Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are indispensable parts of life for people in more than 150 countries. Every day, 1.3 billion people—nearly a quarter of the world’s population—trust Kimberly-Clark brands (e.g., Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, and Depend) and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene, and well-being. This has been a constant throughout the company’s 137-year history of innovation.

Challenge

At Kimberly-Clark a decision was made to determine if a capital investment in larger-diameter embossing modules is needed instead of the current embosser.

Embossing serves several purposes on the surface and within absorbent pads of disposable hygiene products. On the surface, embossing can introduce an aesthetically pleasing pattern onto the pad (e.g., appearing soft) that can also affect fit and comfort attributes. It also has a functional purpose of controlling and directing surface flows. The embossing process is evaluated by the resulting embossing quality, which may be a composite measure of embossing depth, breadth, and shape.

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