01.01.03
Location: Dallas, TX
Sales: $900 million
Description: Key Personnel
Thomas Falk, chairman and CEO; Robert Abernathy, group president, Healthcare & Nonwovens; Sean Erwin, president, Nonwoven Fabrics Operations and Technology; Rosalind Brewer, vice president, Nonwoven Fabrics Business
Plants
Corinth, MS; Balfour, NC; Lexington, NC; LaGrange, GA; Neenah, WI
Processes
Spunbond, meltblown, SMS, BCW, hydroentangled and Coform
ISO Status
Certification achieved in Lexington, NC and LaGrange, GA; other facilities in process
Brand Names
Accord fabrics, Blockit protective fabric, Breeze facemask media, Cyclean filtration media, Dustop protective fabric, Evolution 4 protective fabric, Fathom filtration media, Intrepid filtration media, Matrix protective fabric, Noah protective fabric, Powerloft filtration media and QuieTech acoustic media
Major Markets
Electrical, filtration, acoustics, furniture, hygiene, industrial, medical, packaging, protective, sorbents, textile linings and wet wipes
Reporting a good year in 2002 was Kimberly-Clark’s external roll goods business, headquartered in Roswell, GA. The company achieved growth in all of its target markets. Highlighting growth were the air and liquid filtration, acoustics and delivery systems markets.
“We were able to meet projections in almost every case because of our product uniqueness,” explained J.C. Sneyd, director of marketing and sales for the nonwovens business. “Our focus is unique and patentable technology.”
Currently, about 15% of K-C’s nonwovens output is sold externally while the remainder is used internally to fuel its large, multinational consumer products business, which includes such brand names as Huggies infant care products, Kotex feminine hygiene items and Depend adult incontinence devices. While external sales are clearly dwarfed by consumer goods, the company still considers it an important growth business.
This priority is evident by the amount of attention paid to branding in the nonwovens division. K-C’s roll goods brands include Accord, Blockit, Breeze, Cyclean, Fathom, Intrepid, Noah, Powerloft and QuieTech. By successfully branding its products, K-C has been able to establish strong reputations in its target markets.
“We don’t look at ourselves as just a nonwovens supplier,” Mr. Sneyd explained. “We are actually in the filtration business. We are in the acoustics business. We are in the sorbents market. Any product that we make and sell is tested by us in its end user state.”
Critical to K-C’s roll good success has been its filtration business. The Intrepid brand for commercial, industrial and residential HVAC applications as well as Powerloft and Fathom for commercial liquid applications, have been boosted in recent months with line extensions that have demonstrated significant benefits to the end user including air cleanliness, fewer filter changes and cost savings. This market has clearly responded well to K-C’s practice of innovation and product development.
Likewise, in the acoustics segment, a market K-C entered only two years ago, the company has profited from paying attention to industry standards and providing efficient products to its customers. K-C has also followed a brand strategy similar to that in filtration, where it has notable success. In both the filtration and acoustics markets K-C products have become recognized standards by complying with performance guides.
“We also like to target industries with trade associations that have well-developed standards,” Mr. Sneyd explained. “This provides us with a means to test products to gauge performance.”
Other areas being targeted by K-C are the delivery systems and sorbent segments where the company is relying on its ability to meet proven standards, according to Mr. Sneyd. “What we are basically doing is filling in the matrix,” he explained. “We are applying what works in one portion of our business to other areas.”
These practices have provided the K-C roll goods business with wide-scale success across the U.S., the region where K-C has focused much of its marketing efforts. While international markets have not been as heavily targeted, the company is starting to see growth occurring outside of the U.S., as domestic customers with foreign operations or international customers with knowledge of K-C’s branded products, show unsolicited interest in the company. “There are so many opportunities for growth showing up in the U.S. and internationally that we are pressed to have the time to address them all,” Mr. Sneyd explained.
Speaking of new markets, K-C’s consumer products business has brought nonwovens to several new areas in recent years. While the biggest portion of K-C’s business continues to be disposable hygiene items such as Huggies disposable diapers and training pants, Kotex feminine hygiene products, Depend adult incontinence items and Kimguard medical fabrics, smaller markets including ground covers, wipes and changing pads have helped bring more nonwoven materials to the consumer.
For instance, in July the company announced that disposable changing pads, featuring an absorbent top layer and a non-slip bottom layer, would be rolling out to grocery stores throughout the summer under the Huggies brand name. Designed to provide parents with a portable, clean changing area, this product is one of many that responds to consumer needs for convenient on-the-go items.
Another product boosting K-C’s consumer business is The Neat Sheet, a water-repellent, cloth-like ground covering that is an alternative to a bulky beach blanket, bed sheet or tarp. It is big enough to comfortably seat a family of four yet small and light enough to be stored in a beach bag, backpack or picnic basket.
While new product lines are an important strategy for K-C’s Consumer Products business, it is not ignoring its core businesses by any means. In June, the company announced improvements to its line of Kotex sanitary napkins. This upgrade included the development of three new products—Kotex BodyFit Ultra Thin pads, Kotex Ultra Thin Long pads with Wings and Kotex Lightdays PursePaks. The tapered design and adjustable wings in The BodyFit Ultra Thin pad allow women to wear their favorite style of underwear all month long. Meanwhile, the Ultra Thin Long pads with Wings meet consumer demands for ultra-thin pads that are longer and have wings. In addition to the new product, the existing ranges of Kotex products will be updated with K-C’s proprietary Leak Lock system, featuring technology consisting of new absorbent structures that give pads a dual-layer design. The newly introduced products also feature this system.
In K-C’s childcare segment, Pull-Ups training pants and Huggies premium diapers both received upgrades this year. In April, Huggies Convertibles were introduced. This product, which was an extension of Huggies Ultratrim and Huggies Supreme diapers, can be put on like a pant or used like a traditional diaper. Likewise, in May, a new training pant allowing the same flexibility was introduced. The inclusion of easy-open sides was the latest of many improvements K-C has made to its training pants product since inventing the category in 1989. Since the original introduction, Pull-Ups have been improved with the addition of leak guards, designs that fade when wet and larger sizes as well as through thinner designs, stretchable outer coverings and bold graphics to make the products better resemble regular underwear.
Also receiving attention this year is the baby wipes segment. In April, K-C announced two innovations to its baby wipes line in North America—Huggies Newborn Ultra-Gentle baby wipes and Huggies Original wipes in Pop-Up tubs—as well as an expansion of Huggies Cotton-Touch baby wipes in Europe. The Newborn wipes are made from an exclusive K-C basesheet quilted for soft and gentle cleaning. This product is alcohol and fragrance free and enriched with aloe and vitamin E. The wipes in the Pop-Up tubs are perforated and dispense one at a time—to allow for easy refilling. The dispenser has a soft, flexible opening that keeps wipes moist. In Europe, the cotton-touch wipes are nearly 50% thicker than other wipes, thanks to K-C’s proprietary Coform technology.
While these innovative products have provided a nice boost to K-C’s business, the company does admit there is room for improvement. In announcing its second quarter results in July, K-C unveiled a new business plan under which the company would strive for annual sales growth of 3-5%. To achieve this, K-C will center investments around faster-growing products such as training pants and wipes, which currently comprise about 15% of sales, while trying to sustain strong positions in diapers and facial tissues. Additionally, K-C will fix underperforming businesses such as European personal care and North American commercial washroom products.
K-C’s roll goods business, which is a part of the company’s Business to Business entity along with K-C Professional, K-C Healthcare, Neenah Paper and Technical Paper, will continue to rely on research when developing new markets and growth opportunities. The unit wants to answer the question “why” before it enters a new market. “We know that there is a reason why people should buy from us so that when we enter a market we can easily pass that knowledge on to the customer,” Mr. Sneyd remarked.
As for the global nonwovens industry beyond Kimberly-Clark, Mr. Sneyd believes there is a considerable amount of belt tightening amidst a weakened economy. These cost cutting measures have impacted everything from research and development efforts to participation in industry-sponsored events. “This is causing some companies to shrink and narrow their focus into commodity markets,” he explained.
Speaking more personally, however, Mr. Sneyd said that K-C’s roll goods business has been able to evade harsh economic conditions during the past couple of years. While several nonwovens industry segments are achieving modest 3-4% growth, K-C’s has been achieving double-digit growth in its targeted roll good segments. “We have seen some weak economic conditions but our targeted segments have basically been good for us,” he explained. “A lot of this can be attributed to our products and our technology.”"
Sales: $900 million
Description: Key Personnel
Thomas Falk, chairman and CEO; Robert Abernathy, group president, Healthcare & Nonwovens; Sean Erwin, president, Nonwoven Fabrics Operations and Technology; Rosalind Brewer, vice president, Nonwoven Fabrics Business
Plants
Corinth, MS; Balfour, NC; Lexington, NC; LaGrange, GA; Neenah, WI
Processes
Spunbond, meltblown, SMS, BCW, hydroentangled and Coform
ISO Status
Certification achieved in Lexington, NC and LaGrange, GA; other facilities in process
Brand Names
Accord fabrics, Blockit protective fabric, Breeze facemask media, Cyclean filtration media, Dustop protective fabric, Evolution 4 protective fabric, Fathom filtration media, Intrepid filtration media, Matrix protective fabric, Noah protective fabric, Powerloft filtration media and QuieTech acoustic media
Major Markets
Electrical, filtration, acoustics, furniture, hygiene, industrial, medical, packaging, protective, sorbents, textile linings and wet wipes
Reporting a good year in 2002 was Kimberly-Clark’s external roll goods business, headquartered in Roswell, GA. The company achieved growth in all of its target markets. Highlighting growth were the air and liquid filtration, acoustics and delivery systems markets.
“We were able to meet projections in almost every case because of our product uniqueness,” explained J.C. Sneyd, director of marketing and sales for the nonwovens business. “Our focus is unique and patentable technology.”
Currently, about 15% of K-C’s nonwovens output is sold externally while the remainder is used internally to fuel its large, multinational consumer products business, which includes such brand names as Huggies infant care products, Kotex feminine hygiene items and Depend adult incontinence devices. While external sales are clearly dwarfed by consumer goods, the company still considers it an important growth business.
This priority is evident by the amount of attention paid to branding in the nonwovens division. K-C’s roll goods brands include Accord, Blockit, Breeze, Cyclean, Fathom, Intrepid, Noah, Powerloft and QuieTech. By successfully branding its products, K-C has been able to establish strong reputations in its target markets.
“We don’t look at ourselves as just a nonwovens supplier,” Mr. Sneyd explained. “We are actually in the filtration business. We are in the acoustics business. We are in the sorbents market. Any product that we make and sell is tested by us in its end user state.”
Critical to K-C’s roll good success has been its filtration business. The Intrepid brand for commercial, industrial and residential HVAC applications as well as Powerloft and Fathom for commercial liquid applications, have been boosted in recent months with line extensions that have demonstrated significant benefits to the end user including air cleanliness, fewer filter changes and cost savings. This market has clearly responded well to K-C’s practice of innovation and product development.
Likewise, in the acoustics segment, a market K-C entered only two years ago, the company has profited from paying attention to industry standards and providing efficient products to its customers. K-C has also followed a brand strategy similar to that in filtration, where it has notable success. In both the filtration and acoustics markets K-C products have become recognized standards by complying with performance guides.
“We also like to target industries with trade associations that have well-developed standards,” Mr. Sneyd explained. “This provides us with a means to test products to gauge performance.”
Other areas being targeted by K-C are the delivery systems and sorbent segments where the company is relying on its ability to meet proven standards, according to Mr. Sneyd. “What we are basically doing is filling in the matrix,” he explained. “We are applying what works in one portion of our business to other areas.”
These practices have provided the K-C roll goods business with wide-scale success across the U.S., the region where K-C has focused much of its marketing efforts. While international markets have not been as heavily targeted, the company is starting to see growth occurring outside of the U.S., as domestic customers with foreign operations or international customers with knowledge of K-C’s branded products, show unsolicited interest in the company. “There are so many opportunities for growth showing up in the U.S. and internationally that we are pressed to have the time to address them all,” Mr. Sneyd explained.
Speaking of new markets, K-C’s consumer products business has brought nonwovens to several new areas in recent years. While the biggest portion of K-C’s business continues to be disposable hygiene items such as Huggies disposable diapers and training pants, Kotex feminine hygiene products, Depend adult incontinence items and Kimguard medical fabrics, smaller markets including ground covers, wipes and changing pads have helped bring more nonwoven materials to the consumer.
For instance, in July the company announced that disposable changing pads, featuring an absorbent top layer and a non-slip bottom layer, would be rolling out to grocery stores throughout the summer under the Huggies brand name. Designed to provide parents with a portable, clean changing area, this product is one of many that responds to consumer needs for convenient on-the-go items.
Another product boosting K-C’s consumer business is The Neat Sheet, a water-repellent, cloth-like ground covering that is an alternative to a bulky beach blanket, bed sheet or tarp. It is big enough to comfortably seat a family of four yet small and light enough to be stored in a beach bag, backpack or picnic basket.
While new product lines are an important strategy for K-C’s Consumer Products business, it is not ignoring its core businesses by any means. In June, the company announced improvements to its line of Kotex sanitary napkins. This upgrade included the development of three new products—Kotex BodyFit Ultra Thin pads, Kotex Ultra Thin Long pads with Wings and Kotex Lightdays PursePaks. The tapered design and adjustable wings in The BodyFit Ultra Thin pad allow women to wear their favorite style of underwear all month long. Meanwhile, the Ultra Thin Long pads with Wings meet consumer demands for ultra-thin pads that are longer and have wings. In addition to the new product, the existing ranges of Kotex products will be updated with K-C’s proprietary Leak Lock system, featuring technology consisting of new absorbent structures that give pads a dual-layer design. The newly introduced products also feature this system.
In K-C’s childcare segment, Pull-Ups training pants and Huggies premium diapers both received upgrades this year. In April, Huggies Convertibles were introduced. This product, which was an extension of Huggies Ultratrim and Huggies Supreme diapers, can be put on like a pant or used like a traditional diaper. Likewise, in May, a new training pant allowing the same flexibility was introduced. The inclusion of easy-open sides was the latest of many improvements K-C has made to its training pants product since inventing the category in 1989. Since the original introduction, Pull-Ups have been improved with the addition of leak guards, designs that fade when wet and larger sizes as well as through thinner designs, stretchable outer coverings and bold graphics to make the products better resemble regular underwear.
Also receiving attention this year is the baby wipes segment. In April, K-C announced two innovations to its baby wipes line in North America—Huggies Newborn Ultra-Gentle baby wipes and Huggies Original wipes in Pop-Up tubs—as well as an expansion of Huggies Cotton-Touch baby wipes in Europe. The Newborn wipes are made from an exclusive K-C basesheet quilted for soft and gentle cleaning. This product is alcohol and fragrance free and enriched with aloe and vitamin E. The wipes in the Pop-Up tubs are perforated and dispense one at a time—to allow for easy refilling. The dispenser has a soft, flexible opening that keeps wipes moist. In Europe, the cotton-touch wipes are nearly 50% thicker than other wipes, thanks to K-C’s proprietary Coform technology.
While these innovative products have provided a nice boost to K-C’s business, the company does admit there is room for improvement. In announcing its second quarter results in July, K-C unveiled a new business plan under which the company would strive for annual sales growth of 3-5%. To achieve this, K-C will center investments around faster-growing products such as training pants and wipes, which currently comprise about 15% of sales, while trying to sustain strong positions in diapers and facial tissues. Additionally, K-C will fix underperforming businesses such as European personal care and North American commercial washroom products.
K-C’s roll goods business, which is a part of the company’s Business to Business entity along with K-C Professional, K-C Healthcare, Neenah Paper and Technical Paper, will continue to rely on research when developing new markets and growth opportunities. The unit wants to answer the question “why” before it enters a new market. “We know that there is a reason why people should buy from us so that when we enter a market we can easily pass that knowledge on to the customer,” Mr. Sneyd remarked.
As for the global nonwovens industry beyond Kimberly-Clark, Mr. Sneyd believes there is a considerable amount of belt tightening amidst a weakened economy. These cost cutting measures have impacted everything from research and development efforts to participation in industry-sponsored events. “This is causing some companies to shrink and narrow their focus into commodity markets,” he explained.
Speaking more personally, however, Mr. Sneyd said that K-C’s roll goods business has been able to evade harsh economic conditions during the past couple of years. While several nonwovens industry segments are achieving modest 3-4% growth, K-C’s has been achieving double-digit growth in its targeted roll good segments. “We have seen some weak economic conditions but our targeted segments have basically been good for us,” he explained. “A lot of this can be attributed to our products and our technology.”"