January 10, 2020

At the forefront of Industry 4.0 

World Economic Forum recognizes Henkel as frontrunner in the 4th industrial revolution

Düsseldorf – Henkel has been designated as an “Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse” by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for its state-of-the-art Laundry & Home Care factory in Düsseldorf, Germany. Thereby, Henkel becomes a member of the WEF’s “Global Lighthouse Network” with further leaders of advanced manufactures.

With its Laundry & Home Care factory in Düsseldorf, Henkel has prevailed over 1,000 examined production sites and is recognized as a leader in the 4th industrial revolution by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey & Company. The 18 new global network’s members have proven their ability to expand their digital connectivity beyond production sites and through the whole value chain. “Becoming member of the Global Lighthouse Network is a great honor for Henkel and the Laundry & Home Care team,” says Dr. Dirk Holbach, Head of Supply Chain Laundry & Home Care. “The network is a platform to develop and scale up innovations. Additionally, it creates opportunities for cross-company learning and collaboration in order to set new benchmarks for the global manufacturing community.” 
 
“Digital Backbone” connects Henkel sites around the world in real time
Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business unit successfully developed a unique cloud-based data platform, called Digital Backbone, that connects more than 30 production sites and ten distribution centers around the world in real time. The platform helps to enhance the growing customer and consumer expectations on service and sustainability, while achieving double-digit cost and inventory reductions.

About Henkel
Henkel operates globally with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio. The company holds leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses thanks to strong brands, innovations and technologies. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the adhesives market – across all industry segments worldwide. In its Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses, Henkel holds leading positions in many markets and categories around the world. Founded in 1876, Henkel looks back on more than 140 years of success. In 2018, Henkel reported sales of around 20 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of around 3.5 billion euros. Henkel employs around 53,000 people globally – a passionate and highly diverse team, united by a strong company culture, a common purpose to create sustainable value, and shared values. As a recognized leader in sustainability, Henkel holds top positions in many international indices and rankings. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit www.henkel.com 

Photo material is available at www.henkel.com/press 

Contact	Hanna Philipps	Jennifer Ott
Phone	+49 211 797 3626	+49 211 797 2756
Email	hanna.philipps@henkel.com	jennifer.ott@henkel.com                               	

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA