Explore the Global Lighthouse Network of Factories

The World Economic Forum and McKinsey name the most advanced factories in the world. The Exponential Industry Atlas brings you inside them!

David Rogers

Jan 03, 2023

Click any image to launch the WEF Global Lighthouse Network app

Dive directly into Central Europe’s Lighthouses

Featuring Siemens, Procter & Gamble, BMW, AGCO, Danone, and Flex

Explore South Korea’s Chaebols

LG’s Smart Park, POSCO’s Pohang Works, and LS Electric’s Smart Factory

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The World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains platform has set up the Global Lighthouse Network. This community of manufacturers shows leadership in using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to transform factories, value chains and business models, for compelling financial and operational returns. They have embarked on a joint learning journey, partnering on collaborative projects, developing insights and incubating new potential partnerships.

How many Lighthouse Factories exist?

As of January 2023, 132 Lighthouses have been identified from different industry sectors, including 13 Sustainability Lighthouses (🌱).

Where are the Lighthouse Factories?

Lighthouse factories have been identified on four continents: Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. The continents are listed in descending order by number of lighthouse factories and broken out into sub-continent regions.

Click any of the below images to launch directly into the app with that view! Each company, location, and date of initiation into the network is listed below.

Asia (85 Lighthouses Factories)

In Asia, China lives up to its moniker as the world’s factory with 50 lighthouse factories, the most of any country. Overall, Asia contains 85 lighthouses (64.4% of all). The factories are primarily located on the Pacific Rim for easy shipping access to foreign markets. The Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore regions have a high density of lighthouse factories.

Eastern Asia (56)

Bosch, Wuxi, China, September 2018
Haier, Qingdao, China, September 2018
Siemens, Chengdu, China, September 2018
Danfoss, Tainjin, China, January 2019
Foxconn Industrial Internet, Shenzhen, China, January 2019
POSCO, Pohang, South Korea, July 2019
SAIC Maxus, Nanjing, China, July 2019
Baoshan Iron & Steel, Shanghai, China, January 2020
Foton Cummins, Beijing, China, January 2020
GE Healthcare, Hino, Japan, January 2020
Haier, Shenyang, China, January 2020
Hitachi, Hitachi, Japan, January 2020
Johnson & Johnson DePuy Synthes, Suzhou, China, January 2020
Procter & Gamble, Taicang, China, January 2020
Weichai, Weifang, China, January 2020
Alibaba, Hangzhou, China, September 2020
Micron, Taichung, Taiwan, China, September 2020
Midea, Nansha, Guangzhou, China, September 2020
Unilever, Hefei, China, September 2020
Bosch, Suzhou, China, March 2021
Foxconn, Chengdu, China, March 2021
Midea, Shunde, China, March 2021
Tsingtao Brewery, Qingdao, China, March 2021
Wistron, Kunshan, China, March 2021
AUO, Taichung, Taiwan, China, September 2021
CATL, Ningde, China, September 2021
CITIC Dicastal, Qinhuangdao, China, September 2021
Foxconn, Wuhan, China, September 2021
Foxconn, Zhengzhou, China, September 2021
🌱 Haier, Tianjin, China, September 2021
Innolux, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, September 2021
LS Electric, Cheongju, South Korea, September 2021
Sany Heavy Industry, Beijing, China, September 2021
Schneider Electric, Wuxi, China, September 2021
Unilever, Taicang, China, September 2021
BOE Technology Group, Fuzhou, China, March 2022
Bosch, Changsha, China, March 2022
Haier, Zhengzhou, China, March 2022
Midea, Hefei, China, March 2022
Midea, Jingzhou, China, March 2022
Procter & Gamble, Guangzhou, China, March 2022
LG Electronics, Changwon, South Korea, March 2022
CATL, Sichuan, China, October 2022
Haier, Qingdao, China, October 2022
Midea, Shunde, China, October 2022
Sany Heavy Industry, Changsha, China, October 2022
🌱 Western Digital, Shanghai, China, October 2022
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, January 2023
Foxconn Industrial Internet, Shenzhen, China, January 2023
Haier, Hefei, China, January 2023
Huayi New Material, Shanghai, China, January 2023
Lenovo, Hefei, China, January 2023
Mondelēz, Suzhou, China, January 2023
Procter & Gamble, Takasaki, Japan, January 2023
Unilever, Tianjin, China, January 2023
Wistron, Zhongshan, China, January 2023

South-eastern Asia (10)

Schneider Electric, Batam, Indonesia, July 2019
Infineon, Singapore, Singapore, January 2020
🌱 Micron, Singapore, Singapore, January 2020
HP, Singapore, Singapore, March 2021
🌱 Western Digital, Penang, Malaysia, September 2021
Western Digital, Prachinburi, Thailand, September 2021
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, Bangkok, Thailand, March 2022
Agilent Technologies, Singapore, Singapore, October 2022
Western Digital, Laguna, Philippines, January 2023
Western Digital, Bang Pa-in, Thailand, January, 2023

Southern Asia (10)

Tata Steel, Kalinganagar, India, July 2019
ReNew Power, Hubli, India, March 2021
Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, India, March 2021
Schneider Electric, Hyderabad, India, March 2022
🌱 Unilever, Dapada, India, March 2022
Cipla, Indore, India, October 2022
Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad, India, October 2022
Mondelēz, Sri City, India, October 2022
CEAT, Halol, India, January 2023
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, Mulund, India, January 2023

Western Asia (9)

Saudi Aramco, Uthmaniyah, Saudi Arabia, January 2019
Ford Otosan, Kocaeli, Turkey, July 2019
Petkim, Izmir, Turkey, January 2020
Unilever, Dubai, UAE, January 2020
Saudi Aramco, Khurais, Saudi Arabia, September 2020
STAR Refinery, Izmir, Turkey, March 2021
Araçelik, Eskişehir, Turkey, September 2021
Saudi Aramco, Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 2021
Bosch, Bursa, Turkey, January 2023

Europe (32)

Europe contains thirty lighthouse factories primarily focused on on high value products such as pharmaceuticals and medical products. The factories are spread out across the continent. Europe also contains the highest concentration of sustainability designations.

Bayer, Garbagnate, Italy, September 2018
Johnson & Johnson DePuy Synthes, Cork, Ireland, September 2018
Phoenix Contact, Blomberg, Germany, September 2018
Procter & Gamble, Rakona, Czech Republic, September 2018
🌱 Schneider Electric, Le Vaudreuil, France, September 2018
BMW, Regensburg, Germany, January 2019
Rold, Cerro Maggiore, Italy, January 2019
Sandvik Coromant, Gimo, Sweden, January 2019
Tata Steel, IJmuiden, The Netherlands, January 2019
🌱 Araçelik, Ulmi, Romania, July 2019
Groupe Renault, Cléon, France, July 2019
Nokia, Oulu, Finland, July 2019
AGCO, Marktoberdorf, Germany, January 2020
GSK, Ware, United Kingdom, January 2020
🌱 Henkel, Düsseldorf, Germany, January 2020
Groupe Renault, Maubeuge, France, September 2020
🌱 Johnson & Johnson Janssen, Cork, Ireland, September 2020
Novo Nordisk, Hillerød, Denmark, September 2020
Henkel, Montornès del Vallès, Spain, March 2021
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, Helsingborg, Sweden, March 2021
Procter & Gamble, Amiens, France, March 2021
🌱 Siemens, Amberg, Germany, March 2021
De' Longhi, Treviso, Italy, September 2021
Flex, Althofen, Austria, September 2021
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, London, United Kingdom, September 2021
Johnson & Johnson Janssen, Latina, Italy, March 2022
LG Electronics, Changwon, South Korea, March 2022
Sanofi, Paris, France, March 2022
Teva Pharmaceuticals, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 2022
Danone, Opole, Poland, October 2022
The Coca-Cola Company, Ballina, Ireland, January 2023
MantaMESH, Fröttstädt, Germany, January 2023

North America (11)

Within North America, the United States dominates with 9 of the 10 ten lighthouses. It is also home to the company headquarters with the most lighthouses, Johnson & Johnson (10) and second most Procter & Gamble (6). Two of the lighthouses are focused on 3D printing and additive manufacturing an emerging industrial-production technology to produce parts with very complex shapes or geometries.

Fast Radius, Louisville, Kentucky, United States, September 2018
Zymergen, Emeryville, California, United States, July 2019
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Jacksonville, Florida, United States, January 2020
DCP Midstream, Denver, Colorado, United States, September 2020
🌱 Schneider Electric, Lexington, Kentucky, United States, September 2020
🌱 Ericsson, Lewisville, Texas, United States, March 2021
Procter & Gamble, Lima, Ohio, United States, March 2021
Henkel, Toluca, Mexico, September 2021
Johnson & Johnson DePuy Synthes, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States, September 2021
Protolabs, Plymouth, Minnesota, United States, September 2021
LG Electronics, Clarksville, Tennessee, United States, January 2023

South America (4)

The last three lighthouses reside in Southeastern Brazil within South America. MODEC’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is the only offshore facility which is recognized by the Global Lighthouse Network.

Groupe Renault, Curitiba, Brazil, January 2020
MODEC, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 2020
🌱 Flex, Sorocaba, Brazil, October 2022
Unilever, Indaiatuba, Brazil, January 2023

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