New manufacturing lines for Huggies baby wipes and diaper pants were launched at Kimberly-Clark's Tuas plant in Singapore, according to a report issues by Channel News Asia.
The multi-million dollar investment brings Kimberly-Clark's total investment in Singapore to nearly $300 million. The company first set up its Singapore office in 198, and established its ASEAN office and Asia-Pacific headquarters there in 2012.
The new manufacturing lines reportedly feature advanced and automated technologies for the production of Huggies brand baby wipes and diaper pants, which will be exported to 11 other countries including China and Australia in the region. The Asia-Pacific is Kimberly-Clark's biggest international region by revenue.
Speaking at the launch of the new manufacturing lines, Trade and Industry (Industry) Minister S. Iswaran says manufacturing continues to be an important pillar of Singapore's economy and advanced manufacturing has been identified as a key growth sector with opportunities for Singapore.
"We will also continue to work with the industry to train and prepare our workforce to take up new opportunities that will come about because of the changes in manufacturing techniques and the use of higher technologies," he adds.
Kimberly-Clark will be training its employees to operate the new lines. This includes in areas such as operations and maintenance of the lines, systems design, packaging architecture, and quality control and monitoring.
The company employs around 250 people in Singapore, of which around 70% are local. Close to 150 people are currently working at the Tuas Plant.