Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) will focus investment on developing renewable energy technologies.
Inge Thulin, executive vice-president of International Operations at 3M, said the company behind inventions such as Scotch Tape and Post-it notes is looking to focus its innovations on renewable energy.
"We are really putting a lot of investment into renewable energy. This part of the world is very impressive in its solar thinking and we hope we can make a difference in that area," said Thulin.
As part of its expansion plans, 3M will open a Customer Technical Centre in Dubai in October.
The centre will act as an innovative base for customers to test 3M's 50,000 products across 45 technology platforms and provide solutions for the customer base in the region.
The centre will also serve as a central idea hub for accelerating the development of new products and services locally. "We believe very much in localisation and in customer-inspired innovation. We need to interact with local customers in order for them to work with us and tell us what they need in the market," Thulin told Gulf News in an interview.
3M has operations in more than 60 countries, and the opening of its technical centre will establish its presence in the MENA region.
"We're looking, with our presence in Dubai, to improve the quality of people's lives through the products we produce with our health care, safety security and protection platforms," said Thulin.
In 2009 international sales were $14.6 billion (Dh53.69 billion) out of total sales of $23.1 billion.
"We have been growing at about 20 per cent per year, but we're looking to step that up to 30 per cent over a period of five years," said Thulin.
According to Thulin, 6.5 per cent of the turnover goes into research and development. "We look at product introduction in terms of a five-year plan. Over this period, new products introduced into the market should go from 20 to 30," he said.
20%
annual growth in sales for 3M
45
technology platforms for 3M products
$14.6b
international sales by the company
By Aya Lowe
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
