Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion
Procter & Gamble
The Cincinnati consumer-goods maker founded by candle-maker William Procter and soap-maker James Gamble in 1837 and grown into the largest US household and personal-care company (net sales ~$87.0bn in fiscal 2026, year to 30 June 2026, company) — Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Charmin, Crest, Bounty, Olay, Head & Shoulders — whose supply-chain story turns on supplier–retailer collaboration as a cost-to-serve weapon. The 1987 partnership with Walmart, in which P&G took over replenishment from Walmart's sales data, became the canonical case of vendor-managed inventory; P&G's own Pampers data gave the bullwhip effect its classic illustration; its early-1990s move to "value pricing" and the efficient consumer response movement tried to take promotion-driven swings out of the whole grocery chain. Later P&G used scale in the other direction — the ~$57bn Gillette deal (2005), a 2013 extension of supplier payment terms paired with bank-funded supply-chain finance, and the cutting of ~100 brands (2014–16) — and rebuilt its US distribution around a handful of mega-DCs and new plants such as Tabler Station, West Virginia. Its misses include the Organization 2005 reorganisation that cost CEO Durk Jager his job in 2000. In 2025–26 it absorbed tariff costs (estimated at ~$400m after tax for fiscal 2026 in its Q3 release), began cutting ~7,000 non-manufacturing jobs, changed CEO (Shailesh Jejurikar from 1 January 2026) and agreed to buy the supplements maker Thorne (~$3.8bn, August 2026).
At a glance
- Founded
- 31 October 1837, Cincinnati, Ohio (William Procter and James Gamble, company history)
- Headquarters
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Ownership / structure
- Public: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG); widely held
- Leadership (2026)
- Shailesh Jejurikar, President and CEO from 1 January 2026 (announced 28–29 July 2025; previously COO), succeeding Jon Moeller (CEO November 2021–December 2025), who became executive chairman (company, reported); Andre Schulten, CFO (verify current title)
- Segments
- Fabric & Home Care (Tide, Ariel, Downy, Gain, Cascade, Swiffer); Baby, Feminine & Family Care (Pampers, Always, Charmin, Bounty); Beauty (Olay, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, SK-II); Health Care (Crest, Oral-B, Vicks; Thorne from 2026); Grooming (Gillette, Braun)
- Scale
- Net sales ~$84bn (fiscal 2025, verify); ~$87.0bn (fiscal 2026, +3%), diluted EPS $6.62 (+2%), core EPS $6.89 (+1%) (company release, July 2026); Q1 fiscal 2027 (quarter to 30 September 2026) net sales ~$23.3bn (+4%, organic +4%) (company, 22 October 2026); ~108,000 employees (mid-2025, reported)
- Network
- ~100+ manufacturing sites worldwide (company, verify current count); a US network rebuilt from 2014 around ~six large mixed distribution centres near major population areas (reported, verify) and new plants (Tabler Station, West Virginia, from ~2018, verify); sells in ~180 countries
- Customer concentration
- Walmart is the largest customer: ~15–16% of net sales in the 2010s (P&G 10-Ks, reported, verify current share)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Walmart partnership (1987); value pricing and ECR (1990s); Organization 2005 and Jager's exit (1999–2000); Gillette (2005); the $10bn productivity programme (2012); supplier-terms extension with supply-chain finance (2013); brand pruning (2014–16); US supply-chain redesign and Tabler Station (2014–); 2025–26 tariffs and the ~7,000-job restructuring
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1987
Walmart Partnership and Continuous Replenishment
Customer / supplier contract — from adversarial selling to shared data, joint teams and supplier-run replenishment (vendor-managed inventory)
1992
Value Pricing and Efficient Consumer Response
Pricing or service change — cutting trade promotions and list prices ("value pricing"), and championing industry-wide efficient consumer response (ECR)
1999
Organization 2005 and Jager Exit
Restructuring — a global reorganisation from geographic units to global product business units, with plant closures and job cuts
2005
Gillette Acquisition
Acquisition or merger — all-stock purchase of The Gillette Company (razors and blades, Duracell batteries, Oral-B, Braun)
2012
Ten Billion Productivity Programme
Restructuring — a multi-year cost-savings programme across materials, manufacturing, logistics, marketing and overheads
2013
Supplier Terms Extension and Supply Chain Finance
Financing / working capital — longer payment terms to suppliers, paired with bank-funded supply-chain finance (payables finance) so suppliers could be paid early at P&G's credit cost
2014
Brand Pruning and Portfolio Divestments
Divestment — exiting ~90–100 brands to keep ~65–80 core brands in ~10 categories
2014
US Supply Chain Redesign and Tabler Station
Network build — consolidating US distribution into a few large mixed DCs near population centres, with new and modernised plants, including a large multi-category plant at Tabler Station, West Virginia
2025
Tariffs and the 7000 Job Restructuring
Regulatory, customs or legal action / restructuring — absorbing and pricing for tariff costs, and a two-year cut of ~7,000 non-manufacturing roles with portfolio trims