Magazines Archives - 2011 October

Kimberly-Clark expands worldwide innovation capabilities
Story 8 - Retail Technology

KIMBERLY-CLARK plans to set up two new global innovation centres to expand its worldwide innovation capabilities. They will be located in Seoul, South Korea, and Bogota, Colombia.

The Korea Global Innovation Center, which will be adjacent to the company’s Inno- vation Center of Asia, is expected to accelerate the development and introduction of innovative products, and expand Kimberly-Clark’s research, engineering and design capabilities with product development.

Said Cindy Panning, Kimberly- Clark’s vice-president of Product Development: “We selected [South] Korea because of the 40-year success of our joint-venture company, Yuhan- Kimberly, and because the country is at the forefront of many great technologies and inventions that meet consumer demand. The Korea Global Innovation Center will help take Kimberly-Clark to the next level of global collaboration in both technology and product development.”

The innovation centre in Bogota will be the first facility of its kind in the region. The centre will develop products using local and regional insight to meet broader consumer needs around the world.

Kimberly-Clark currently has five manufacturing plants in Colombia that cover all product sectors. Panning noted: “The Colombia Global Innovation Center will be strategically located within Kimberly-Clark’s Latin American Operations. Colombia offers us access to a thriving, diverse talent base with keen insight into developing markets and how to succeed in them, as well as a favourable cost structure.

“The Global Innovation Center will also benefit from strong support from the Colombian government, which is focused on development in the hygiene sector.”

The Colombia Innovation Center will provide opportunities for talented employees to collaborate in global-scale product development with their counterparts in North America and Asia.

The Colombia and South Korea expansion sites will join a global network that includes Kimberly-Clark’s North American facilities in Neenah, Wisconsin, and Roswell, Georgia.

“Innovation is a core strategy of our Global Business Plan. We intend to further leverage our leadership by coupling integrated marketing programmes with winning innovation around the world to grow our categories and our businesses. Our Global Innovation Centers will help us stay competitive in a fast-changing environment,” Panning maintained. ra

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