Royal Canin's Shanghai Site Wins Top Award

Royal Canin's Shanghai site is Mars' first Global Lighthouse and the first pet industry winner of the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network.

On June 22, the World Economic Forum announced 16 new Global Lighthouse Network awards, expanding the community to 238 innovative manufacturing and supply chain facilities.

Royal Canin's Shanghai site has been added to the "Distinction in Customer Centricity" category, which recognizes operational sites that achieve exceptional speed-to-market and customization through technology-enabled design and procurement, batch size, lead time, product cost, and performance optimization.

The site deploys 40+ 4IR solutions across the pet-centric ecosystem, including generative AI and advanced analytics. The site has to supply over 400 SKUs while retaining quality and agility to meet demand for tailored, nutrition-based pet care.

After online applications, expert inspections, and a global panel vote, Royal Canin's Shanghai site was chosen from hundreds of applicants worldwide.

After assessing the factory's automation, cleanliness, quality control systems and pet-friendly working environment, the panel of experts declared the site's end-to-end digital and intelligent manufacturing capabilities world-class.

World Economic Forum Managing Director Kiva Allgood said, "The newest Lighthouse sites show how intelligence is becoming embedded into the fabric of operations, enabling organizations to respond faster, learn continuously and unlock new levels of performance across their value chains."

A major foreign company in China's pet sector, Royal Canin's Shanghai headquarters is their commercial and outreach hub.

"Quality is our top priority, reflecting Royal Canin's core value 'Cats & Dogs First.' The Lighthouse certification recognizes Royal Canin Shanghai site's digital and intelligent capabilities and our commitment to protecting dogs' and cats' health through high-quality, precise nutrition," Royal Canin China General Manager Xu Juan said.

"Royal Canin Shanghai site, the first 'Lighthouse' in the pet industry, has been in the Chinese market for 16 years, aligning with 'Smart Manufacturing in China.'

"Through continuous digital and intelligent capability and quality standards upgrades, we hope to drive the Chinese pet industry towards higher-quality development and ensure that dogs and cats can provide pet owners with companionship for longer."

The Smart Supply Control Tower integrates more than 10 data sources and serves five distribution centers across the country.

It offers real-time predictive analysis of demand forecasts, production scheduling, inventory level, sales fulfillment and logistics, allowing Royal Canin to improve supply chain resilience and deliver fresh pet food to pet owners faster.

The After-sales Intelligence Hub using Mars Pulse can track product quality completely in under an hour, accurately pinpointing the specific batch and production line details, which helps the company respond quickly and accurately to pet owners after a sale.

Since starting production in 2010, the Royal Canin Shanghai site has constantly followed Mars Group's globally uniform, strict production standards and quality control system.

It has had no food safety incidents and no instances of microbiological levels exceeding standards, and it has held Mars' top certification, "Platinum Factory," for 820 consecutive weeks. These figures demonstrate a long-standing commitment to quality.

Royal Canin first entered the Chinese market in 1995, and plans for the Shanghai site were developed in 2006. Back then, with a forward-thinking strategic vision, Royal Canin introduced the world's most innovative pet food manufacturing concepts to China and chose to implement them in Shanghai.

The site began operations in 2010.

Through 16 years of steadfast commitment, Royal Canin Shanghai site has undergone a remarkable change, driving Chinese pet food manufacture to the forefront of global smart manufacturing.

For Royal Canin, becoming a global "Lighthouse" represents a fresh start.

Moving forward, Royal Canin will continue to use the Shanghai site as a model for smart manufacturing, translating its end-to-end digital and intelligent skills into capabilities that can be duplicated globally.

At the same time, by combining the strengths of its Shanghai and Tianjin sites, the company will expand the use of advanced digital and smart technologies to more areas of its operations and fully incorporate them into daily tasks.

This is intended to consistently improve its professional capabilities for defending the health of dogs and cats through precision nutrition, as it works to "create a better world for pets."