CAEJ_3M

T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R M A N U F A C T U R I N G E X E C U T I V E S

Spring 2009 www.canadianexecutivejournal.com

3MMoving into the Future oF technology

3M

2 | uS executive Journal Summer edition 20082 | canadian executive Journal Spring Edition 2009

Moving Into the Future of TechnologyWritten by Shelley Seyler & Produced by Hanim SamaraThe next time you use a touch screen monitor or view a presentation

through a projector, you can bet you are one of billions around the globe

benefitting from an original 3M product.

Their name recognition stretches not only across industries but literally

throughout the world, holding offices in 62 countries with their products

being sold in every country on the planet. 3M works in displays and graph-

ics, consumer and office, electro and communications, health care, safety,

security, and protection services, and industrial and transportation. Their

products have not simply advanced with technology but have helped facili-

tate the fresh ideas that have made these sectors of the global economy

what they are today.

Their Defining History

Though their beginnings span as far back as 1902, the company still stands

on the same foundation on which it was built: “…innovation is the mantra

of success. For companies large and small, the big winners are those that

match new, marketable ideas with customers, before anyone else.”

This was the vision of the founders and remains the driving force behind 3M. In the Lake Superior town of Two Harbors, Minnesota, five businessmen set a goal to mine a mineral deposit for

grinding wheel abrasives. The abrasives proved a disappointment and the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.

Established : 1902

Employees : 79,000

Annual Revenue : $25.3 Billion

www.3m.com

COMPANY AT A GLANCE

promptly moved to nearby Duluth and, rather than giving up on

their dreams of success, switched their focus to new sandpaper

products.

The following years for 3M continued to pose struggles for this

new business but the pioneers persevered through challenges

that could have easily destroyed any business in the dawning

days of the 20th century. When the company mastered the

requirements for quality production and control of their supply

3M

uS executive Journal Summer edition 2008 | 3canadian executive Journal Spring Edition 2009 | 3


remarkable milestone: sales topped $20 billion for the

first time, thanks to their new products such as Post-It®

Super Sticky Notes, Scotch® Transparent Duct Tape, and

optical films for LCD televisions, among others.

The industrial and transportation sectors of 3M are only

one aspect of this impressive and influential company but

play a vital role in these markets. Their manufacturing

products have a simple but important goal: to help manu-

facturers improve their business. 3M’s global influence

allows them to achieve this objective for multinational

and local companies.

Executive Spotlight: Jan Reyers, Channel Director of the Manufacturing and Transportation Sectors When trying to understand the manufacturing and trans-

portation sectors of 3M we have to start with Channel

director of these industries, Jan Reyers, who has been

with the company since shortly after graduating college,

where he attended both the University of Minnesota

and the University of Tulsa. With a degree in marketing,

he came on board with 3M in their sales department in

1979. Since then, he has held various posts, never staying

in one for more than four years: “3M, by nature, moves

people,” said Reyers.

Reyers was stationed abroad in Korea where he served

as project manager. He then moved back to the states to

chain, they were propelled to a new level. Investors

gradually became interested in 3M, one of the first being

Lucius Ordway who took it upon himself to move the

company to St. Paul in 1910.

Fourteen years after their birth, in 1916, the company

paid its first dividend of six cents a share thanks, in part,

to the success of their first marketing and technical inno-

vations. Continuing to move forward with new products,

3M produced the world’s first waterproof sandpaper in

1920, which reduced airborne dusts during automobile

manufacturing.

Another important milestone occurred in 1925 when

Richard G. Drew, a lab assistant, invented masking tape,

the first step toward diversification of the company and

the first of many Scotch® Pressure-Sensitive Tapes. The

following years brought more technological advances

which eventually led to Scotch® Cellophane Tape that

could be used for box sealing.

During World War II, 3M manufactured defense materials

which led them into new markets, producing Scotchlite™

Reflective Sheeting for highway markings, magnetic

sound recording tape, filament adhesive tape, and mark-

ing the beginning of 3M’s involvement in the graphic arts

field with offset printing plates.

The subsequent years saw the expansion of 3M into the

markets it dominates today, 2004 marking a particularly


become manager of two businesses in their abrasives sector.

Next, Reyers served as marketing director and was then, once

more, moved abroad to become director for 3M Switzerland.

Finally, he landed where is today.

The manufacturing and industry sector of 3M offers products

for a wide range of businesses: composites manufacturing,

construction and architecture, converter markets, mainte-

nance and repair, mining, packaging solutions, paints and coat-

ings, utilities and power, water filtration systems, windows and

doors, woodworking and furniture.

Their transportation sector provides abrasives, tapes, films,

adhesives, and specialty materials for the manufacture, repair

and maintenance of aircrafts, automobiles, boats, and other

vehicles for the aerospace, automotive, marine, specialty vehi-

cle, and traffic safety systems sectors.

In order for 3M to best serve these diverse and numerous

businesses in the industries, Reyers spends half of his time in

the marketplace with distributors and the other half working

with divisions and channel opportunities groups, managing

key accounts and sales organizations, and distribution orga-

nizations. As a “matrix organization,” 3M specializes in basic

technologies, abrasives, tapes, and other necessities for the

industry that translate to value for their businesses and make it

profitable and easy for them to work with 3M. “We help them

execute their strategies in the marketplace and help their distri-

bution in the market,” said Reyers.

One of his most important responsibilities: synthesizing their

strategies into something they can execute in order to benefit

their businesses and industries. Complimenting and enabling

this to take place is 3M’s “boundarylessness,” as Reyers likes

to put it. “3M is a boundary-less organization, allowing our

customers to move from one division or function to another,”

he said.

3M’s ability to keep from imposing their complexity onto the

marketplace reverberates throughout Reyers’ sectors of the

company. “There is a lot of power in complexity and that’s

how we succeed, by taking all the pieces and combining them

in different ways; that’s the core of our success,” he added.

Reyers makes it his responsibility, however, to ensure that this

does not make the manufacturing and transportation indus-

tries more complicated. “There are a lot of strategies and

each unit makes it something usable for our businesses,” said

Reyers.


In 2009, this will be taken to another

level. The industry and manufactur-

ing and transportation sectors of 3M

are trying to re-segment distribution

and align their values to specific

models in segmentation. With every

business model in the marketplace

being different, 3M needs to differ-

entiate their own strategies of distri-

bution for each business in order to

make them as effective as possible.

Though there are still many chal-

lenges ahead for Reyers in his

current position with 3M, he can

imagine being involved with trying

to assimilate acquisition into the

corporation and trying to serve inter-

national markets again, or becom-

ing involved with general business

management and management from

a cross cultural perspective. “There

is always a new horizon and a new

experience” at 3M.

Strategies On the Inside

Within 3M’s manufacturing and

transportation sectors, six sigma

efficiency programs have been used

for six years and lean manufacturing

methods have also been employed

for back office, supply chain, and

customer service requirements.

The entirety of 3M stresses the


importance of homegrown managers, recruiting from lab

positions and experienced roles in the field, occasionally

taking in outside MBA students, this portion of the company

following suit. 3M also makes it a point to employ locals of

the countries in which they operate, priding themselves on

their low turnover rate. “We benefit employees in that loca-

tion and thus contribute to the community as a whole; our

employees have a high degree of loyalty. They are proud to

be a part of 3M,” said Reyers.

When it comes to sales and marketing, 3M has historically

invested in direct sales, their culture being to bring new

solutions and innovations through a direct relationship

with the consumer. “That is our number one market and

role. It is very difficult,” Reyers conceded.

Not surprisingly, 3M has a detailed process for introduc-

ing their new products, from the very first conception of

the ideas through commercialization. During this process,


the company does not forget to elevate

some of the most important aspects of

their business: safety and understanding

the impact of the product and its produc-

tion on the environment.

In Context: Help For and From Others

For the manufacturing and industry

portions of the global economy, the

Industrial Supply Association (ISA)

provides valueless benefits, these

sectors of 3M also recognizing ISA for

its contributions. As the voice of its

distributors, ISA members get together

on a regular basis, providing a feedback

loop and creating a way for members

to find standardized aspects of indus-

try, e-commerce, and e-business. This

creates a platform for discussions on

how to improve and standardize these

services of distribution. Reyers and his

team partake in ISA’s classes and work-

shops that provide them with greater

insight into the market, economy, and

the latest industry trends.

3M places a special emphasis on commu-

nity, creating a workplace that employees

are proud to be a part of and assisting

developing countries in which they hold

offices by employing local residents. 3M

is also involved with numerous global

charities that work throughout the world

to contribute to global development

from another avenue.

In addition to this focus on aiding the

developing world, 3M is stead-

fast in their dedication to play

a role in energy reduction and

improving the environment.

For more than 30 years, 3M

has elevated the importance of

“going green.” Take a look at the

Dow, and 3M is number one or

two on the list for environmen-

tal and waste efficiency. Having

received recognition for their

efforts, they are considered one

of the strongest in the world

in their ability to improve the

environment through reduction

of greenhouse gas emissions,

along with other means.

3M has also integrated this effort

into their business through their

3P strategy: Pollution Prevention


Pays, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2005.

Over the last 33 years, thanks to this mission, 3M has

prevented more then 2.7 billion pounds of pollutants,

and saved nearly $1.2 billion. The company prevents

pollution at its source rather than eliminating it after

it has been produced through product reformulation,

process modification, equipment redesign, and recy-

cling and reuse of waste materials.

Most recently, in October of 2008, 3M was recognized

for their efforts by the EPA, having exceeded their goal

set in 2002 to reduce their absolute greenhouse gas

emissions by 30 percent by 2007. Exceed does not

quite cover what they actually achieved: a 60 percent

decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2007.

Elevating the importance of environmental stewardship

derives from the company’s cultural belief that what is good

for the environment is also good for the economy. “There is a

comparative advantage [for green products]; the challenge is

to get the customer to recognize that this value doesn’t always

mean a cheaper price,” said Reyers.

Here to Stay

Over the last century, this world has seen two world wars, a

severe economic depression, and recessions, among other

tragedies. 3M survived it all. Breaking into the industry fight-

ing, the spirit with which the founders persevered through

3M’s early struggles remains the

power driving this global force.

Serving as a leader in their

industries only begins to cover

the influence 3M enjoys.

“We walk to the customer, and

they expect to see something

new in our hands,” said Reyers.

Rest assured, innovative think-

ing will continue to be their

focus into the depths of the 21st

century; after all, it is thanks to

this facet that the company was

propelled to the position it is in

today.

Spring 2009 www.canadianexecutivejournal.com

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London, Ontario, N5V 4M9Canada

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