The tag team of Scotties and Waldorf post WW2 brought healthy profit margins to Kimberly Clark
"Shared Values: A History of Kimberly Clark" (pg 159)
"Shared Values: A History of Kimberly Clark" (pg 159)
The Nifty Fifties to Present Day
The period after World War 2 started with Cola G. Parker becoming president of Kimberly Clark. He successfully turned the company into a modern company. Under Parker, sales exploded jumping from $41,163,622 (1942) to $165,697,613 (1953) when Parker left. John R. Kimberly took over in 1953. He formed the new corporate logo as well as helping to resolve the split personality of Kimberly Clark. The mills were either very old or very new, needed to resolve this issue. Kimberly helped to bring many new companies under the Kimberly Clark umbrella. Under Kimberly, Kimberly Clark expanded overseas. Guy McRae Minnard took the presidency in 1970. He was a placeholder until Darwin Smith could take over.
Smith became president in 1971. He fought terminal cancer while he was president. Smith changed the focus to consumer products. In 1970, Kimberly Clark's income dropped by 23%. Smith had deal with this by selling the four mills in the U.S. that did not make a profit. The three mills that Smith kept were the original KC plant (Globe Mill), Neenah Mill (Red Mill) and the mill in Munising, MI. Neenah Paper became a separate division focusing on premium paper. Under Smith, the company surpassed $1 billion in 1972, $3 billion in 1983, and $4 billion in 1985 in sales.
With Smith focusing on consumer products, a natural step would to be to create disposable diapers. Kimbies, Kimberly Clark's first diaper, came out in 1972. Kimbies tended to leak when the young child wearing them stood up. Kimberly Clark had to spend more resources to create a diaper that did not leak. The Kimbies line was cut in 1977 and Kleenex Super Dry Diapers were introduced. The final iteration of the Kimberly Clark diaper line was Huggies and that was released in 1978. By 1983, Huggies were the leading diaper on the market. Pull Up training diapers came out in 1989 and the main person behind their invention was Wayne Sanders so when Smith retired, it made sense that Sanders would take over as CEO.
Sanders had to deal with a crisis right away with pulp prices dropping which made tissue prices drop which really hurt the profit margin in 1993. Kimberly Clark had an identity crisis to resolve again this time with the pulp facilities. Sanders scrutinized all departments of Kimberly Clark and if the department did not fit with Kimberly Clark's founding principles the department was cut. Sanders also formed an independent Canadian operation. Sanders helped to merge Kimberly Clark with Schickedanz AP and Handan Comfort & Beauty group. Sanders also helped to merge Kimberly Clark with Scott paper. This merger brought Kimberly Clark into the bathroom tissues industry and greatly increased Kimberly Clark's market shares in the paper industry. Sanders also cut pulp production by 50%. In 1997, Kimberly Clark introduced a swimming diaper called Little Swimmers. This diaper allowed children who were not toilet trained to swim in pools.
In 2000, Kimberly Clark acquires Safeskin Corporation which gave them a $3 billion disposable glove industry and the number 1 position in the exam glove market. In 2002, Thomas J. Falk becomes CEO of Kimberly Clark taking over for Wayne Sanders. In 2004, Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues debuted. These tissues were specifically designed to prevent the spread of germs by having three layers with the middle layer that has an anti viral chemical. In 2006, Scott Paper achieves $1 billion in U.S. sales which helped Kimberly Clark's bottom line. In 2007, the Innovation Design Studio opens in Neenah, Wisconsin which gave valuable market research and customer feedback to Kimberly Clark. In 2009, Kimberly Clark acquires Jackson Safety, which gave them a bigger market share in the safety industry. In 2010, Kleenex Hand Towels were introduced. These are disposable hand towels for the bathroom to promote good hygiene. Also in 2010 to promote growth in the Eastern European nations, Kimberly Clark opened a plant in Stupino, Russia. In 2010 as well, Kimberly Clark launched the "Every Little Bottom" campaign which gave free diapers to moms in need. In 2014 Kimberly Clark Health Care becomes Halyard Health an independent company.
Picture credit from "Shared Values: A History of Kimberly Clark" (Pg. 159)
Information Credit
Spector, Robert and William W. Wicks. Shared Values: A History of Kimberly Clark. Lyme, CT: Greenwich Pub. Group, 1997. Print
