IFF Accelerates Fragrance Innovation with Advanced Colibri Dosing Robot
A Major Step Forward in Automated Fragrance Production
IFF, a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, and health and biosciences, has taken a significant step toward modernizing its production capabilities with the installation of the Colibri smart dosing robot at its Chin Bee facility in Singapore. This advanced system marks a new era for the company’s fragrance operations, enabling sample batches to be produced in minutes and transforming the development process for customers across Greater Asia.
Revolutionizing the Sample Creation Process
The Chin Bee site, a key cross-category production plant for both Scent and Taste, now houses one of the industry’s most sophisticated dosing technologies. Traditional fragrance sample production often required meticulous manual measurement and careful handling of multiple ingredients, making the process time-intensive and dependent on operator skill. By integrating the Colibri robot, IFF has significantly accelerated this workflow and introduced new levels of automation.
The robot’s ability to dose multiple ingredients simultaneously allows it to complete tasks up to four times faster than the older system it replaces. This leap in efficiency benefits all downstream processes involved in fragrance creation, from initial ideation and formulation to customer evaluation and final product development.
Speed, Precision and Enhanced Capacity
With the new robot in place, IFF can meet rising customer expectations for rapid innovation. Market trends in fragrance categories—spanning fine fragrances, personal care, home care, and lifestyle products—change quickly, and brands require fast, accurate samples to stay competitive. The Colibri system is designed exactly for this need.
By drastically shortening production cycles, the system increases output and reduces lead time. Sample batches that once took hours can now be produced in mere minutes, allowing fragrance development teams to deliver solutions at unprecedented speed. More importantly, the enhanced precision of automated dosing ensures that every sample is produced with consistent quality, eliminating the minor inconsistencies that can occur with manual ingredient handling.
A Strategic Investment in Greater Asia
Ramon Brentan, Vice President and Regional General Manager for Greater Asia, Scent, emphasized the importance of this upgrade for the company’s regional growth strategy.
“The installation of this new automation system at IFF Chin Bee underscores IFF’s commitment to continued investment in Greater Asia, one of the fastest-growing fragrance markets globally,” he said. “It strengthens our ability to support demand in the region with enhanced speed, quality and precision.”
His comments highlight how critical automation is for meeting the evolving needs of customers in Greater Asia. As the region becomes a global hub for beauty, personal care and consumer goods innovation, speed-to-market and production efficiency are increasingly essential.
Dramatically Shortened Production Cycles
One of the most striking improvements introduced by the Colibri system is the significant reduction in compounding time. A single fragrance trial can now be completed in seconds, allowing perfumers and developers to quickly test ideas and adjust formulations with far greater agility.
In an eight-hour production window, the Chin Bee plant can now produce up to 200 fragrance sample batches—work that previously would have required an entire 24-hour period. This threefold increase in efficiency not only accelerates time-to-market for customers but also gives perfumers the freedom to explore more creative directions without worrying about delays.
Consistency, Quality and Creative Freedom
While speed is one of the main advantages, the system also reinforces quality and consistency. Automated dosing minimizes human error, ensuring each sample is produced with precision down to the smallest measurement. This exactness is vital in fragrance development, where even slight variations in ingredient ratios can alter the final scent.
With a more reliable system in place, perfumers gain greater confidence in the sample outcomes. They are free to experiment with novel combinations and complex formulations, knowing that the robot can reliably reproduce samples as needed.
Integration Across IFF’s Global Network
The addition of Colibri at Chin Bee places the Singapore site alongside several other IFF facilities that have already embraced this advanced technology. Plants in Neuilly, France, and Hilversum, Netherlands, have integrated the same system, forming a growing global network of highly automated fragrance production centers.
This alignment allows IFF to standardize processes across regions, ensuring that customers worldwide receive the same high level of speed, accuracy and service. It also supports greater collaboration between international teams, allowing them to share insights and best practices more efficiently.
Strengthening Singapore’s Role as an Innovation Hub
The implementation of the robot builds on IFF’s continued investments in Singapore, particularly following the establishment of its $30 million USD Singapore Innovation Center. This state-of-the-art facility serves as a regional hub for research, development and customer collaboration, featuring immersive co-creation spaces, pilot-scale equipment and advanced analytical laboratories.
By incorporating the Colibri robot into the Chin Bee production site, IFF further enhances Singapore’s position as a center of excellence within the company’s global ecosystem. Customers benefit from faster prototyping, more efficient workflows and an end-to-end innovation environment designed to bring new fragrances to life with unmatched agility.
A Future Driven by Automation and Creativity
With the Colibri system now operational, IFF is well positioned to meet the fast-evolving demands of the fragrance sector. The robot’s ability to produce samples quickly, accurately and consistently allows the company to deliver solutions that align with the pace of modern market trends.
Ultimately, the technology empowers perfumers and developers to innovate more boldly and more efficiently. As IFF continues expanding its capabilities across the region, customers in Greater Asia—and worldwide—will gain access to faster, more precise and more creative fragrance development than ever before.
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