P&G Taps into AI and Automation for Faster, Smarter Operations
The Procter & Gamble Company is using automation technology and artificial intelligence to bolster operations across several areas of business, including media, marketing, and production.
From conceptualizing marketing copy to running manufacturing plants without the need for technician supervision, P&G shared details about recent optimizations during the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference.
Within content, P&G is using generative AI to generate concept ideas and then test copy against thousands of in-market copy. The automated process cuts down the testing timeline from several months to just a few days and reduces costs. Within the AI, it has created a scoring system for content it is about to launch.
“That is a very effective way to broaden the mindset of the team — not to write the concept but to give you concept ideas that you might not have thought of,” said CFO Andre Schulten.
Also read: P&G Scales ChatPG Generative AI Tool
Automations Creating New Efficiencies
The company is also automating media scheduling, using algorithms to build cohorts and space out activations. Additionally, it has digitalized its production by equipping lines with sensors and cameras that can automatically check for quality control, reduce waste, and avoid manual efforts.
“So instead of being batch-based in terms of quality control where you run thousands of items and then you test 10, and if one of the 10 is bad you have to throw away the entire batch, we are now executing what we call real-time touchless quality,” he said. “We're basically checking every product that's coming off the line in real time, based on images, based on sensor readings.”
In P&G’s Berlin plant, the company has been able to use automation to completely remove human supervision. For example, the company recently ran the night shift at one of its Gillette factories without a technician on the floor.
“How can we focus P&G labor on higher-order tasks and how we can automate some of the tasks that are the least favorite ones, like running the night shift, by driving productivity and running these technologies in a way that gives us a great return on investment?” says Schulten. “There are multiple other opportunities, but that's the basis where we say we have a runway for $2 billion of productivity for the foreseeable future.”
While not yet fully rolled out, Schulten said these use cases have a lot of potential and P&G is continuing to refine the technology and processes based on the insights garnered thus far. They are a result of years-long data infrastructure work that touches the company’s ERP platform and manufacturing, bringing together various sources of data now available for optimization.
