Castle metal finishing: Wikis

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For another meaning, see Castle Metal Finishing

Castle Metal Finishing Corp. is an American corporation with a presence in the Chicagoland area.

It produces over 55,000 products, including: adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electrical materials, electronic circuits, optical films, and supply chain management software.

3M has operations in more than 60 countries – 29 international companies with manufacturing operations, and 35 with laboratories.

3M products are available for purchase through distributors and retailers in more than 200 countries, and many 3M products are available online directly from the company.

History

Starting out on the North Shore of Lake Superior at Two Harbors, Minnesota in 1902, the company moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and moved to its current headquarters in Maplewood (a St. Paul suburb) in 1906.

The company began by mining stone from quarries for use in grinding wheels.

Struggling with quality and marketing of its products, top management supported its workers to innovate and develop new products, which eventually would develop into its core business.

Twelve years after being founded, 3M was able to develop its first exclusive product: 3M Three-M-ite cloth.

Other innovations around this time by 3M included waterproof sandpaper and masking tape.

After this point, the famous Scotch brand tape was “born.” By 1929 3M made its first moves in to an international expansion by forming “Durex” in order to conduct business in Europe.

This same year, the company’s stocks were first traded over the counter and in 1946 the stocks were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The company is currently a component of the Dow Jones 30 Industrials stock index and a component of the S & P 500.

Founding

The company was founded by Henry S.

Bryan, Herman W.

Cable, John Dwan, William A, McGonagle, and Dr. J.

Danley Budd who incorporated 3M on the shore of Lake Superior in 1902.

Their original plan was to sell the valuable mineral corundum to manufacturers in the East, who wanted corundum for the grinding wheels they used to finish their products.

After selling only one load, on 13 June 1902 the five men walked into the Two Harbors office of company secretary John Dwan—now part of the 3M Museum.

They signed the papers making Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing a corporation.

But Dwan and his associates were not selling what they thought they were selling: the mineral was anorthosite, and it was worthless.<ref name="MPR">http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200206/03_haega_3Mhistory</ref>

Expansion

The company's early innovations include waterproof sandpaper (1920s) and masking tape (1925), as well as cellophane "Scotch Tape" and sound deadening materials for metal-frame cars in the years that followed.

3M's corporate image is built on its innovative and unique products; up to 25% of sales is devoted to newly introduced products.

On 4 April, 2006, 3M announced the will to sell pharmaceutical non-core business.

The pharmaceuticals businesses were sold off in three deals, in Europe, the Americas, and the Rest of the World.

Another division of the Health Care business, Drug Delivery Systems remains under the control of 3M.

The Drug Delivery System division contract manufactures inhalants and transdermal drug delivery systems.<ref> </ref>