Kimberly-Clark

Last updated

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Company type Public
ISIN US4943681035
Industry Consumer goods
Manufacturing
Personal care
Founded1872;152 years ago (1872), in Neenah, Wisconsin, U.S.
Founders
Headquarters Irving, Texas, U.S. (since 1985)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$20.43 billion (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$2.344 billion (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$1.764 billion (2023)
Total assets Decrease2.svgUS$17.34 billion (2023)
Total equity Increase2.svgUS$1.068 billion (2023)
Number of employees
c.41,000 (2023)
Website www.kimberly-clark.com
Footnotes /references
[1]
Camelia Popular - sanitary napkin around 1942 from military stocks for nurses Camelia Popular sanitary napkins from stocks of the Wehrmacht Third Reich with acceptance stamping - Intim hygiene supply nurses around 1942 - content 10 pieces per pack - D.R. WZ No. 378543 and 386768.jpg
Camelia Populär - sanitary napkin around 1942 from military stocks for nurses

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational consumer goods and personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include Kleenex facial tissue, Kotex feminine hygiene products, Cottonelle, Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, KimWipes scientific cleaning wipes and Huggies disposable diapers and baby wipes.

Contents

Founded in Neenah, Wisconsin, in 1872 and based in the Las Colinas section of Irving, Texas, since 1985, the company operated its own paper mills around the world for decades, but closed the last of those in 2012. [2] [3] With recent annual revenues topping $18 billion per year, Kimberly-Clark is regularly listed among the Fortune 500. As of March 2020, the company had approximately 40,000 employees. [4]

History

Kimberly-Clark paper mill in Niagara, Wisconsin, 1942 Photograph of Paper Mill of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation - NARA - 2129448.tif
Kimberly-Clark paper mill in Niagara, Wisconsin, 1942

Kimberly, Clark and Co. was founded in 1872 by John A. Kimberly, Havilah Babcock, Charles B. Clark and Franklyn C. Shattuck in Neenah, Wisconsin, with $42,000 (equivalent to US$1,068,200in 2023) of capital. [5] The group's first business was operating paper mills, which the collective expanded throughout the following decades. In 1888, the fledgling company faced a significant setback when its groundwood "Atlas" paper mill burned. Through an extensive effort by labor and management, within five months the mill was rebuilt and in production at a greater capacity. In that same year the company began rapid expansion, purchasing land in a town then known as The Cedars for a new groundwood pulp plant designed by prominent paper mill architects D. H. & A. B. Tower. [6] In 1889, the town was renamed Kimberly after John A. Kimberly. The company would also contract the firm to expand its vast sulphite pulp complex in Appleton, Wisconsin, which allowed it to become the first firm west of Pennsylvania to adopt this improved manufacturing process. [7] [8] The company developed cellu-cotton in 1914, a cotton substitute used by the U.S. Army as surgical cotton during World War I. Army nurses used cellu-cotton pads as disposable sanitary napkins, [9] and six years later the company introduced Kotex, the first disposable feminine hygiene product. [10] Kleenex, a disposable handkerchief, followed in 1924. Kimberly & Clark joined with The New York Times Company in 1926 to build a newsprint mill in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. Two years later, the company went public as Kimberly-Clark. [11]

The firm expanded internationally during the 1950s, opening plants in Mexico, West Germany and the United Kingdom. It began operations in 17 more foreign locations in the 1960s.[ citation needed ] The company formed Midwest Express Airlines from its corporate flight department in 1984. Kimberly-Clark's headquarters moved from Neenah, Wisconsin to Irving, Texas the following year, [12] although its products are still produced in Neenah. Alongside Cadbury, Kimberly-Clark withdrew advertising support for Lou Grant in 1982, due to pressure from various conservative caucuses campaigning against star Ed Asner. [13] Under the leadership of Darwin Smith as CEO from 1971 to 1991, the company was transformed from a business paper company to a consumer paper products company.

In 1991, Kimberly-Clark and The New York Times Company sold their jointly owned paper mill in Kapuskasing, Ontario. Kimberly-Clark entered a joint venture with Buenos Aires-based Descartables Argentinos S.A. to produce personal care products in Argentina in 1994 [14] and also bought the feminine hygiene unit of VP-Schickedanz (Germany) for $123 million [15] and a 90% stake in Handan Comfort and Beauty Group (China). [16]

Kimberly-Clark merged with Scott Paper in 1995 for $9.4 billion. [17] In 1997, Kimberly-Clark sold its 50% stake in Canada's Scott Paper to forest products company Kruger Inc. [18] and bought diaper operations in Spain and Portugal [19] and disposable surgical masks maker Tecnol Medical Products. [20] Augmenting its presence in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, in 1999 the company paid $365 million for the tissue business of Swiss-based Attisholz Holding. [21] Expanding its offerings of medical products, the company bought Ballard Medical Products in 1999 for $774 million [22] and examination-glove maker Safeskin in 2000 for about $800 million. [23]

Also in 2000, the company bought virtually all of Taiwan's S-K Corporation; the move made Kimberly-Clark one of the largest manufacturers of packaged goods in Taiwan. [24] The company later purchased Taiwan Scott Paper Corporation for about $40 million and merged the two companies, forming Kimberly-Clark Taiwan. [25] In 2001, Kimberly-Clark bought Italian diaper maker Linostar and announced it was closing four Latin American manufacturing plants. [26]

In 2002, Kimberly-Clark purchased paper-packaging rival Amcor's stake in an Australian joint venture. [27] In 2003, Kimberly-Clark added to its global consumer tissue business by acquiring the Polish tissue maker Klucze. [28]

In early 2004, chairman and chief executive officer Thomas Falk began implementation of a global business plan that the company has detailed in July 2003. The firm combined its North American and European groups for personal care and consumer tissue under North Atlantic groups. In 2019, CEO Thomas Falk resigned his position but continued on as the company's chairman of the board. COO Michael D. Hsu became CEO following Falk's retirement.

As of March 2020, the company had approximately 40,000 employees. [4] In April 2020, the Financial Times reported that panic-buying during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 13 percent increase in sales of Kimberley-Clark's consumer tissues in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the previous year. [29] In April 2020, Kimberly Clark reported an eight percent decline in organic sales, its worst sales performance in at least a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal. [30]

In 2022, Kimberly Clark acquired majority stake in Thinx, a period underwear brand. [31]

Ownership and subsidiaries

Kimberly-Clark shares are mainly held by institutional investors (The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and others). [32] Its subsidiaries include Kimberly-Clark Professional. [33]

Midwest Airlines

The origin of Midwest Airlines can be traced back to 1948, when Kimberly-Clark opened its corporate flight department and began providing air transportation for company executives and engineers between the company's headquarters in Neenah and its paper mills.

In 1969, K-C Aviation was born from the company's air operations, and was dedicated to the maintenance of corporate aircraft. In 1982, K-C Aviation initiated shuttle flights for Kimberly-Clark employees between Appleton, Memphis, and Atlanta. With this experience, and considering the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Kimberly-Clark and K-C Aviation formed a regularly scheduled passenger airline, Midwest Express Airlines, which was started on June 11, 1984. [34] The name of the airline was shortened to Midwest Airlines in 2003.

K-C Aviation divested itself from the airline in 1996. Two years later, Gulfstream Aerospace purchased K-C Aviation from Kimberly-Clark for $250 million, which included its operations at airports in Dallas, Appleton, and Westfield, Massachusetts. [35]

Major product lines

Major U.S. consumer product lines

Kimberly-Clark produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include Kleenex facial tissue, Kotex feminine hygiene products, Cottonelle, Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, KimWipes scientific cleaning wipes and Huggies disposable diapers and baby wipes.

Diapers and incontinence products

  • Huggies: diapers for infants and toddlers
  • Little Swimmers: swim diapers, marketed under the Huggies brand
  • Pull-Ups: training pants for toddlers undergoing toilet training, marketed under the Huggies brand
  • GoodNites (DryNites outside North America): pull-on diapers for children, teens and young adults who experience nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting), spun off from the Pull-Ups brand
  • Poise: Pads and liners for light to moderate urinary incontinence in adult women
  • Depend: diapers and briefs for adults

Feminine hygiene

Kotex

Kotex is a feminine hygiene product line that includes pantiliners, pads and tampons.

Tissues and wipes

Cottonelle

Cottonelle is a brand name for bath products. Product forms include premium bath tissue and flushable moist wipe products. On October 13, 2020, the Cottonelle brand flushable wipes issued a recall because the products manufactured between February through September may contain Pluralibacter gergovaie . [36]

Kleenex

Kleenex is a brand name of facial tissue paper. Many versions have been made, including "with lotion, our softest ever!" and "regular". In the 1970s, color psychologist Dr. Cody Sweet represented newly styled Kleenex boxes as a national media spokesperson.[ citation needed ]

Scott

Scott is a brand name of paper napkins, paper towels and bath tissue/wipes.

Viva

Viva is a brand name of heavy-duty paper towels. [37] [38]

Mexican consumer product lines

The Mexican market has most of the American products, as well as these products:

Major professional and global products

KimWipes

KimWipes are a type of cleaning tissue commonly used in laboratories. They are intended for applications in which leaving lint or fibers on a surface would be undesirable, such as on slides and pipettes. They are sometimes used to clean lenses, but use on optical lenses with special water- and solvent-based coatings may cause light blemishes, and the manufacturer recommends using a wipe specifically designed for use with coated lenses. KimWipes are composed of virgin wood pulp from certified forests, with few chemical additives.

WypAll

WypAll is a brand name for cleaning towels, wipes, and cloths. They are used in industrial settings and laboratories.

DryNites

DryNites are a version of GoodNites sold in Europe and Australasia.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diaper</span> Undergarment for incontinence containment

A diaper or a nappy is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or containing waste products to prevent soiling of outer clothing or the external environment. When diapers become wet or soiled, they require changing, generally by a second person such as a parent or caregiver. Failure to change a diaper on a sufficiently regular basis can result in skin problems around the area covered by the diaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kleenex</span> Brand name for a variety of paper-based products

Kleenex is a brand name for a line of paper-based facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue, it is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark, applied to products made in 78 countries and sold in over 196.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Paper Company</span> Defunct company, now part of Kimberly-Clark

The Scott Paper Company was a manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including Scott Tissue, Cottonelle, Baby Fresh, Scottex and Viva. Consolidated sales of its consumer and commercial products totalled approximately $3.6 billion in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kotex</span> Brand of menstrual hygiene products

Kotex is an American brand of menstrual hygiene products, which includes the Kotex maxi, thin and ultra-thin pads, the Security tampons, and the Lightdays pantiliners. Most recently, the company has added U by Kotex to its menstrual hygiene product line. Kotex is owned and managed by Kimberly-Clark, a consumer products corporation active in more than 80 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pampers</span> Brand of baby and toddler products

Pampers is an American brand for babies and toddlers products marketed by Procter & Gamble. This includes diapers, wipes and etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huggies</span> American brand of baby products

Huggies is an American company that sells disposable diapers and baby wipes that is marketed by Kimberly-Clark. Huggies were first test marketed in 1968, then introduced to the public in 1977 to replace the Kimbies brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wet wipe</span> Small moistened piece of paper or cloth

A wet wipe, also known as a wet towel, wet one, moist towelette, disposable wipe, disinfecting wipe, or a baby wipe is a small to medium-sized moistened piece of plastic or cloth that either comes folded and individually wrapped for convenience or, in the case of dispensers, as a large roll with individual wipes that can be torn off. Wet wipes are used for cleaning purposes like personal hygiene and household cleaning; each is a separate product depending on the chemicals added and medical or office cleaning wipes are not intended for skin hygiene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodnites</span> Disposable undergarments designed for managing Nocturnal Enuresis

Goodnites are diapers designed for managing bedwetting. Goodnites are produced by Kimberly-Clark. The product has also been seen titled as Huggies Goodnites on official Huggies branded webpages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Training pants</span> Type of incontinence garment

Training pants are undergarments used by incontinent people, typically toddlers, as an aid for toilet training. They are intended to be worn in between the transition between wearing diapers but before they are ready to wear regular underpants. Training pants may be reusable and made of fabric, or they may be disposable. In the US, disposable training pants may also be referred to as "pull-ups", and in the UK, training pants are frequently referred to as nappy pants or trainer pants. The main benefit of training pants over diapers is that unlike traditional diapers, they can be easily pulled down in order to sit on a potty or toilet, and pulled back up for re-use after the person has used the toilet. The main benefit of wearing training pants over regular underpants is that if the person has an accident, they do not soil their environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facial tissue</span> Disposable paper used on the face

Facial tissue and paper handkerchief refers to a class of soft, absorbent, disposable papers that are suitable for use on the face. They are disposable alternatives for cloth handkerchiefs. The terms are commonly used to refer to the type of paper tissue, usually sold in boxes, that is designed to facilitate the expulsion of nasal mucus from the nose (nose-blowing) although it may refer to other types of facial tissues such as napkins and wipes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrex</span> British toilet tissue brand

Andrex is a British brand of toilet roll. It is owned by the American company Kimberly-Clark. The "Andrex Puppy", a Labrador Retriever puppy that appears on the company's television advertisements, is synonymous with the brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottonelle</span> American brand of toilet paper

Cottonelle is an American brand of toilet paper produced by Kimberly-Clark. The company has made several different toilet paper types such as regular, Cottonelle Double, (Two-ply) Cottonelle Ultra, Cottonelle Aloe & E, Cottonelle Kids, and Cottonelle Extra Strength, and are currently sold in the United States and Australia under the Kleenex brand.

Kimberly-Clark de México(KCM) is a Mexican company that engages in the manufacture and commercialization of disposable products for daily use by consumers within and away-from home in Mexico and internationally. The company's products include diapers and childcare products, feminine pads, incontinence care products, bath tissue, napkins, facial tissue, hand and kitchen towels, wet wipes and health care products. Today the company has 8,000 direct employees and over 10,000 indirect jobs.

A wetness indicator is a common feature in many disposable diapers and toilet training pants. It is a feature that reacts to exposure of liquid as a way to discourage the wearer to urinate in the training pants, or as an indicator to a caregiver that a diaper needs changing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst Mahler</span>

Ernst Mahler was an Austrian chemist and leader of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Wisconsin. Mahler developed, refined, and commercialized various popular products and processes of papermaking. He was also instrumental in the foundation of the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) as well as the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halyard Health</span> American medical equipment manufacturer

Halyard, formerly Kimberly-Clark Health Care, now part of Owens & Minor, sells sterilization wrap, facial protection, gloves, protective apparel, surgical drapes and gowns in more than 100 countries.

Depend is a Kimberly-Clark brand of absorbent, disposable undergarments for people with urinary or fecal incontinence. It positions its products as an alternative to typical adult diapers. Depend is the dominant brand of disposable incontinence garments in the United States with a 49.4 share of the market.

Essity AB is a Swedish hygiene and health company, with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. The products portfolio contains one-use products such as tissue paper, baby diapers, feminine care, incontinence products, compression therapy, orthopedics and wound care. Essity was a part of the hygiene and forest products company SCA until 2017, when the company spun off the hygiene operations that became listed as a separate company on Nasdaq Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nibong Tebal Paper Mill</span> Malaysian multinational pulp and paper company

Nibong Tebal Paper Mill Holdings Bhd. is a Malaysian multinational pulp and paper and consumer goods company and is one of the world's largest paper manufacturer. Headquartered in Nibong Tebal, Penang, the company produces more than 100 types of tissue papers and has a capacity to produce 250 tons of tissue paper per day. Nibong Tebal Paper Mill has a strong presence not only in Malaysia, but also in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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