3M is one of the world’s most innovative companies with blockbuster products like the masking tape and the ubiquitous Post-It notes. At 108 years, it is also one of the oldest.

Despite its age, 3M continues to stay inventive. And the secret behind this is in one word: People.

3M employees, particularly its R&D scientists, are committed to innovation as evidenced from the fact that the Minnesota-based MNC spends five to seven per cent of its revenue on R&D, or about US$1.4 billion annually. In a 2010 innovation report by Booz & Company, a leading global management consulting firm, 3M was named third most innovative company in the world. The report stated that 3M has been seen as a highly innovative company for many years, and its five-year total shareholder return of almost 50 percent shows that it continues to spend its R&D money in the right places. Apple and Google were the two companies that came out tops.

The report also said that companies that are perceived to be highly innovative are clearly successful in creating new products and bringing them to market. Some spend more than others to accomplish this goal, but the real winners, financially speaking, are those companies, like Apple, Google, and 3M, that can innovate successfully without breaking the bank.

Dr Andrew Ouderkirk is one of the company’s 25 corporate scientists and the only one based in Asia, the market promising the most growth potential for MNCs like 3M. His role is to identify new areas of technology and develop products based on the new technology. He is excited with the R&D activities going on in the company’s R&D centre in Singapore.

Not surprising given the performance so far. Dr Ouderkirk explains: “When we first started our R&D activities in Singapore, it was to support the electronics, optics and circuitry activities of our first plant here in Singapore.

“Today, our vision for the Singapore R&D Centre is to be a major growth driver and leader in new products and technology platforms for 3M globally. Our research focus now is multi-disciplinary, cutting across electronics, optics, circuitry, adhesives, coatings and more recently, pharmaceuticals.”

The Singapore R&D team has quickly proven their credentials. It was behind the re-invention of 3M’s top-selling, miniature handheld projector.

“The Singapore team not only successfully re-invented crucial components in this pico projector product, but also came up with some new innovations of their own,” Dr Ouderkirk explains: “We have very highly qualified talent in Singapore. What characterizes them is their willingness to try new things and stretch technology limits to solve complex customer problems.”

3M Singapore’s pharmaceutical scientists and engineers have also been making waves; the pharmaceutical laboratory focuses on Drug Delivery Systems for medication and is one of three globally and the only one in Asia. Asthma patients can thank the team in Singapore for the improvements to 3M’s inhalation technology which deliver their drug dosage with efficiency and ease.

Products developed here are sent across 3M’s worldwide network of manufacturing sites. Dr. Ouderkirk shared that 3M has plans to grow its staff strength and R&D scope for this laboratory.

In Singapore, 3M has also made inroads into the R&D of technologies like retro-reflection and micro-replication, which are applied in reflective car licence plates. Its solar films and electronic products are manufactured and produced exclusively by 3M Singapore.

• Download video transcript

Notwithstanding, its Singapore talents are not just skewed towards an exclusive pool of specialists and experts. Thanks to continual upgrading programmes supported by the Singapore government, the general workforce is well-equipped with cutting-edge skills.

Being in Singapore also allows 3M’s R&D centre to readily tap the scientific brains in the local universities and A*STAR, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research set up in 2002 by the Singapore government to help spur growth in key economic clusters by providing human, intellectual and industrial capital to partners in industry.

Dr. Ouderkirk says: “When we needed help in developing new technologies, we had easy access to the R&D divisions in the universities for know-how and equipment. We’ve worked on joint research projects with both the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, bringing in their professors to participate with 3M on multinational projects.

“We’ve also been able to plug into A*STAR’s collaborative model, and have also recruited from their pool of highly specialised talents. In fact, some of our 170 researchers were hired from these collaborative efforts.”

3M has 20 distinct laboratories in Singapore, each with comprehensive product development and modification capabilities, as well as an environmental simulation testing site.

First set up in 1966, 3M Singapore started its operations in a small rented office with just eight employees. Today, this US-listed technology giant has two manufacturing plants in Singapore, two R&D Centres and a sales and marketing office that serves customers in Singapore as well as provide sales and support to its offices in Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar and Nepal.

One of these manufacturing plants, built in the 2009, was classified by 3M as a ‘superhub’, and was just one of only 10 worldwide. Prior to it being built in Singapore, 3M also had the choice of setting it up in Ireland or Malaysia. What clinched it for Singapore was a combination of factors – a skilled workforce, strong intellectual property protection regime and a business-friendly tax structure.

Besides manufacturing and R&D, 3M Singapore also acts as a regional supply chain hub, coordinating the purchasing and shipment for its Asia Pacific market.

As of Dec 2010, 3M’s Asia Pacific operations accounted for US$8.4 billion in sales revenue – more than a third of the company’s total sales. More importantly, Asia Pacific is 3M’s fastest growing region, with an organic growth volume of more than 18 per cent.

To cater to this expansion, 3M Singapore plans to double itscurrent headcount of 1,500 in the next five years. The company will be on the prowl to hire manufacturing process engineers, design engineers, chemists and marketing personnel – talents to keep 3M ahead in the innovation game.

• Download the full article