Kimberly-Clark

Click to Play

A Closer Look at Kimberly-Clark's Bonds

Click to Play

The Kimberly Region Mangrove in Australia

Click to Play

The Wildlife of the Kimberly Region of Australia

Click to Play

Stay at the Kimber Modern Hotel in Austin, Texas

View more Business & Finance videos

Incorporated: 1880 as Kimberly & Clark Company
NAIC: 313230 Nonwoven Fabric Mills; 322121 Paper (Except
SIC: 2297 Nonwoven Fabrics; 2621 Paper Mills; 2676 Sanitary Paper Products; 3841 Surgical & Medical Instruments

Over 130 years since its founding, Kimberly-Clark Corporation is one of the world's leading producers of tissue, personal care products, and health care products. The company sells its products in 150 countries and maintains manufacturing operations in 41 countries. In addition to its market leaders in tissues and feminine-, child-, and incontinence-care products (which include the brands Huggies, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex), Kimberly-Clark is also a major producer of premium business, correspondence and technical papers. The company is also the market leader in health care products such as facemasks, surgical gowns, and sterilization wrap, and, with its 1999 acquisition of Safeskin, Kimberly-Clark is currently the number one producer of examination gloves in the United States.

Kimberly, Clark & Company was founded in Neenah, Wisconsin, in 1872 as a partnership of four men: John A. Kimberly, Charles B. Clark, Frank C. Shattuck, and Kimberly's cousin, Havilah Babcock. The company began the first paper mill in Wisconsin. Its initial product was newsprint made from linen and cotton rags. Within six years, the company expanded by acquiring a majority interest in the nearby Atlas paper mill, which converted ground pulpwood into manila wrapping paper. The business was incorporated in 1880 as Kimberly & Clark Company, with John Kimberly as president. In 1889, the company constructed a large pulp- and paper-making complex on the Fox River. The community that grew up around the factory was named Kimberly, in honor of John Kimberly.

Among the company's early innovations was the paper used for rotogravure, a procedure for printing photographs with a rotary press. In 1914, researchers working with bagasse, a pulp by-product of processed sugar cane, produced creped cellulose wadding, or tissue. During World War I, this product, called cellucotton, was used to treat wounds in place of scarce surgical cottons. At that time field nurses also discovered that cellucotton worked well as a disposable feminine napkin. The company later recognized the commercial potential of this application and, in 1920, introduced its Kotex feminine napkin.

In 1924, the company introduced another disposable tissue product, Kleenex, to replace the face towels then used for removing cold cream. A survey showed, however, that consumers preferred to use Kleenex as a disposable handkerchief, prompting the company to alter its marketing strategy entirely. Nationwide advertisements promoting Kleenex for its current use began in 1930, and sales doubled within a year. Uncomfortable marketing such personal-care items as feminine napkins, Kimberly & Clark had created a separate sales company, International Cellucotton Products, which it contracted to manufacture Kotex and Kleenex.

During the 1920s the company built a Canadian pulp mill and power plant called Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company in Kapuskasing, Ontario. In 1925 the company formed what would become Canadian Cellucotton Products Limited, for marketing cellucotton products internationally. The following year Kimberly & Clark, in partnership with the New York Times Company, added a newsprint mill to the Spruce Falls complex and expanded its pulping capacity.

The company was reorganized and reincorporated in 1928 as Kimberly-Clark Corporation. That same year, as shares of Kimberly-Clark were being traded on the New York and Chicago stock exchanges for the first time, John Kimberly died. He was 90 years old and still president at the time of his death.

In the 1930s, Kimberly-Clark concentrated on marketing its new products. During World War II, the company devoted many of its resources to the war effort. The company also contracted Margaret Buell, creator of the cartoon strip "Little Lulu," to promote Kleenex. Buell and Little Lulu continued to promote Kleenex for Kimberly-Clark into the 1960s.

After the war, Kimberly-Clark initiated a growth program to handle revived consumer product demand. Facilities were built or acquired in Balfour, North Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee, in 1946, and in Fullerton, California, and New Milford, Connecticut, in the late 1950s. Pulp production at Terrace Bay, Ontario, was launched in 1948, and in 1949 the company, along with a group of investors and newspaper publishers, began the large Coosa River Newsprint Company in Coosa Pines, Alabama. Kimberly-Clark acquired the Michigan-based Munising Paper Company in 1952, Neenah Paper Company in 1956, Peter J. Schweitzer, Inc.--which had mills in France and the United States--in 1957, and the American Envelope Company in 1959. International Cellucotton Products Company formally merged with its parent company in 1955, as did Coosa River Newsprint Company in 1962.

Throughout the 1960s the tampon, first manufactured by Tampax, gained favor among women and ate into Kotex's market share. Kimberly-Clark turned its attention to new products. In 1968 the company introduced Kimbies, a disposable diaper with tape closures. Initial sales were strong despite competition from Procter & Gamble's Pampers. While Kimberly-Clark tended to its diverse operations, however, it failed to keep up with early disposable diaper improvements and market innovations. As a result of continued poor sales and leakage problems, Kimbies were withdrawn from the market in the mid-1970s. Competition in the infant-care product industry caused Kimberly-Clark to reevaluate the balance between its consumer products and lumber and paper products divisions.

Darwin E. Smith, who was elected president of Kimberly-Clark in 1971, took on Procter & Gamble's challenge. Smith decided that to compete properly in consumer product markets Kimberly-Clark had to prune its coated-paper business. Within one year of taking control of the company, Smith initiated changes that included the sale or closure of six paper mills and the sale of more than 300,000 acres of prime northern California land. With cash reserves of more than $250 million, primarily from the land sale, Smith then inaugurated an aggressive research campaign. He assembled a talented research and development team by hiring specialists away from competitors. The company's advertising budget was increased substantially, and plans were made for the construction of additional production facilities.

Marketing was central to Smith's strategy for growth, as Kimberly-Clark emphasized its commitment to consumer products. Research and development efforts enlarged the company's technological base from traditional cellulose fiber-forming technologies to lightweight nonwovens utilizing synthetic fabrics.

A new premium-priced diaper in an hourglass shape with refastenable tapes was introduced in 1978 under the name Huggies. By 1984, Huggies had captured 50 percent of the higher quality disposable diaper market. The sudden popularity of the product caught Kimberly-Clark by surprise, and it was forced to expand production to meet consumer demand.

Facial tissue and feminine-care products were also part of Kimberly-Clark's growing consumer product operations. In 1984, it was estimated that the company's Kleenex brand held 50 percent of the tissue market. A chemically-treated virucidal tissue called Avert was test-marketed that same year, but the higher price and limited utility of the product prevented it from gaining widespread popularity. Aimed at health care institutions and at companies as a product to reduce absenteeism, Avert never really got off the ground, and in 1987 Kimberly-Clark decided not to mass market the product.

The 1980, toxic shock syndrome scare caused a slump in tampon sales. Kimberly-Clark began an aggressive advertising campaign on television for Depend incontinence products in the early 1980s. At the time, incontinence products were as unmentionable as feminine-care products had been some 60 years earlier. The promotion resulted in Depend gaining a profitable share of the incontinence products market, and it quickly became the best-selling retail incontinence brand in the United States. In an effort to broaden its position in therapeutic and health care products, Kimberly-Clark acquired Spenco Medical Corporation in Waco, Texas, that same year.

Although sales from primary growth operations--personal-care products--were increasing, approximately 25 percent of Kimberly-Clark's sales continued to come from the pulp, newsprint, and paper businesses. The company further diversified its operations in 1984 by converting its regularly scheduled executive air-shuttle service into a regional commercial airline.

The company's foray into aviation was initiated by the purchase of a six-seat plane in 1948 to shuttle executives between company headquarters in Wisconsin and Kimberly-Clark factories around the country. With six planes in 1969, Smith, then an executive vice-president for finance, suggested that company air travel be converted from a "cost center into a profit center" by offering corporate aircraft maintenance services. K-C Aviation, as the subsidiary was called, later remodeled three DC-9s and in June 1984 initiated flight service between Appleton and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Boston; and Dallas, Texas. The fledgling airline, operated under the name Midwest Express, got off to a rocky start with a 1985 crash in Milwaukee, planes flying 80 percent empty, and large operating losses. By 1989, however, the operation was in the black, with planes at 66 percent capacity; a $120 million expansion increased the number of destinations to 15 cities and the airline boasted a fleet of 11 DC-9s.

In 1985, stating that the state had a bad climate for business, Smith relocated Kimberly-Clark's headquarters from Wisconsin to Texas. Just before this move Kimberly-Clark was sued by Procter & Gamble, who claimed that Kimberly-Clark had unlawfully infringed on its patented disposable diaper waistband material. Huggies had increased its market share to 31 percent, upsetting Procter & Gamble's Pampers. After nearly two years of litigation, a federal grand jury ruled against Procter & Gamble. Kimberly-Clark enjoyed further successes in its ongoing diaper rivalry with Procter & Gamble later in the decade when it introduced the extremely popular Huggies Pull-Ups disposable training pants in 1989. This product extension helped Kimberly-Clark trim Procter & Gamble's market share lead, as well as propel Huggies into the number one position in the disposable diaper market.

Starting in the late 1980s, Kimberly-Clark began another diversification program--this time geographically, targeting Europe--although the company's largest international growth would come in the early and mid-1990s. To keep the company growing at a healthy pace, Smith began to increase Kimberly-Clark's presence in Europe in 1988. From that year to 1992, the company invested nearly $1 billion in European plants. Although revenues from its European operations increased steadily, the huge investments (totaling $700 million in 1993 alone) and restructuring charges that went along with them began to affect the company's profits. Net income of $435.2 million in 1991 fell to $150.1 million in 1992 before recovering slightly to $231 million in 1993.

Meanwhile, the company further reduced its commodity papers operation in 1991 when it sold Spruce Falls Power and Paper. The following year, Smith, the architect of Kimberly-Clark's restructuring and diversification efforts since 1972, retired as chairman and was succeeded by Wayne R. Sanders. The new chairman had worked his way up the ranks and had spearheaded the risky endeavor of developing Huggies Pull-Ups. The year 1992 also saw the introduction of Huggies Ultra Trim diapers.

Under Sanders's leadership, it appeared as if the company would divest itself completely of its commodity papers roots. Kimberly-Clark announced in late 1994 that it would explore the sale of its North American pulp and newsprint operations. The following year, however, the company decided not to sell because pulp and newsprint prices rose so high it no longer made economic sense to do so. Kimberly-Clark did divest its cigarette papers business in mid-1995 by spinning it off into a company called Schweitzer-Maudit International Inc. after shareholders initiated a proxy fight in 1994, concerned about the potential costs of liability lawsuits against tobacco, which were then beginning to gain strength.

In 1995 Sanders engineered the deal that would usher in a new era for the company: the merger of Kimberly-Clark with the Scott Paper Co. The deal was the logical culmination of Kimberly-Clark's international expansion, since Scott was globally strong and held the number one position in tissue in Europe. The $9.4 billion deal led to a 1995 charge of $1.4 billion for Kimberly-Clark to consolidate the merger, which led to the layoff of 6,000 workers and the sale of several plants. To pass antitrust muster, Kimberly-Clark had to sell the Scotties facial tissue operation, two of four tissue plants in the United States, and its Baby Fresh, Wash-a-Bye Baby, and Kid Fresh brands (which it sold to Procter & Gamble).

The merger with Scott solidified Kimberly-Clark's position as the number two player in the paper products industry and nearly doubled the company's revenues. The merger also marked a change in direction for the company from a focus on low-margin paper and pulp production to higher-profit consumer products. Realizing that its entry into the "diaper wars" with Proctor & Gamble would require streamlined operations, Kimberly-Clark began to divest itself of its pulp and paper manufacturing business in late 1996. The company shut down mills in Alabama, Canada, and Spain. By the end of 1997, pulp production fell to 30 percent of the company's worldwide consumption, down from 80 percent at the beginning of that year.

The company also began to expand its line of professional health care products. In 1997, Kimberly-Clark acquired Tecnol Medical Products, manufacturer of half of all surgical masks used in U.S. hospitals. In 1998, the company restructured its tissue business to consolidate manufacturing operations. The restructuring resulted in the closure of mills, including those in Maine and Wisconsin, and the loss of some 5,000 jobs. In 1999, Kimberly-Clark further divested its pulp business when it sold its Southeast Timberlands, which supplied wood to many of its defunct pulp mills.

In 1999, the company expanded its tissue operations in Europe with its acquisition of the Swiss Company Attisholz. The acquisition nearly tripled Kimberly-Clark's tissue sales in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. That year, Kimberly-Clark continued its foray into medical and health care products by purchasing Ballard Medical Products, adding such products as respiratory suction catheters, defibrillator pads, and foam-dispensed soap to its line. That acquisition was followed later that year by the purchase of Safeskin, which gave the company the leading spot in the production of disposable surgical gloves.

The turn of the century saw the company continuing its rapid expansion through acquisitions. In 2000, the company grew its Asian markets when it acquired the Taiwanese company S-K Corporation and the Taiwan Scott Paper. In 2001, Kimberly-Clark bought the Italian company Linostar, the second largest diaper manufacturer in Italy. In 2000, the company achieved sales of nearly $14 billion. The annual report for that year reported that in coming years the company would focus on product innovation, strategic acquisitions, and geographic expansion, especially introducing Kimberly-Clark products into countries where they were not currently sold.

Principal Subsidiaries

Avent, Inc.; Ballard Medical Products; Colombiana Kimberly Colpapel S.A. (Colombia; 69%); Hakle-Kimberly Switzerland; Hakle-Kimberly Deutschland; Hogla-Kimberly (Hadera, Israel; 50.1%); Housing Horizons, LLC; Kimberly-Clark Argentina S.A.; Kimberly-Clark a.s. (Czech Republic); Kimberly-Clark Austria Holdings Pty. Ltd.; Kimberly-Clark B.V. (Netherlands); Kimberly-Clark CBG Hygenic Products company Limited (China); Kimberly-Clark Canada Inc.; Kimberly-Clark Central American Holdings (Panama; 81%); Kimberly-Clark de Centro America, S.A. (El Salvador, 81%); Kimberly-Clark Chile (60%); Kimberly-Clark do Brasil Limitada; Kimberly-Clark Ecuador S.A. (69%); Kimberly-Clark Holding Ltd. (United Kingdom); Kimberly-Clark (Hong Kong) Limited; Kimberly-Clark International, S.A. (Panama); Kimberly-Clark Japan Limited; Kimberly-Clark Kenko Industria e Comércio Ltda. (Brazil); Kimberly-Clark Lda. (Portugal); Kimberly-Clark Luxembourg S.A.R.L.; Kimberly-Clark Malaysia Sendirian Berhad; Kimberly-Clark N.V. (Belgium); Kimberly-Clark ooo, (Russia); Kimberly-Clark Paper (Guangzhou) Company Ltd. (China); Kimberly-Clark Paper (Shanghai) Company Ltd. (China); Kimberly-Clark Paraguay, S.A. (92%); Kimberly-Clark Personal Hygienic Products Co., Ltd. (China); Kimberly-Clark Personal Hygienic Products (Nanjinng) Co., Ltd. (China); Kimberly-Clark Peru, S.A. (33%); Kimberly-Clark Philippines Inc. (87%); Kimberly-Clark Poland Sp. z.o.o.; Kimberly-Clark Printing Technology, Inc.; Kimberly-Clark Products (Malaysia) Sdn., Bhd.; Kimberly-Clark Pudumjee Limited (India; 51%); Kimberly-Clark Puerto Rico, Inc. (Delaware); Kimberly-Clark S.L. (Spain); Kimberly-Clark--SID, S.A. (Dominican Republic; 80%); Kimberly-Clark Singapore Pte. Ltd.; Kimberly-Clark S.N.C. (France); Kimberly-Clark Southern Africa (Holdings) (Pty) Ltd. (South Africa; 50% plus one share); Kimberly-Clark S.p.A. (Italy); Kimberly-Clark Technical Paper, Inc.; Kimberly-Clark Thailand Limited; Kimberly-Clark Tissue Company (Pennsylvania); Kimberly-Clark Ukraine LLC; Kimberly-Clark Uruguay, S.A.; Kimberly-Clark Venezuela, C.A. (69%); Kimberly-Clark Vietnam Co., Ltd.; Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. (Delaware); KIMNICA, S.A. (Nicaragua; 81%); Ovisan Turkey (50.1%); Papeles Absorbentes, S.A. (Guatemala 75%); P.T. Kimberly-Lever Indonesia (50% plus one share); S-K Corporation (Taiwan); Safeskin Corporation (Florida); Scott Paper Company de Costa Rica, S.A. (81%); Scott Paper Company--Honduras, S.A. de C.V. (81%); Scott S.A. (France); Taiwan Scott Paper Corporation; Tecnol, Inc.; YuHan-Kimberly, Limited (South Korea, 70%).

Principal Operating Units

Tissue; Personal Care; Health Care.

Principal Competitors

Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Playtex; Proctor & Gamble.

Further Reading

Benady, David, "Kimberly-Clark Brings in US Chief," Marketing Week, July 23, 1998, p. 9.

Byrne, Harlan S., "Keeping the Faith," Barron's, December 16, 1996, p. 15.

------, "Paper Profits," Barron's, January 10, 2000, p. 20.

------, "Strength Ahead?," Barron's, July 28, 1997, p. 13.

Byrne, John A., and Weber, Joseph, "The Shredder: Did CEO Dunlap Save Scott Paper--Or Just Pretty It Up?," Business Week, January 15, 1996, pp. 56-61.

Cheverton, Richard E., The Maverick Way: Profiting from the Power of the Corporate Misfit, La Palma, CA: Waypoint Books, 2000.

Cody, Harold M., "Consolidation Produces Giants Hoping for Better Performance," Pulp & Paper, November 2000, pp. 37-44.

Collins, Glenn, "Kimberly-Clark Plans Split of Stock and Sale of 3 Mills, Stronger Position Sought against P.& G.," The New York Times, February 26, 1997, p. C2.

Forest, Stephanie Anderson, and Heidi Dawley, "Pulp Fiction at Kimberly-Clark," Business Week, February 23, 1998, p. 90.

Forest, Stephanie Anderson, and Maremont, Mark, "Kimberly-Clark's European Paper Chase," Business Week, March 16, 1992, pp. 94, 96.

Frankovich £ Mike, "Early Intervention," Security Management, April 2000, pp. 22-24.

Freeman, Laurie, "Kimberly Holds Its Own Against Giants," Advertising Age, November 19, 1984.

Glowacki, Jeremy J., "Kimberly-Clark Corp.: Accelerates Global Expansion with Scott Merger," Pulp & Paper, December 1995, pp. 34-35.

Goldstein, Alan, "Learning a New Set of Rules: How Kimberly-Clark Adapted When E-Business Era Arrived," Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, January 10, 2001.

"Gulfstream Buying Kimberly-Clark Aviation Unit," The New York Times, July 25, 1998, p. B3.

Hackney, Holt, "Kimberly-Clark: No Escaping a Messy Diaper (Business)," Financial World, April 27, 1993, p. 16.

Ingham, John N., ed., "Kimberly, John Alfred," in Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, Vol. II, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1983.

Kaplan -Leiseron, Eva, "The Maverick Way Profiting From the Power of the Corporate Misfit," Training & Development, January 2001, p. 66.

"K-C Announces Global Restructuring," Pulp & Paper, January 1998, p. 23.

"K-C O pts for Recycled, to Shut Mobile Mill," Pulp & Paper, July 1998, p. 23.

"K-C Takes Cool Approach to its Newest Operating Room Apparel," Health Industry Today, December 1998, pp. 4-5.

"Kimberly-Clark Acquires Tecnol," The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 1997, p. B2.

"Kimberly-Clark Awards Options," The New York Times, October 23, 1997, p. C26.

"Kimberly-Clark Corp.," The New York Times, April 1, 1997, p. C4.

"Kimberly-Clark Has Plans to Restructure Operations in Europe," The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2000, p. A6.

"Kimberly-Clark is Selling 460,000 Acres of Timberland," The New York Times, June 11, 1999, p. C4.

"Kimberly-Clark Kicks in with Restructuring Plan," PPI, January 1998, p. 9.

"Kimberly-Clark Plans to Increase Prices 5% for Huggies Diapers," The Wall Street Journal, April 16, 1998, p. A4.

"Kimberly-Clark Revises Structure," The New York Times, December 11, 1998, p. C2.

"Kimberly-Clark Selling Southeast Timber," Pulp & Paper, March 1999, p. 25.

"Kimberly-Clark Snatches Attisholz's Tissue Unit," PPI, June 1999, p. 15.

"Kimberly-Clark Suit Alleges Infringement of Its Diaper Patents," The Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2000, p. B8.

"Kimberly-Clark to Acquire Tecnol for 19 Times, Earnings," Weekly Corporate Growth Report, September 15, 1997.

"Kimberly-Clark to Buy Italian Diaper Manufacturer," The New York Times, January 25, 2001, p. C4.

"Kimberly-Clark to Close Pulp Mill and Cut 450 Jobs," The New York Times, May 6, 1998, p. C3.

"Kimberly-Clark to Sell Lines," The Wall Street Journal, May 19, 1999, p. C27.

"Kimberly-Clark Will Cut Staff 15% in Europe," Wall Street Journal, January 29, 1996, p. B2.

"Kimberly-Clark--Down the Pan?," Marketing Week, April 9, 1998, p. 3.

"Kimberly-Clark's Deal for Ballard Expands Industry Acquisition Trend," Health Industry Today, February 1999, pp. 1, 4.

"Kruger Agrees to Buy Kimberly-Clark Unit for $256.8 Million," The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 1997, p. B2.

Lenzner, Robert, "The Battle of the Bottoms," Forbes, March 24, 1997, pp. 98-103.

Lieber, Ronald B., "Storytelling: A New Way to Get Close to Your Customer," Fortune, February 3, 1997, pp. 102-108.

Murray, Matt, "Kimberly-Clark To Take Charge of $1.4 Billion," Wall Street Journal, December 14, 1995, pp. A3, A8.

Narisetti, Raju, "For Sanders, Getting Scott Is Only the Start," Wall Street Journal, December 5, 1995, pp. B1, B12.

Neff, Jack, "Kimberly-Clark Finally Reaps Boon from Scott," Advertising Age, November 8, 1999, p. 24.

Nelson, Emily, "Kimberly-Clark Posts 7.8% Drop in Net, Lowers Forecast for the Rest of the Year," The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2001, p. B8.

Parker-Pope, Tara, "Contrite, Kimberly-Clark's CEO Promises to Mop Up," The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 1998, p. B1.

Pearson, John, "Reforms are Bearing Fruit," Business Week, July 8, 1996, p. 86.

"Purchase of Added 5% Stake in Australian Venture is Set," The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2001, p. A14.

Richards, Amanda, "Unite and Conquer," Marketing, September 18, 1997, pp. 24-25.

Sheridan, John H., "Going for Growth," Industry Week, June 9, 1997, pp. 32-44.

Spector, Robert, Shared Values: A History of Kimberly-Clark, Lyme, CT: Greenwich Publishing Group, Incorporated, 1997.

Star, Marlene Givant, "Proxy Fight at Kimberly-Clark: Investors Request Tobacco Spin-Off," Pensions & Investments, March 6, 1995, pp. 2, 41.

"The Kimberly-Clark Corp to Purchase the Safeskin Corp for 3.19 Times, Revenue," Weekly Corporate Growth Report, November 29, 1999.

Useem, Jerry, "Most Admired: Conquering Vertical Limits," Fortune, February 19, 2001, pp. 84-96.

"Wayne R. Sanders," Business Week, January 8, 2001, p. 69.

— Carol I. Keeley; Updates: David E. Salamie, Lisa Whipple

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Type	Public (NYSE: KMB) (BMV: Kimber) S&P 500 Component
Industry	Personal care
Founded	Neenah, Wisconsin (1872)
Headquarters	Irving, Texas, United States
Key people	Thomas J. Falk, CEO/Chairman Mark A. Buthman, SVP/CFO
Products	Kleenex Huggies Kotex Depend Scott VIVA Cottonelle Andrex Pull-Ups GoodNites Little Swimmers Poise Neat Sheet
Revenue	US$19.1 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Operating income	US$2.67 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Net income	US$1.88 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Total assets	US$19.2 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Total equity	US$5.41 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Employees	56,000 (July 2010)
Website	http://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", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes" scientific cleaning wipes, and "Huggies" disposable diapers. Based in Irving, Texas, it has approximately 56,000 employees. Kimberly-Clark UK holds a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 History 2 Governance 3 Relationship with Midwest Airlines 4 Environmental record 5 Major U.S. consumer product lines 6 Mexican consumer product lines 7 Major professional and global products 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

History

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (September 2011)

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 US$30,000 capitalization.^[3] The group's first business was operating paper mills, which the collective expanded throughout the following decades. In 1914 the company developed cellu-cotton, a cotton substitute used by the United States Army as surgical cotton during World War I. Army nurses used cellu-cotton pads as disposable sanitary napkins,^{[citation needed]} and six years later the company introduced Kotex, the first^{[contradictory]} disposable feminine hygiene product. 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.^{[citation needed]}

The firm expanded internationally during the 1950s, opening plants in Mexico, 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.^{[citation needed]}. Under the superior leadership of Darwin Smith as CEO from 1971 to 1991, company went from being a mediocre business paper company to a highly successful 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 to produce 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).^{[citation needed]}

Kimberly-Clark bought Scott Paper in 1995 for $9.4 billion.^[3] In 1997, Kimberly-Clark sold its 50% stake in Canada's Scott Paper to forest products company Kruger Inc. 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.^{[citation needed]} Adding to its offerings 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.^{[citation needed]}

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. 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.^{[citation needed]} Kimberly-Clark Sub-Saharan Africa's vision is ambitious – nothing less than turning the $250 million business into a $1 billion business by 2015.^[4]

In 2002, Kimberly-Clark purchased paper-packaging rival Amcor's stake in an Australian joint venture. Adding to its global consumer tissue business, in 2003 Kimberly-Clark acquired the Polish tissue-maker Klucze.

In early 2004 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Falk began implementation of 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 supplied, specifically in the areas of value-tiered diapers, light-end incontinence, and health care products.

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.^[5]

Relationship with Midwest Airlines

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Midwest Airlines began in 1948, when the Kimberly-Clark Corporation began providing air transportation for company executives and engineers between the company's Neenah, Wisconsin headquarters, and company owned paper mills.

In 1969, K-C Aviation was born from the company's air operations, 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 regularly scheduled passenger airline, and out of the initiative, Midwest Express was started on June 11, 1984. The name of the airline was shortened to Midwest Airlines in 2003.

Environmental record

The Kimberly-Clark paper plant on the Everett, Washington waterfront.

In 2005, Greenpeace launched a campaign against Kimberly-Clark because the company had been linked to the logging of ancient Boreal forests. The environmental organization charged that Kimberly-Clark was using more than 3 million tonnes of pulp a year from forests to produce tissue products, such as the Kleenex brand.^{[citation needed]}

Greenpeace ended its campaign in August 2009, following the release of a new environmental policy by Kimberly-Clark. The two organizations announced that they were moving "away from conflict to a new collaborative relationship to further promote forest conservation, responsible forest management, and the use of recycled fiber for the manufacture of tissue products."^[6]

Kimberly-Clark has a target to purchase 100% of wood fiber from suppliers that gain independent sustainability certification, with a preference for Forest Stewardship Council-certified fiber. Kimberly-Clark stated that by the end of 2010, it had achieved 98% of this target. ^[7]

Major U.S. consumer product lines

Cottonelle

Cottonelle hygenic paper.

Cottonelle is a brand name for bath products. Product forms include premium bath tissue and flushable moist wipe products.

Depend

Depend is a brand name for incontinence products worn by adults.

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. They can also be used for daytime protection.

Huggies

Huggies are disposable diapers for infants and toddlers. Additional Huggies brand products include "Huggies Clean Team" products for toddlers such as shampoo, hand soap, wash mitten, etc.

Little Swimmers

Little Swimmers is a brand of disposable swim diaper.

Kleenex

Kleenex is the brand name of facial tissue paper. Many versions have been made, including with lotion, our softest ever!, and regular.

Kotex

Kotex is a feminine hygiene product line, which includes panty liners, sanitary napkins, and tampons.

Pull-Ups

Pull-Ups is a brand name of training pants for toddlers, marketed together with the Huggies brand of baby products.

Scott

Main article: Scott Paper Company

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.

Mexican consumer product lines

Includes most of the American products and these products:

Napkin Brands

Kimberly-Clark distributes a variety of napkin brands (Kleenex, Petalo, Suavel, Delsey, Lys).

Toilet paper brands

Suavel toilet paper pack

Kimberly-Clark distributes a variety of toilet paper brands (Kleenex, Petalo, Suavel, Delsey, Vogue, Lys).

KleenBebe

A baby diaperbrand name similar to Huggies. The brand is a combination of "kleen" (Kimberly-Clark) and "bebe" (Spanish word of baby).

Kimberly-Clark also has a variety of brands designed for professional markets and medical markets.

Major professional and global products

KimWipes

KimWipes are a type of cleaning tissue commonly used in laboratories. They are intended for applications where leaving lint or fibres on a surface would be undesirable, such as slides and pipettes. They are sometimes used to clean lenses as well, 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 little chemical additives.

DryNites

DryNites are a plainer, unisex version of GoodNites sold in Europe and Australasia. The sizing also differs from that of Goodnites. DryNites come in three sizes: Medium, Large and Extra Large.

Changes to the product were made in 2006 to mirror the American version more closely.

See also

	Dallas-Fort Worth portal
	Companies portal
	Wisconsin portal

• Kimberly Crest
• Toilet paper in the United States

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Kimberly-Clark (KMB) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
2. ^ ^{a b} Kimberly-Clark (KMB) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
3. ^ ^{a b} "Welcome to Kimberly-Clark, the source for information on consumer tissue, and personal care products for families, babies and children, women and the elderly, commercial tissue products, wiping products and protective apparel; professional healthcare pro". http://www.kimberly-clark.com/aboutus/history.aspx. 
4. ^ http://www.manufacturingdigital.com/company-reports/kimberly-clark-south-africa
5. ^ Kimberly-Clark. "Board of Directors". http://www.kimberly-clark.com/ourcompany/overview/leadership/board_of_directors.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2011. 
6. ^ "Kimberly-Clark and Greenpeace agree to historic measures to protect forests". Greenpeace. http://www.kleercut.net/en/. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
7. ^ "Our Fiber Procurement Policy". Kimberly-Clark. http://www.kimberly-clark.com/sustainability/planet/fibersourcing/fiberprocpolicy.aspx. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kimberly-Clark

• Official website

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)