3M Northallerton
Various equipment
Company Overview and History
3M is a global science-based technology company with a history spanning over a century, having started as a small-scale mining venture in Northern Minnesota. The company is dedicated to applying science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily and solve global challenges. With operations in over 60 countries and 91,000 employees worldwide, 3M maintains a strong commitment to sustainability, which is a core value embedded in its business practices.
Diverse Product and Service Portfolio
3M offers an extensive range of products and services across numerous markets, categorized under several well-known brands and specialized solutions:
- Consumer Brands: This segment includes widely recognized products such as Scotch™ Brand tapes (Magic, Clear, Packaging, Gift-Wrap), tape dispensers, and scissors. The Command™ Brand provides innovative decorating and organizing solutions like picture hanging strips and hooks. Post-it® Notes are also a key offering. For cleaning, Scotch-Brite™ offers lint rollers, scrub sponges, and floor pads. Personal health care products include Nexcare™ medical tapes and FUTURO™ braces.
- Industrial and Professional Solutions: 3M serves various industries with specialized products. In Automotive, it provides OEM parts, collision repair solutions, car wrapping films, paint protection films, and window tinting, supported by a new 15,250 square-foot Training and Skills Development Centre at MIRA Tech Park in Warwickshire, UK. Manufacturing benefits from advanced abrasives (e.g., Cubitron™ 3 with Precision-Shaped Grain technology for enhanced cutting speed, durability, and reduced vibration), adhesives, advanced materials, and filtration systems. For Design & Construction, offerings include architectural finishes like 3M™ DI-NOC™ films and various window films, alongside essential adhesives and electrical products. The Electronics market is supported with adhesives, films, and components for communications infrastructure. In Energy, 3M delivers solutions for electrical construction and maintenance, power utilities, and energy-saving window films. Safety is a critical focus, encompassing road safety (3M™ Diamond Grade™ reflective materials), food safety (microbiology indicator plates, sample collection), facility safety (sorbents, spill management), and worker health & safety through PELTOR™ brand personal protective equipment (earmuffs, headsets, respirators, safety glasses).
Innovation and Sustainability Focus
3M emphasizes continuous innovation, leveraging its deep scientific expertise across various technologies, including acoustics, advanced materials, filtration, flexible converting, nanomaterials, RFID, drug delivery, and sensors. The company is actively working towards sustainability goals, such as reducing dependence on virgin fossil-based plastic by 125 million pounds by 2025. This commitment is evident in products like Scotch® Magic™ Tape made with 66% plant-based adhesive and alternative packaging solutions like paper-based tapes and protective wraps. 3M also engages in community investment, supporting initiatives like STEM education partnerships with organizations such as the British Science Association and greenlight for girls, and promoting gender inclusion in STEM careers.
