3M was founded in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, a small town on the shores of Lake Superior. Five businessmen came here to mine the deposits in search of wheel abrasives. The deposits here, however, proved to be of little value, and the fledgling Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company soon relocated to nearby Duluth to specialize in sandpaper products.
Five hard-working and persistent businessmen from northern Minnesota, though with different backgrounds, ****together founded 3M. They invested in mining minerals used in wheel abrasives. Like many companies at the beginning of the twentieth century, 3M started as a company first and conducted research later. In the face of failure, they were not discouraged, and eventually turned this investment into a lucrative venture.
After years of struggle, 3M finally produced high-quality products and established a supply chain. New investors were attracted, such as Lucius Ordway, who pushed to move the company to St. Paul in 1910. Early technological and marketing innovations began to succeed, and in 1916 the company paid its first dividend, at 6 cents a share.
The world's first water-resistant sandpaper was successfully developed in the early 1920s to reduce airborne dust pollution during automobile manufacturing.
The company's second major milestone came in 1925, when a young lab assistant, Richard G. Drew, invented masking tape, an innovative step toward diversification and the first product in Scotch®'s line of pressure-sensitive tapes.
In subsequent years, as technology advanced, the company introduced Scotch® cellophane tape for carton closures, which soon found hundreds of uses.
In the early forties, 3M began to produce defense materials for World War II, and as a result more new products were developed, such as Scotchlite?reflective film for highway signage, audio cassette tapes, and fiber tapes, etc. It was also from this time that 3M began to develop offset printing plates, thus entering the field of graphic design.
In the fifties, 3M launched Thermo-Fax? copy process, Scotchgard? fabric protection materials, video tapes, Scotch-Brite? cleaning pads, as well as a number of electromechanical new products.
Silver-dry film was introduced in the 1960s, along with photographic products, carbonless paper, and projection systems, while the healthcare products business grew rapidly, with the introduction of a large number of medical and dental products.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the market expanded further in industries such as pharmaceuticals, radiology and energy control.
In the 1980s, 3M introduced Post-it® Newspaper Stickers, which opened up a whole new market category and has since changed the way people communicate and work.
In the 1990s, the company's sales surpassed the $15 billion mark, and 3M continued to develop a range of innovative products, including immune response modifiers, brightness enhancement films for electronic displays, and flexible circuits for inkjet printers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.
In 2004, sales surpassed $20 billion for the first time, with innovative products contributing significantly to growth. Recent innovations included Post-it® super-adhesive newspaper stickers, Scotch® clear duct tape, optical films for LCD televisions, and new Scotch-Brite® cleaning products that provide the right amount of scrubbing power for a variety of cleaning jobs.
In 2007, the Scotch-Brite?brand introduced the first disposable bathroom scrub brush with built-in bleach. Other innovations that have served as models for improving the home environment have continued to follow, such as Scotch-Blue?painter's masking tape for corners and hinges and the Scotch?Fur Fighter?hand-held hair adsorbent cleaner designed to remove pet hair from furniture (2008).
In 2008, 3M scientists developed breakthrough ultra-compact LED lighting projection engines that could be integrated with personal electronic devices, including the 3M? Micro Professional Mpro 110 projector, which has since evolved into a newer generation of products and led to technological improvements. In the middle of the same year, a variety of 3M masks were among the first to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for public use at a time when potential public **** health emergencies, such as the flu, were attracting global attention.
In 2009, 3M's Healthcare business unit introduced the 3M?Littmann®3200 Electronic Stethoscope, a next-generation auscultation device that wirelessly transmits the sounds of the heart, lungs, and other body organs to software using Bluetooth technology for further analysis. During the year, 3M innovation footprint not only in the healthcare industry in the field of telemedicine, but also in the abrasive industry launched 3M? Cubitron? II fiber grinding wheel and metal processing belt. This product utilizes patented ceramic abrasive particle technology and is constructed to extend the life of the abrasive up to three times longer.
In 2010, 3M earned its sixth consecutive ENERGY STAR® award as more energy-efficient operations were introduced, and a wide range of innovative products were made environmentally friendly, demonstrating the company's commitment to sustainability.
In 2011, 3M joined forces with IBM and announced on the 7th of local time that it would *** with the development of a new bonding material. The material can help chip towers densely stacked, and thus realize the 3D packaging of semiconductors.
In 2012, 3M and Nippon Paint held a signing ceremony today at Nippon Paint's headquarters in China, announcing that the two companies have formally established a strategic partnership to complement each other's strengths in channel promotion and technology R&D, and to realize a win-win cooperation*** for the long-term development of the Chinese market in the future.
In 2012, 3M's Renewable Energy Division and Gossamer Space Frames jointly launched the world's largest trough-shaped solar array, which uses
3M?Solar Mirror Film 1100 to concentrate solar energy.
In 2013, 3M and Qixin Office, a leading domestic office supplies company, signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen, where the two sides will formally launch a full range of cooperation in products, channels and other aspects, to achieve complementary advantages, so as to provide domestic and foreign consumers of stationery supplies with high-quality educational products of international standards through more convenient channels.