Henkel's Consolidated R&D Center to Deploy Digital Twin, AI Functionality
As Henkel consolidates its research and development efforts in North America, it will also look to modernize capabilities with the new center.
The Center of Research & Development, which streamlines operations from three R&D locations into a single headquarters, marks the company's largest non-manufacturing capital investment in North America over the past decade.
Henkel's investments have included tapping into AI and automation in the past in order to bolster research and development, and Martina Spinatsch, SVP of R&D for Henkel Consumer Brands North America, says the new Trumbull center will add to that.
It will include state-of-the-art automated testing robots that function with machine learning logic and digital twins.
Spinatsch tells CGT that these technologies will help Henkel progress on its transformative path toward advanced predictive modeling, optimizing products for performance, stability and aesthetic properties. Additionally, the digital twin effort will help predict the end state of Henkel's product lifecycles, focusing specifically on the hair, skin, fabrics and surfaces categories.
"Our new Henkel Center of Research & Development will be an AI-enabled ecosystem of chemistry, consumer insights, physical performance and hardware interface that will build machine learning and smart logic systems specific to the North America consumer needs and habits," says Spinatsch.
While technology will prove to be a powerful enabler for Henkel's R&D operations, Spinatsch says that it is the proximity as a result of the consolidation that will break down barriers between groups to drive innovation.
"Being able to be in person and discuss learnings, share new discoveries and utilize other group’s equipment provides many chances to learn and grow," says Spinatsch, adding that this can happen in a lab or simply in one of the shared spaces at the center like the new cafeteria.
