The most recent investment has seen the opening of a Global Innovation Center in Bogota, Colombia, which the company says is the first facility of its kind in this region.
The center will develop products for all categories using what the company terms ‘local and regional insights’ that will meet consumer needs worldwide as well as in the Latin American market
Benefitting from regional innovation
“Innovation is a core strategy of our Global Business Plan,” said Cindy Panning, Kimberly-Clark’s vice president of Product development.
“We intend to further leverage our leadership by coupling integrated marketing programs with winning innovation around the world to grow our categories and our business,” Panning added.
The Colombian facility will be located in Bogota and will primarily serve the five manufacturing sites that the company owns and runs throughout Colombia.
“Colombia offers us access to a thriving, diverse talent base with keen insights into developing markets and how to succeed in them, as well as a favorable cost structure,” said Panning.
Innnovation centres focusing on Latin Ameica and Asia Pacific
This investment builds on the newly announced innovation center in Seoul, Korea, which is in addition to the company’s two other core innovations centers concentrating on the North American market, in Neenah, Wisconsin and Roswell, Georgia.
The plan to construct a Korea innovation center was announced in July of this year and will be located at the Innovation of Asia sight, in Seoul, providing capabilities for design, engineering and development of new products mainly for the Korea market and beyond.
The investment in the innovation centers outside of the North American region targets the development of a global network aimed at combining resources on a regional basis that might otherwise have been overlooked or remained undiscovered.