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I worked at the factory that made Kirkland Signature bath tissue in the late 90s and worked as an engineer in the consumer products industry early in my career. The Kirkland product was made on a machine next to another machine that made brand name Scott Tissue. Both products came from the same factory as you describe and both made by a major consumer products manufacturer in Kimberly-Clark. The products were completely different, however. Different fiber mix, different additives, different chemistry applied to the manufacturing process, different embossing. I imagine it does happen but consumer products companies generally do not produce the same products as they do under their brand name. They use generics to leverage economy of scale and capture more of the overall market, making themselves more profitable overall and filling multiple niches within a market. They do so using cheaper inputs to produce a product that may perform the basic functions but lags brand names in key ways.
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