3M
3M Company (originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, healthcare, and consumer goods.[5] The company produces over 60,000 products under several brands,[6] including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, personal protective equipment, window films, paint protection films, dental and orthodontic products, electrical and electronic connecting and insulating materials, medical products, car-care products,[7] electronic circuits, healthcare software, and optical films.[8] It is based in Maplewood, a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota.[9]
For other uses, see 3M (disambiguation).Formerly
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (1902–2002)
June 13, 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, U.S.[1]
- J. Danley Budd
- Henry S. Bryan
- William A. McGonagle
- John Dwan
- Hermon W. Cable[2]
Worldwide
US$32.68 billion (2023)
US$−9.13 billion (2023)
US$−6.99 billion (2023)
US$50.58 billion (2023)
US$4.87 billion (2023)
c. 92,000 (2024)
3M made $35.4 billion in total sales in 2021 and ranked number 102 in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[10] As of 2021, the company had approximately 95,000 employees and operations in more than 70 countries.[11] There are a few international subsidiaries, such as 3M India, 3M Japan, and 3M Canada.[12]
In June 2023, 3M reached a settlement to pay more than $10 billion to US public water systems to resolve claims over the company's contamination of water with PFASs (so-called forever chemicals).[13]
Products and patents[edit]
As of 2019, 3M produces approximately 60,000 products.[66] and has four business groups focused on safety and industrial, transportation and electronics, health care, and consumer products.[67] 3M obtained its first patent in 1924 and acquires approximately 3,000 new patents annually. The company surpassed the 100,000-patent threshold in 2014.[68]
Earplug controversy[edit]
The Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2), was developed by Aearo Technologies for U.S. military and civilian use. The CAEv2 was a double ended earplug that 3M claimed would offer users different levels of protection.[101] Between 2003 and 2015, these earplugs were standard issue to members of the U.S. military.[102] 3M acquired Aearo Technologies in 2008.[103]
In May 2016, Moldex-Metric, Inc., a 3M competitor, filed a whistleblower complaint against 3M under the False Claims Act. Moldex-Metric claimed that 3M made false claims to the U.S. government about the safety of its earplugs and that it knew the earplugs had an inherently defective design.[104] In 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. government to resolve the allegations, without admitting liability.[105]
Since 2018, more than 140,000 former users of the earplugs (primarily U.S. military veterans) have filed suit against 3M claiming they suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus, and other damage as a consequence of the defective design.[106]
Internal emails showed that 3M officials boasted about charging $7.63 per piece for the earplugs which cost 85 cents to produce. The company's official response indicated that the cost to the government includes R&D costs.[107]
3M settled close to 260,000 lawsuits in August 2023 by agreeing to pay $6 billion to current and former U.S. military members who were affected.[108]
N95 respirators and the COVID-19 pandemic[edit]
The N95 respirator mask was developed by 3M and approved in 1972.[109] Due to its ability to filter viral particulates, its use was recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic but supply soon became short.[109] Much of the company's supply had already been sold prior to the outbreak.[110]
The shortages led to the U.S. government asking 3M to stop exporting US-made N95 respirator masks to Canada and to Latin American countries,[111] and President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to require 3M to prioritize orders from the federal government.[112] The dispute was resolved when 3M agreed to import more respirators, mostly from its factories in China.[112]
3M later struck a CA$70M deal with the federal government of Canada and the Ontario provincial government to produce N95 masks at their plant in Brockville, Ontario.[113]
3M's general offices, corporate research laboratories, and some division laboratories in the U.S. are in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the United States, 3M operates 80 manufacturing facilities in 29 states, and 125 manufacturing and converting facilities in 37 countries outside the U.S. (in 2017).[114]
In March 2016, 3M completed a 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) research-and-development building on its Maplewood campus that cost $150 million. Seven hundred scientists from various divisions occupy the building. They were previously scattered across the campus. 3M hopes concentrating its research and development in this manner will improve collaboration. 3M received $9.6 million in local tax increment financing and relief from state sales taxes in order to assist with development of the building.[115]
Selected factory detail information: