Value Added
As a leading global health and hygiene company, Kimberly-Clark’s (K-C) outsourced areas cover a broad range of functions, to varying degrees, across several geographies. The outsourced areas include contract manufacturing and materials development for products, engineering design and equipment sourcing, as well as information management, competitive intelligence and technical training. Higher capabilities and greater value are cited as the chief catalyst for outsourcing.
Cheryl Perkins, chief innovation officer, says, “In support of our Global Business Plan, we expect our own employees to focus on those activities and initiatives which directly impact our customers, shoppers and users.” She continues, “We are transforming K-C’s support functions by exploiting global sourcing and process improvements to allow K-C to focus resources on creating value for customers, shoppers and users. We will leverage global sourcing opportunities to meet business requirements for quality and speed at competitive cost.” Perkins did indicate, however, that the company will retain some of the core competencies, which also will beneficially contribute to fostering a competitive advantage.
Keeping this plan in mind, what types of outsourcing partners does K-C typically look for? Naturally, K-C relies on “suppliers who can provide services and capabilities such as engineering, which are important to us but do not need to remain entirely within Kimberly-Clark,” says Perkins. Because of the range of areas that require outsourcing, K-C uses more than one provider.
“We are leveraging a range of suppliers. We are looking at global consulting and services companies that offer an array of solutions, including project services, design and engineering support, procurement assistance, information technology management and procurement,” says Perkins. For example, K-C works with IT service providers, like Hewlett-Packard, and while it does draw from a certain group of suppliers she notes, “We also believe outsourcing is about developing long-term relationships.”
One of the important features of an outsourcer that K-C depends on is scalability. During peak work times and project ramp ups, it “relies on suppliers to quickly mobilize new teams and draw on them for required skills and capabilities.” Specifically K-C has had a successful relationship in IT, in which it outsourced the “procurement, installation and maintenance of our desktop and laptop computers.” Other fruitful areas of outsourcing include leveraging an information portal — managed by a partner — for its research library. Basic analytical and measurement technology testing also has been an area of outsourcing achievement.
Looking towards the future, Perkins says, “We do expect the level of outsourcing to increase as we continue to grow as a global health and hygiene company.”
Cheryl Perkins, chief innovation officer, says, “In support of our Global Business Plan, we expect our own employees to focus on those activities and initiatives which directly impact our customers, shoppers and users.” She continues, “We are transforming K-C’s support functions by exploiting global sourcing and process improvements to allow K-C to focus resources on creating value for customers, shoppers and users. We will leverage global sourcing opportunities to meet business requirements for quality and speed at competitive cost.” Perkins did indicate, however, that the company will retain some of the core competencies, which also will beneficially contribute to fostering a competitive advantage.
Keeping this plan in mind, what types of outsourcing partners does K-C typically look for? Naturally, K-C relies on “suppliers who can provide services and capabilities such as engineering, which are important to us but do not need to remain entirely within Kimberly-Clark,” says Perkins. Because of the range of areas that require outsourcing, K-C uses more than one provider.
“We are leveraging a range of suppliers. We are looking at global consulting and services companies that offer an array of solutions, including project services, design and engineering support, procurement assistance, information technology management and procurement,” says Perkins. For example, K-C works with IT service providers, like Hewlett-Packard, and while it does draw from a certain group of suppliers she notes, “We also believe outsourcing is about developing long-term relationships.”
One of the important features of an outsourcer that K-C depends on is scalability. During peak work times and project ramp ups, it “relies on suppliers to quickly mobilize new teams and draw on them for required skills and capabilities.” Specifically K-C has had a successful relationship in IT, in which it outsourced the “procurement, installation and maintenance of our desktop and laptop computers.” Other fruitful areas of outsourcing include leveraging an information portal — managed by a partner — for its research library. Basic analytical and measurement technology testing also has been an area of outsourcing achievement.
Looking towards the future, Perkins says, “We do expect the level of outsourcing to increase as we continue to grow as a global health and hygiene company.”