Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser Group has announced plans to invest $400 million over the next four years in its U.S. supply chain.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the investment will be used to accelerate product development, strengthen the company's supply chain against potential disruptions, and ensure that it can ramp up production to meet sudden spikes in demand. Reckitt — the parent company for Mucinex, Biofreeze and Lysol among others — pledged in 2024 to put $200 million toward U.S. supply chain upgrades, with its latest commitment effectively doubling that total.
As part of its updated plans, Reckitt will add 234,000 square feet to its Wilson, North Carolina, factory that produces Mucinex cough and cold medicines, which would make it the company's largest over-the-counter manufacturing facility in the country. Once the factory is fully expanded, Reckitt says that it will be able to make more than 80% of its Mucinex products in the U.S. In the past, the company had used several factories in Mexico and the U.K. for Mucinex production.
The company will also look to consolidate its commercial and research-and-development operations into a single campus in Nutley, New Jersey, just 15 miles away from Reckitt's North American headquarters. That will be in addition to a new "science and innovation center" attached to its headquarters, which will be tasked with getting new products onto store shelves faster.
