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The Power of Partnership
Monday, June 27, 2011 7:12 pm EDT
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Earlier today, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, referenced a P&G diaper case study during his announcement of the launch of the Advanced Manufacturers Partnership. This national partnership brings together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies to create high quality manufacturing jobs and make the U.S more competitive. The idea is that by investing in technologies, such as information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, it will support the creation of good jobs by helping U.S. manufacturers reduce costs, improve quality, and develop products faster. P&G is one of several manufacturers joining the partnership including other companies such as Corning, Dow Chemical, Ford and Intel. It will be chaired by Andrew Liveris, Chairman, President, and CEO of Dow Chemical, and Susan Hockfield, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Here is where our diaper case study came in: Bruce Brown, P&G Chief Technology Officer, was invited to present to President Obama a Diaper Case Study on how our Company is working with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). LANL is one of the largest science and technology institutions in the world that conducts research for fields such as national security, outer space, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing. For nearly 20 years, P&G and LANL have collaborated to incorporate computational and modeling technologies developed for national security into cutting-edge tools for manufacturing. Together, we developed a software tool that simulates how to insert and layer materials which enhance the performance of our diaper design and the manufacturing process. This technology is used today at our Mehoopany Plant and all our diaper plants globally. The software will be made available to U.S. small and mid-sized suppliers in the Midwest to apply in their businesses.
President Obama highlighted the Diaper Case study in his speech today talking about how the technology developed by P&G and LANL dramatically boosted the development and manufacturing of our diapers. He joked, "What parent wouldn't want indestructible military grade diapers?" getting a big laugh from the audience. President Obama also shared that P&G not only sees the good in offering this technology at no charge to small and mid-sized suppliers, but understands the value in having their suppliers use this tool which will enable a more cost efficient and better way to develop products, causing a ripple effect for the economy.
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