to-end ecosystem of connected devices that measures hair condition to provide personalised products. Comprising an analyser and a consultant app, Henkel’s technology analyses hair at the molecular level and produces dynamically formulated personalised solutions. 　

It is, of course, still early days to gauge the success of Henkel’s SalonLab which is for now only available in select salons in the US and Europe. It will also be interesting to see how fast the company is able to scale it up across markets and dish out customised hair products on a mass scale. Nonetheless, through IoT, Henkel is already laying the foundation for disruptive, data-driven business models in beauty care.　

Leveraging its technical expertise and knowhow in adhesive technologies, Henkel is also driving innovation in car manufacturing and the vision for future cars. How?

Increasing use of sensors, radars, cameras and electronic control units in future cars will be enabled by Henkel’s large portfolio of solutions for sealing and coating of electronic components, thermal management materials and wide range of conductive and non-conductive adhesives.

Industry 4.0

Battery technology currently accounts for up to 50 per cent of the cost of producing an electric car, which is why they are significantly more expensive than conventional cars. The performance of car batteries crucially depends on their operating temperature. Henkel makes this essential thermal management possible with solutions like heat-conductive pastes, heat dissipation materials and gap-filling thermal compounds.

Last but not the least, for manufacturing companies like Henkel, digitalisation means transforming production, supply chain operations and logistics. At Henkel, industry 4.0—as it is called—is already in full swing, with 90 per cent of production sites globally connected. Smart factories—intelligent machines control and optimising production process based on real time information—are fast becoming a reality.

As we end the tour at Henkel’s fully automated high-bay warehouse, the company’s steadfast focus on building digital factories is clearly evident. The warehouse can hold about 53 million packs of laundry detergent and cleaning products on a floor space of 24,000 square meters that is equivalent of more than three soccer fields. The high-bay warehouse is directly connected to the laundry & home care production facility and much of the activity is completely automated.

(The writer was in Düsseldorf at the invitation of Henkel)

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