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As Haleon recently announced a £175m investment in a new manufacturing facility in central India, Chief Supply Chain Officer Namrata Patel explained why local manufacturing, consumer insight and technology are reshaping one of the world’s largest consumer health supply chains.
Manufacturing investments are often measured in square metres of factory space, production volumes or capital expenditure. Haleon’s latest announcement certainly delivers on all three. The global consumer health manufacturer has committed approximately £175m to build a new oral health manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh, central India, creating around 500 jobs while significantly expanding production capacity for one of the company’s fastest-growing markets. Yet to describe the project as just the building of another factory would miss the point somewhat.
Because this investment represents something much broader for Haleon – a fundamental shift in how manufacturing, supply chains and consumer engagement come together to improve access to everyday healthcare. The facility has been designed not only to produce more oral health products closer to consumers, but to underpin a strategy that aims to reach hundreds of millions of people.
Many of whom may not have previously had sufficient access to specialist dental care. “We’re building locally,” explained Namrata. “It’s all about being on the ground as part of our strategy of serving a billion more consumers and helping with proactive health maintenance.” This is an expansion that, of course, is targeting increased product revenue, but it’s also about positioning factories, supply chains and talent exactly where they can have the greatest impact.
Although Haleon officially became an independent business following its separation from GSK in 2022, the company is already one of the world’s largest consumer health organisations. Operating in around 120 countries, Haleon manufactures household name brands including Sensodyne, Panadol, Voltaren, Centrum, Theraflu, Advil and Parodontax. More than one billion consumers use its products every year, while its manufacturing footprint now extends to 25 production sites worldwide following the announcement of the new Indian facility.
“We’re an £11bn company, present in around 120 countries globally, and all of our factories operate as part of one global manufacturing network,” said Namrata. That global footprint provides resilience and scale, but Haleon’s latest investment reflects a growing recognition that global supply chains alone cannot always meet local healthcare needs.
India has become one of the company’s fastest-growing markets and sits at the centre of Haleon’s ambition to reach one billion more consumers by 2030. While urban populations continue to grow rapidly, around two-thirds of India’s population still live in rural communities, many of which have limited access to preventative dental care. For Haleon, that presents both a significant healthcare challenge and a manufacturing opportunity.
Choosing the location for a new manufacturing facility of this scale is rarely straightforward. Haleon evaluated locations across India before settling on Madhya Pradesh, with several factors combining to make the region particularly attractive. Namrata explained: “If you look at the map, this particular area is pretty much in the middle of the country.” The central location immediately improves logistics, allowing products to be distributed efficiently across the vast Indian market while also supporting wider exports throughout Asia.
Talent availability was also a consideration. As we often see, manufacturers are increasingly selecting locations that offer strong engineering ecosystems capable of supporting advanced production technologies. “There are a lot of very good engineering and technical colleges in the area, which should make acquiring talent easier,” she said.
“The state is also developing that area specifically for industry. There’s quite a lot going on, so the infrastructure that the government has implemented is very good.” Having recently visited the site herself, Namrata was struck by the pace of regional development. “The site is about an hour and a half outside the city, but getting there was extremely quick. The highways were really impressive.”
A recent trend across the industry has seen localisation become synonymous with greater supply chain protection. However, localisation in this sense isn’t simply about shortening logistics routes. It means manufacturing products specifically for local consumers – taking into consideration local purchasing habits and healthcare challenges. Sensodyne’s new 20 Rupee toothpaste pack illustrates this well.
The smaller-format packaging has been developed to make specialist toothpaste significantly more affordable for consumers whose purchasing decisions are often constrained by daily household budgets. “We’ve got the packaging correct,” said Namrata. “And we’re ensuring that the formula we provide is as good as any other type or size of toothpaste. That’s our commitment to the consumer.” And to validate this, Namrata had actually just visited homes, pharmacies and independent retailers across Delhi and surrounding rural communities.
“This afternoon I’ve been in consumers’ homes as well as many small shops in the depths of Delhi and rural India. We’ve seen the challenges, but we’ve also seen the opportunities.” She continued: “One consumer I was talking to was really happy after switching. She’d been using another brand before and explained how Sensodyne had specifically helped with the sensitivity of her gums.”
Although, manufacturing closer to consumers comes with challenges. Getting those products into some of India’s most remote communities requires an entirely different approach to distribution. Across hundreds of thousands of villages, conventional retail infrastructure simply doesn’t exist in the same way as developed towns and cities in Europe. Haleon has therefore developed what Namrata described as a far more hands-on model, centred around education as much as sales.
One of its most distinctive innovations is its fleet of motorcycle-based sales representatives. Rather than simply delivering stock, these teams carry mobile demonstration units into rural communities. The strategy has been termed ‘The Last Mile’ by Haleon. “I met a lot of our sales representatives today who were out there on their motorbikes, basically carrying a shop,” said Namrata.
“On one side they carry a large ice box with water so they can perform the cold sensitivity test. On the other side is all the promotional material, and then the salesperson carries the products.” Consumers experiencing tooth sensitivity can understand the effect that specialist toothpaste can have, while sales teams explain oral health issues.
Haleon also works closely with local healthcare professionals, providing educational materials and product guidance to clinics serving lower-income communities. This is significant, given that it’s very likely that many of these people will have never discussed such things with a healthcare professional. Namrata recalled visiting one such surgery during her latest trip: “We went to a doctor’s surgery that serves patients who simply walk in from a very poor neighbourhood. They charge around 300 Rupees for a consultation – about £2.50.
“The level of education on offer is amazing.We go there, we explain our products, we provide simple educational materials, and we use those to help consumers understand their oral health better.” Rather than focusing purely on product promotion, Haleon’s approach aims to build longer-term awareness around preventative healthcare. That must really create a level of trust that extends beyond a single purchase. It’s a model that blurs the traditional boundaries between manufacturing, distribution and healthcare education, demonstrating how supply chains can become active participants in improving public health rather than simply moving products from factory to shelf.
Digital technologies are increasingly shaping Haleon’s next phase of transformation, with AI becoming particularly influential in planning and forecasting to operational performance and workforce safety. I was interested to hear Namrata’s thoughts on AI’s integration with the human workforce. She, like many industry leaders, reinforced that AI isn’t here to take people’s jobs, but rather enable better decisions.
“We’re currently deploying a new planning platform, which will bring a lot more information together to create the plan through AI,” she explained. “It will search and bring together knowledge so that we can plan better.” As global supply chains continue to contend with fluctuating demand, geopolitical uncertainty and increasing consumer expectations, improved planning capabilities have become essential.
“We see that as an advantage rather than a replacement for people. We believe it will enrich the way we serve consumers and make us much more agile.” This emphasis on augmentation rather than automation reflects a broader industry outlook across advanced manufacturing, not just in mindsets but it real life examples of AI increasingly supporting planners, engineers and operators rather than displacing them.
Not to hammer the point home too much, but one of the real-world values of AI lies in identifying patterns across vast volumes of operational data – patterns that would be almost impossible for humans to detect quickly enough to influence day-to-day decision making.
The new Indian facility has been designed with those capabilities in mind from the outset. Rather than retrofitting digital technologies into an existing plant, Haleon has the opportunity to build intelligence into the factory’s DNA. Parts of the operation will be capable of running with minimal human intervention, supported by extensive data collection and automation.
“The facility we’re building is state-of-the-art,” said Namrata. “As well as being highly sustainable, parts of the facility will be lights out. “We have to gather a lot of data beforehand to make sure it can work efficiently.” That data is then used to improve operational performance across Haleon’s wider manufacturing network. One example involves reducing waste during production Namrata explained: “We use AI for some very simple techniques. In terms of waste that you might get on a production line or in a tank, we’re able to measure that.”
She continued: “Thousands of sensors provide real-time operational data, allowing engineers to identify process variation before it develops into a larger issue. Perhaps more significantly, Haleon combines that information with digital twin technology. Digital twins enable us to pass that knowledge around all the facilities that have similar equipment so that prevention happens across the organisation.” So, rather than solving problems repeatedly at individual sites, lessons learned in one factory can rapidly improve performance across the entire manufacturing network.
It feels as if resilience has been near the top of the business agenda for years now. Global disruption, geopolitical uncertainty and changing trade patterns has forced the sector to reconsider where products are made and where critical materials are sourced. And as mentioned already, building stronger local ecosystems is seen as a smart way to do this. “Very important,” Namrata replied when asked about the importance of local manufacturing.
“Not only that but local sourcing and building local talent pools are absolutely critical.” Haleon’s Indian investment reflects that. The factory will combine Haleon’s proprietary manufacturing technologies with equipment sourced from local suppliers wherever appropriate, strengthening domestic capability while supporting regional industry. At the same time, investment in engineering talent creates expertise that will remain long after the facility enters production.
The Indian model that Haleon has deployed is also transferable to other corners of the world where rural communities are hard to reach. “We’re trying to embed manufacturing capability within the communities we’re serving,” she went on. “The same principles are already being replicated elsewhere. For example, we announced a facility in China recently. It’s all about reaching more consumers further into the depths of these countries.”
Haleon’s investment in India undoubtedly represents a significant expansion of manufacturing capacity, but for me the project is noteworthy because it illustrates how the role of manufacturing continues to evolve. Increasingly, factories are becoming digitally connected knowledge centres. Supply chains are moving closer to consumers. Product design appears to begin more often with affordability and accessibility rather than production efficiency alone. And operational excellence is being measured by consumer outcomes as well as by manufacturing metrics.
In India, those ideas converge around the objective of improving everyday oral health for millions of people who have struggled to access specialist care for much of their lives. The new facility will eventually supply products to more than 300 million consumers while providing a platform for future expansion across Asia. Yet perhaps its greatest significance lies in what it represents for manufacturing more broadly.
It serves as a timely reminder for companies seeking growth in emerging markets and new countries that building relationships with local communities, relevant industry professionals, suppliers and consumers themselves, is just as important as building factories. Haleon’s toothpaste improves oral health outcomes, but the company has also recognised the importance of everything that fits around that. It’s strengthening local economies and creating supply chains that are simultaneously more resilient, responsive and deeply connected to the people they exist to serve.
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