3M Company (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) is a global science and technology company that operates as a diversified manufacturer of industrial, safety, health care, and consumer products. The company is headquartered in Maplewood, Minnesota, and is known for its culture of innovation, leveraging 49 distinct technology platforms to create a wide range of solutions.

Company Overview

Mission:
To apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives.

Global Presence:
Operates in over 70 countries, selling more than 60,000 products to customers worldwide.

Innovation:
3M has a long history of investing heavily in research and development, which has led to over 131,000 patents in its history.
Business Segments and Key Products

3M organizes its vast product portfolio into four main business groups:

Safety and Industrial:
Products include industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, personal protective equipment (PPE), and electrical products.

Transportation and Electronics:
Focuses on solutions for automotive and aerospace industries, commercial solutions, advanced materials, and electronic components.

Health Care (Now Solventum):
Offers medical and oral care products, consumer health care items, and health information systems. (Note: 3M’s Health Care business was spun off into a new public company, Solventum, in April 2024).

Consumer:
Features many household brands such as Scotch Tape, Post-it Notes, Scotchgard, and Nexcare bandages.

History
Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, the company initially focused on a failed corundum mining venture. It pivoted to manufacturing sandpaper and eventually expanded its expertise into adhesives, leading to iconic inventions such as masking tape in 1925 and Scotch tape in 1930. The company officially changed its name to “3M Company” in 2002.