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P&G partners with Portainer to containerize their MES software

Customer Story: Procter & Gamble

Key metrics

$4.3M Operation Efficiency
$1.7M Engineering Efficiency
40% Increase in Productivity

Business overview

Business Focus
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the largest consumer goods corporation in the world. They produce and distribute a wide variety of household and personal care products such as Tide laundry detergent, Pampers diapers, Gillette razors, and Crest toothpaste.
Based in the United States
Founded in 1837 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, P&G has grown into the largest consumer goods company in the world with operations in over 70 countries.
Key Need For Portainer
P&G partnered with Portainer to containerize their MES (Manufacturing Execution system) software, Proficy, as part of a broader cloud-native transition.
Container Platform
Docker and Kubernetes
Procter_&_Gamble_logo.svg

Critical business issues

Role based access
Simplify transition to containers
Improve efficiency

The Challenge

Founded in 1837 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, P&G has grown into the largest consumer goods company in the world with operations in over 70 countries. They are the 51st largest company in the Fortune 500 and the 154th largest in the Global 500. P&G invests significantly in technology and digital capabilities to support its business operations and drive innovation. The company uses advanced analytics and modeling to get consumer insights and optimize its marketing and supply chain.

P&G also leverages technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and cloud computing to enable smart manufacturing in its facilities. Collaboration tools and digital workplaces enable P&G’s global workforce to connect and share ideas. The company has tech hubs in cities like Singapore, Brussels, and Cincinnati where IT specialists and engineers develop new technologies for P&G’s brands. Overall, P&G’s technology infrastructure provides a digital foundation to support the company’s consumer goods business on a global scale.

P&G manages 130 manufacturing plants globally, but a reliance on legacy, thick client systems has made modernizing difficult.

“For us it is a different journey because we are moving from a thick client where you have to manually install to a web-based client”

The thick client systems limit P&G’s ability to adopt modern container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes that promise greater scalability, easier deployments, and higher efficiency.

Their main Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software, GE Proficy, epitomizes these challenges.

“We’ve always had Proficy... for over 50 years now,” Adefemi explained. "But running traditionally on desktops, it restricts operational agility."

Because of this P&G has partnered with Portainer to containerize Proficy as part of a broader cloud-native transition.


 

 

"We’ve always had Proficy... for over 50 years now. But running traditionally on desktops, it restricts operational agility."

 

Procter_&_Gamble_logo.svg
Adefemi AjayiApplication Platform Owner, Global

The Solution

Legacy systems have made adoption difficult. P&G’s customized solutions with hardcoded components also complicate containerizing apps. Nevertheless, with Portainer’s help, P&G aims to migrate 30 sites currently, with 5 more in the lab, to a 100 site goal.

This will require navigating P&G’s rigorous internal security reviews.

“It takes time and takes some effort,” said Adefemi. "But immediately, the 20 users are already seeing major productivity gains. "

Then by expanding to 80 users after security assessments, Adefemi expects operations efficiency to increase by a stunning 80%.

By securing access and only allowing visibility through Portainer, it provides robust, role-based access control (RBAC) that is much needed in industrial environments.

To support this journey, GE plans to transition Proficy to Kubernetes by 2024.

“That will also expose us to better usage of Portainer,” Adefemi noted.

He also highlighted the need for enhanced monitoring and deployment capabilities. With Portainer’s latest release addressing these gaps, the future looks bright.

""It takes time and takes some effort, but immediately, the 20 users are already seeing major productivity gains. We’re looking at being 80% more productive in the future." 

Procter_&_Gamble_logo.svg
Adefemi AjayiApplication Platform Owner, Global

The Results

This transition is enabling massive gains. Currently, Portainer makes the 20 developers and IT staff using it 40% more productive by abstracting away complex container management.

“We’re looking at being 80% more productive in the future”. Adefemi projected. 

Although P&G still faces challenges with change management and legacy systems, Portainer represents a key platform for their containerization journey. It already demonstrates valuable productivity gains, security controls, and accessibility for non-experts.

As P&G expands Portainer’s footprint after navigating security reviews, they aim to achieve up to 80% operational efficiency improvement across their global manufacturing plants. With progress to date and future Kubernetes adoption, their cloud-native vision is nearing reality.

Key Metrics: 

  • $4.3M per year in operations efficiency ($90,000 pay with benefits x 60 operations resources x 80% enhancement)
  • $1.7M per year in engineering efficiency ($104,977 pay with benefits x 20 developers and IT x 80% enhancement)
  • Role-based access controls reduce risk of security event

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