Altair Case Studies Unilever's Customized Solutions for Reducing Packaging Waste

	Unilever's Customized Solutions for Reducing Packaging Waste Altair

Unilever's Customized Solutions for Reducing Packaging Waste

Altair

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Virtual Private Cloud
Applicable Industries	Packaging Transportation
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Intelligent Packaging Manufacturing Process Simulation
Services	System Integration Testing & Certification
Challenge	Unilever, a consumer goods giant, was faced with the challenge of reducing the environmental impact of their products. The company needed to find a way to minimize the material used in its packaging while ensuring that it remained strong enough to withstand transportation loads and a variety of use conditions. The challenge was to optimize Unilever’s packaging designs using advanced virtual simulation technology. However, at the time, Unilever did not employ many computer aided engineering (CAE) users, instead having an extremely talented team of CAD engineers at their disposal. Read More
About Customer	Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company with a wide range of products including food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products. The company is committed to reducing the environmental impact of their products and was seeking a solution to minimize the material used in its packaging while maintaining its strength and durability. Unilever has a talented team of CAD engineers but lacked computer aided engineering (CAE) users, which was necessary for the implementation of advanced virtual simulation technology for optimizing packaging designs. Read More
Solution	Altair ProductDesign collaborated with Unilever's team of CAD engineers to develop the ‘Atlas’ system, a highly customized primary, secondary and tertiary packaging virtual test lab encapsulated in a user-friendly common interface. The Atlas system was powered by Altair’s own virtual simulation suite, HyperWorks, which utilized its modeling, automation, and optimization technologies. This was integrated with Unilever’s existing design tools and testing environment. Modules were created for manufacturing simulation (ISBM and EBM) and to explore the effects of usage, accidental and transportation loadings on the new pack designs. The system also had the ability to automatically report results in-line with Unilever’s own working practices to further reduce manual workload. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Virtual Private Cloud

Applicable Industries

Packaging

Transportation

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Intelligent Packaging

Manufacturing Process Simulation

Services

System Integration

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Unilever, a consumer goods giant, was faced with the challenge of reducing the environmental impact of their products. The company needed to find a way to minimize the material used in its packaging while ensuring that it remained strong enough to withstand transportation loads and a variety of use conditions. The challenge was to optimize Unilever’s packaging designs using advanced virtual simulation technology. However, at the time, Unilever did not employ many computer aided engineering (CAE) users, instead having an extremely talented team of CAD engineers at their disposal.

About Customer

Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company with a wide range of products including food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products. The company is committed to reducing the environmental impact of their products and was seeking a solution to minimize the material used in its packaging while maintaining its strength and durability. Unilever has a talented team of CAD engineers but lacked computer aided engineering (CAE) users, which was necessary for the implementation of advanced virtual simulation technology for optimizing packaging designs.

Solution

Altair ProductDesign collaborated with Unilever's team of CAD engineers to develop the ‘Atlas’ system, a highly customized primary, secondary and tertiary packaging virtual test lab encapsulated in a user-friendly common interface. The Atlas system was powered by Altair’s own virtual simulation suite, HyperWorks, which utilized its modeling, automation, and optimization technologies. This was integrated with Unilever’s existing design tools and testing environment. Modules were created for manufacturing simulation (ISBM and EBM) and to explore the effects of usage, accidental and transportation loadings on the new pack designs. The system also had the ability to automatically report results in-line with Unilever’s own working practices to further reduce manual workload.

Impact #1	The implementation of the custom Atlas system from Altair ProductDesign’s process automation team has enabled Unilever’s CAD engineers to perform a wide variety of simulation studies in an accessible but powerful user environment. This has led to the generation and exploration of innovative packaging designs. New materials can now be checked for manufacturing feasibility and cost without the need for expensive physical trials. The system has significantly helped Unilever to compress packaging design development time while simultaneously reducing the amount of material required during manufacture.

Impact #1

The implementation of the custom Atlas system from Altair ProductDesign’s process automation team has enabled Unilever’s CAD engineers to perform a wide variety of simulation studies in an accessible but powerful user environment. This has led to the generation and exploration of innovative packaging designs. New materials can now be checked for manufacturing feasibility and cost without the need for expensive physical trials. The system has significantly helped Unilever to compress packaging design development time while simultaneously reducing the amount of material required during manufacture.

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Overview

Unilever's Customized Solutions for Reducing Packaging Waste

Operational Impact