P&G unveils new $400 million R&D center, the company's largest in the world
MASON, Ohio – Procter & Gamble unveiled on Wednesday its new and improved – and much larger – Mason Business Center.
Now home base to 2,800 P&G workers, the building is the company's largest research & development center in the world, surpassing a Singapore R&D facility. P&G spent $400 million to expand the center.
After more than three years of construction, the facility is a third larger. Now it's 2 million square feet – twice the size of the Kenwood Towne Centre, a shopping mall in Cincinnati.
Construction was finished earlier this year and marks the completion of P&G's consolidation of its former Sharon Woods innovation center into the expanded Mason site. P&G exited the old Blue Ash facility on March 1.
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The company moved more than 1,000 beauty (Olay skin care, Pantene shampoo) workers to be with hundreds more employees of its oral and personal health division (Crest toothpaste, Vicks cough drops and Metamucil fiber supplements).
P&G doesn’t just test products clinically, it also tests them with employees and other consumers. This is from a salon/lab at #MasonBusinessCenter w contracted stylists. @ProcterGamble @Enquirer pic.twitter.com/ekN9FIIooc
— Alex Coolidge (@alexcoolidge) May 16, 2019
P&G officials said moving beauty workers to Mason would boost efficiency as workers at the Sharon Woods facility were cut off from each other since the former Blue Ash campus was bisected by Reed Hartman Highway.
P&G also observes bathroom habits in the "learning center" at the #MasonBusinessCenter. Researchers even watch consumers take showers (subjects wear swimwear) to glean insights -- such as roughly 5-10% pour shampoo directly from the bottle on their head. @ProcterGamble @enquirer pic.twitter.com/gFkANk1YzD
— Alex Coolidge (@alexcoolidge) May 16, 2019
The shifting of workers comes after years of P&G reorganizing and selling off some business units and brands.
P&G also quizzes or observes consumers on habits in casual settings that are carefully studied (note camera upper right). The sloth is cute. I asked, he doesn’t have a name. @ProcterGamble @Enquirer #MasonBusinessCenter pic.twitter.com/UI9gCxaGwV
— Alex Coolidge (@alexcoolidge) May 16, 2019
After years of restructuring, P&G employed 92,000 workers worldwide, including 10,000 in Greater Cincinnati. Last winter, the company closed on its acquisition of Germany's Merck KGaA, which added roughly 3,000 jobs.
Follow Alex Coolidge on Twitter: @alexcoolidge
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: P&G unveils new $400 million R&D center, the company's largest in the world
