SCE&G presents a view from Riverbanks Zoo - SCANA Corporation

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State and community leaders were ecstatic last April when Kimberly-Clark officials announced plans to ramp up production of Huggies ® diapers and Pull-Ups ® training pants during a groundbreaking ceremony for a previously announced tissue manufacturing and packaging facility. That announcement meant the local community and South Carolina had even more to celebrate in terms of jobs and investment in new facilities. According to Mill Manager Tom Colgrove, the company is using economies of scale by moving toward fewer but larger production sites. For example, the popular Huggies ® brand of disposable diapers, currently being manufactured at five locations, will be produced at only three by the end of the next 12 months. One of those locations is the Beech Island facility, where a 200,000-square-foot addition is being built to handle the expansion of baby and child care products manufacturing. At the same time, construction is progressing on a 900,000-square-foot building to house Kimberly-Clark’s stateof-the-art toilet tissue manufacturing process and a 78,000-square-foot warehouse. The Beech Island facilities produce the following products: • Cottonelle ® and specialty brands of toilet tissue, • Kleenex ® facial tissue, • Moist wipes in a number of variations, • Huggies ® disposable diapers and Pull-Ups ® training pants. Kimberly-Clark built its first facility in South Carolina in 1968 with two tissue machines, a couple of processing areas and warehouse space. The plant expanded in 1997 to accommodate a state-of-theart toilet tissue manufacturing process. Current expansions are scheduled for completion by the summer of 2007. To meet the needs of what will become its largest North American manufacturing facility, Kimberly-Clark had three basic requirements, including: • An available work force • Affordable, reliable energy • A good business climate with support from local and state governments. Beech Island was a winner on all three fronts. Colgrove anticipates plenty of qualified applicants for the new positions that will become available. The company recently received 1,000 applications to fill 17 positions. “We have developed a track record of excellent results over 38 years with very low turnover,” he said. “We are fortunate to have a good reputation in the community. We get a lot of applicants when we go to hire.” The Beech Island facility runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and must have reliable energy to do so. “Kimberly-Clark could have gone to other sites. One reason they chose this one is because we have cost efficient, reliable, high quality energy,” Colgrove said. “I’ve worked at a number of other locations. The reliability here is terrific. It’s better than any other locations where I 16 SCANA Insights
have worked. When we do have upsets such as severe electrical storms, we’ve been pleased with their responsiveness.” Electricity costs and utilization are monitored closely by Kimberly-Clark’s energy and environmental engineer, Laura Dzamka. She communicates regularly with Sid Ballentine, SCE&G’s large customer representative for Kimberly-Clark concerning all aspects of Kimberly-Clark’s electric service. In one instance, the customer was having a problem with lightning strikes damaging equipment inside the plant. “Sid helped us design a system that was more robust to address these problems,” she said. “We also have regular energy meetings on partnership opportunities with SCE&G.” At one time, SCE&G tried burning Kimberly-Clark diaper scraps as fuel at nearby Urquhart Station, but the mill could not supply enough to make the project feasible. With increased production, that project may become feasible in the future, Dzamka said. Kimberly-Clark is a good neighbor and a good steward of the environment with a bright future. The parent company recently earned top honors from the United Way of America for “its commitment to improve lives in local communities.” The South Carolina plant follows that same commitment, with local employees donating approximately $100,000 a year to the United Way and the company matching that donation. Tom Colgrove, manager of Kimberly-Clark’s Beech Island facilities, explains the factors that led the global paper products giant to make the South Carolina plant its largest manufacturing facility in North America. Behind him are products made at Beech Island. Summer 2006 17
Page 1 and 2: SCE&G presents a view from Riverban
Page 3 and 4: T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Learn
Page 5 and 6: In 1967, Archie Bell and the Drells
Page 7 and 8: Kansas City mechanic’s school in
Page 9 and 10: Favorite food: Steak or hamburger.
Page 11 and 12: photo by Robert Clark 3
Page 14 and 15: It started with a tiger O. Stanley
Page 16 and 17: Kimberly-Clark puts Beech Island on
Page 20 and 21: In addition, plant employees volunt
Page 22: A place in history Clyburn Endowmen
Page 25 and 26: men dead and 27 wounded at the hand
Page 27 and 28: Keenan High School students operate
Page 29 and 30: children about robotics. The team
Page 32: www.scana.com PRESORT STD US POSTAG

SCE&G presents a view from Riverbanks Zoo - SCANA Corporation

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