Kimberly-Clark Corporation has announced plans to invest over $2bn over the next five years in its North America business, marking the company’s largest domestic expansion in more than 30 years.
Amid rising demand for its consumer brands, which include Huggies® diapers, Kleenex® tissue, Depend® incontinence products, Scott® kitchen towels, and Cottonelle® bath tissue, these investments will significantly enhance its US manufacturing capacity, accelerate its innovation plans and support its ambitious growth targets.
This broad-based investment program centers on two transformative projects: a new advanced manufacturing facility in Warren, Ohio, and an expansion of its Beech Island, South Carolina, site with a state-of-the-art automated distribution center. It also includes additional capital expenditure linked to innovation and automation upgrades across its North America supply chain network.
These projects are expected to create more than 900 highly skilled jobs in industrial automation and advanced manufacturing.
“This landmark investment represents a strategic bet on the American consumer and our ability to drive innovation-led sustainable growth for Kimberly-Clark,” said Russ Torres, Group President, Kimberly-Clark North America.”It reflects the confidence we have in our long-term growth plans and complements a broad range of commercial and R&D investments we have been making throughout the business as part of our Powering Care transformation journey.”
Better products, closer to consumers
The new facility in Warren, Ohio, strategically located in geographic proximity to roughly 117 million consumers will serve as a vital hub for the Northeast and Midwest regions.
Spread across more than a million square feet, the Warren facility will provide the capacity needed to unleash future growth for Kimberly-Clark’s fastest growing personal care categories. Its proprietary manufacturing technologies will enable the creation of new and improved next-generation consumer products, rooted in material invention, product engineering, and manufacturing process innovation.
“We welcome Kimberly-Clark’s first investment in Ohio,” saidOhioGovernor Mike DeWine. “Kimberly-Clark has advanced-production facilities all over the world, and the fact that they are now coming to Trumbull County says a great deal about the area’s workforce and Ohio’s leadership in rebuilding the domestic manufacturing supply.”
“Kimberly-Clark’s decision to make its first Ohio investment in Trumbull County would not have happened without close collaboration from our partner at Lake to River as well as at the state and local level to establish a site that is attractive for both rapid development and long-term growth,” saidJobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. “We all look forward to working closely alongside Kimberly-Clark as it launches its new cutting-edge manufacturing facility,” he added.
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