Kimberly-Clark
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| Kimberly-Clark Corporation | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: KMB, BMV:Kimber) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Neenah, Wisconsin, USA (1872) |
| Headquarters | Irving, Texas, USA (World Headquarters) |
| Key people | Thomas J. Falk, CEO/Chairman Mark A. Buthman, SVP/CFO |
| Industry | Paper & Paper Products |
| Products | Kleenex Huggies Kotex Depend Scott VIVA Cottonelle Andrex Pull-Ups GoodNites Little Swimmers Poise Neat Sheet |
| Revenue |  $15.903 billion USD (2005) |
| Employees | 63,900 |
| Website | www.Kimberly-Clark.com |
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB, BMV: Kimber) is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle" toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes" scientific cleaning wipes, and "Huggies" disposable diapers. Based in Irving, Texas, it has approximately 63,900 employees.
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[edit] History
Kimberly, Clark and Co. was founded in 1872 by John A. Kimberly, Havilah Babcock, Charles B. Clark, and Frank C. Shattuck in Neenah, Wisconsin with $30,000 capitalization. Their first business was running paper mills, a business they grew throughout the following decades. In 1914 the company developed cellu-cotton, a cotton substitute used by the US Army as surgical cotton during WWI. Army nurses used cellu-cotton pads as disposable sanitary napkins, and six years later the company introduced Kotex, the first disposable feminine hygiene product. Kleenex, the first throwaway handkerchief, followed in 1924. Kimberly & Clark joined with The New York Times Company in 1926 to build a newsprint mill in Ontario, Canada. Two years later the company went public as Kimberly-Clark.
The firm expanded internationally during the 1950s, opening plants in Mexico, Germany, and the UK. It began operations in 17 more foreign locations in the 1960s. 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.
In 1991 Kimberly-Clark and The New York Times Company sold their joint paper mill. Kimberly-Clark entered a joint venture to make personal care products in Argentina in 1994 and also bought the feminine hygiene units of VP-Schickedanz (Germany) and Handan Comfort and Beauty Group (China).
Kimberly-Clark bought Scott Paper in 1995 for $9.4 billion. In 1997 Kimberly-Clark sold its 50% stake in Canada's Scott Paper to forest products company Kruger and bought diaper operations in Spain and Portugal and disposable surgical face masks maker Tecnol Medical Products. Augmenting its presence in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, in 1999 the company paid $365 million for the tissue business of Swiss-based Attisholz Holding. Adding to its lineup of medical products, the company bought Ballard Medical Products in 1999 for $744 million and examination glove maker Safeskin in 2000 for about $800 million.
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 consumer packaged goods in Taiwan and set the stage for expanded distribution in the Asia/Pacific region. The company later purchased Taiwan Scott Paper Corporation for about $40 million and merged the two companies, forming Kimberly-Clark Taiwan. In 2001 Kimberly-Clark bought Italian diaper maker Linostar, and announced it was closing four Latin American manufacturing plants.
In 2002 Kimberly-Clark purchased paper-packaging rival Amcor's stake in their Kimberly-Clark Australia joint venture. Adding to its global consumer tissue business, in 2003 Kimberly-Clark acquired the Polish tissue-maker Klucze.
In early 2004 Chairman and CEO Thomas Falk began rolling out the global business plan the company detailed in July 2003. The firm combined its North American and European groups for personal care and consumer tissue under North Atlantic groups and was working to ensure that Asian, Latin American, and Eastern European markets were covered, specifically in the areas of value-tiered diapers, light-end incontinence, and health care products.
[edit] Governance
Current members of the board of directors of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation are: John Alm, Dennis Beresford, John Bergstrom, Abelanrdo Bru, Pastora Cafferty, Robert Decherd, Thomas Falk, Claudio X. Gonzalez, Mae Jemison, Linda Rice, Marc Shapiro, and Craig Sullivan.
[edit] Relationship With Midwest Airlines
Midwest Airlines began life in 1948, when Kimberly-Clark Corporation began providing air transportation for company executives and engineers between the company's Appleton headquarters and their mills.
In 1969, K-C Aviation was born from this, and was dedicated to the maintenance of corporate aircraft. After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Kimberly-Clark and K-C Aviation decided to form a regular scheduled passenger airline, and out of that initiative, Midwest Express was started in 1984. The name of the airline was shortened to Midwest Airlines in 2003.
[edit] Environmental controversy
In 2005, Greenpeace launched a campaign against Kimberly-Clark because they have been linked to the logging of ancient Boreal forests. The environmental organization charges that Kimberly-Clark uses more than 3.0 million tonnes of pulp from forests to produce its tissue products, such as the Kleenex brand. The corporation is a purchaser of pulp from clearcutting operations in ancient forests in Ontario and Alberta, Canada that are home to threatened wildlife such as woodland caribou and wolverines. However, these charges are heavily disputed by Kimberly-Clark.
Brands that Kimberly-Clark manufactures from ancient forest fibre include Scott, Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, Pull-ups, and Cottonelle.
As part of its international Kleercut campaign, Greenpeace is publicizing the links between Kleenex brand tissue products and the destruction of ancient forests, moving shareholders to put pressure on Kimberly-Clark, and motivating customers to switch to more environmental tissue product manufacturers.
According to Kimberly-Clark's latest sustainability report, released in April 2006, Kimberly-Clark has a corporate policy against the logging of coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia, Canada. In July of 2006, Greenpeace, in a report entitled the Chain of Lies, revealed that Kimberly-Clark had been using pulp from coastal temperate rainforests since at least 2004. The company later admitted this infraction.
[edit] Major US Consumer product lines
[edit] Kleenex
Kleenex is the brand name of facial tissue paper.
[edit] Depend
Depend is a brand name for an adult diaper worn by those afflicted with urinary or fecal incontinence.
[edit] Kotex
Brand name for KC's Feminine Products line. Product forms include liners, pads, and tampons.
[edit] Cottonelle
Brand name for Bath products. Product forms include premium bath tissue and flushable moist wipe products.
[edit] Huggies
The main rival for Huggies in North America is Pampers, sold by Kimberly-Clark's main competitor, Procter & Gamble.
Huggies has two lines of diapers. One is Ultratrim (also referred to as Baby Shaped) and the other is Supreme. Both are now unisex.
Each line has these sizes:
- Newborn up to 12 lb - These are for small newborn infants. May be too small for some infants.
- Size 1 - Up to 15 lb - For larger newborns and infants up to about three months old.
- Size 2 - 12-19 lb - For infants from about two to six months.
- Size 3 - 15-23 lb - For the transition of infancy to toddlerhood - for babies from about three months to a year.
- Size 4 - 21-32 lb - for toddlers from about nine months to just about two years of age.
- Size 5 - 28-40 lb - for toddlers to preschoolers from about two and a half years to about four years old. Ideal for preschoolers who still wet heavily at night. About the size of size 4 underwear.
- Size 6 - 35 to 55 lb - for larger toddlers as well as preschoolers and elementary school kids. For children from three and a half to about eight. For children who toilet train later than usual as well as those who may be trained during the day but need nighttime protection for bedwetting and wet too heavily for Pull Ups or similar products, which are not as absorbent as diapers. About the size of Size 6 underwear.
Huggies also sells a diaper size designed specifically for preemies.
Other Huggies brand products including "Huggies Clean Team" products for toddlers such as shampoo, hand soap, wash mitten, etc.
[edit] Pull-Ups
Pull-Ups is a brand of training pants made under the Huggies brand of baby products. The product was first introduced in 1989 and became popular with the motto "I'm a big kid now!" The training pants are marketed with two packages: boys' designs are blue with Buzz Lightyear and similar patterns; girls' designs are lilac with Disney princess and similar patterns.
- In 2000, Pull-ups added wetness indicators on each pair to tell whether or not the wearer is wet.
- In 2002, Pull-ups introduced easy-open sides, which caused a controversy amongst parents, some calling them a convenience, others a "glorified diaper."
- In 2005, to compete with Pampers, Pull-ups divided into two separate products. The original style was called "with Learning Designs" and the new style "with Wetness Liner" to compete with Pampers' Feel N' Learn product. The wetness liner helps the wearer to tell the difference between wet and dry by actually feeling a "wet" sensation for a few seconds.
Each Type has 3 sizes:
- Medium 1-2 T for toddlers 18-31 lb - For children just under 2 years old to just under 3 years old.
- Large 3-4 T - For Preschool Children 25-45 lb - For children from about 2 and a half to about 4 years old. The equivalent of size 4-6 underwear.
- Xtra Large 4-5 T - For preschool to early elementary school age children 38-60 lb . Ideal for chldren who have daytime accidents as well as younger bedwetters. Fit children from just under 4 years old to about 9 years old. The equivalent of size 8-10 underwear.
[edit] GoodNites
GoodNites are absorbent disposable underwear manufactured by Kimberly Clark (makers of Huggies Diapers and Depend Briefs) made primarily for children and teens who still wet the bed at night. The ages average from 6 to 15 years of age (though smaller adults with a 36 inch waist or thinner can fit the larger ones as well). They can also be used for daytime protection as well. They all come in one absorbancy. They are ideal for children with "weak bladders" who feel the need to urinate frequently but cannot get to the bathroom as often as they need to. They hold up to a urination and a half. GoodNites go on and off like regular underwear but have the absorbancy of a diaper. They are not recommended for children who cannot feel the need to urinate or for fecal incontinence. They can be worn for long car trips or even to school for kids who are accident prone. This product is also popular among AB/DLs.
They make 4 types:
- Medium to Large For Girls - has girls butterfly designs and can fit girls 40-80 lb or up to a 26 inch waist. About The size of 8-12 Underwear.
- Large to Extra Large for Girls - has girls butterfly designs and can fit girls and young women 75-125 lb in most cases or up to a 36 inch waist. The size of 12-16 underwear.
- Medium to Large For Boys- has boys ATV designs and can fit boys 40-80 lb or up to a 28 inch waist. The size of 8-12 Underwear.
- Large to Extra Large for Boys - has boys ATV designs and can fit boys and young men 75-125 lb in most cases or up to a 36 inch waist. The size of 12-16 boys'underwear to a men's size 30.
When GoodNites were first put on the market in 1994, they were plain white without designs, unisex, and came in two sizes: Medium (45-65 lb.) and Large (65-85 lb.) In 1998, a third size, Extra Large (85-125 lb.) was added. They are still sold in this form in countries outside of North America as Drynites. In mid-2004, the GoodNites design was changed for the American market so that they have "custom protection" for boys and girls and gender-specific prints to make them look more like boys and girls regular briefs. The current design is described above.
[edit] Little Swimmers
Little Swimmers are disposable swim pants which protect in the water without swelling up like normal diapers do. They are available in three sizes: small (16-26 lb ), medium (24-34 lb ) and large (32+ lb ). With special protection on the outside to keep the swim pants from breaking.
[edit] Scott
Scott a the brand name of napkins, paper towels, and bath tissue/wipes.
[edit] VIVA
VIVA a the brand name of heavy-duty paper towels.
[edit] Major Professional and Global products
[edit] KimWipes
KimWipes are a type of cleaning tissue commonly used in laboratories. KimWipes are composed of paper, silicon, and other substances. As a result of the silicon, the paper is somewhat rough feeling. KimWipes are used to wipe a variety of items, including slides and pipettes. They are often used to clean lenses as well, but lens tissue should be used instead to avoid scratching the optical surfaces.
[edit] DryNites
The Australasian and European version of GoodNites, DryNites are much plainer and smaller than Goodnites and are unisex. As in GoodNites, Drynites come in three sizes, Medium, Large and Extra Large.
This was changed in 2006, and now, the product mirrors the American version.
[edit] External links
- Kimberly-Clark's official website
- Greenpeace's website on the Kimberly-Clark Campaign
- Kimberly-Clark Corporate Sustainability Report
- Kimberly-Clark Fact Sheet
- Yahoo.com company profile
Categories: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Companies listed on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores | Companies based in Texas | Companies based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex | Manufacturing companies of the United States | Pulp and paper companies | Companies established in 1872 | Kimberly-Clark brands
