65,000 sq m plant will be 3M’s most advanced outside the United States
TECHNOLOGY-BASED company 3M has pumped in some US$200 million to set up a manufacturing plant in Singapore that will produce coatings for film-based products used in commercial, electronic and automotive applications.
These products include films that are coated onto car windows and interior glass panelling, helping to reduce the amount of ultraviolet rays and heat that passes through them, said Jay V Ihlenfeld, 3M Asia-Pacific senior vice-president.
‘We will also develop new products at the site, prototypes which we’ll (let our customers) sample, and scale them into full production,’ he said.
‘Going forward, we would like to expand the capabilities and the different technologies that we practise on the site to create new products for our customers.’
He added that some 250 engineering jobs will be opened up once the manufacturing plant is completed, which is expected to be by mid-2009.
Frank Sommerfeldt, manufacturing and engineering manager for 3M Singapore, said that the 65,000 sq m plant will have a ’substantial’ capacity and will meet the demands of 3M customers in South-east Asia, a market that has been growing at double digits for the company.
‘The plant will be 3M’s most advanced film coating facility outside the United States,’ he added.
3M is one of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average companies and is headquartered in the United States. It produces a range of items for the consumer, electronics and communications, and healthcare industries, among others, and its trademark brands include Scotch, Post-it, Nexcare and Scotch-Brite.
The company set up a sales and marketing operation centre in Yishun in 1966, and a manufacturing facility in Woodlands which produces flexible circuits and adhesives.
Dr Ihlenfeld said that the company chose to set up the plant in Singapore as the Republic presents a good business environment for the firm.
‘For a high-tech company like 3M, Singapore has many important advantages: a high quality workforce, well-educated people, outstanding scientific institutions, intellectual property and probably the most important - political stability and a government that helps companies make investments,’ he said, adding that 3M has been working with the Economic Development Board and JTC Corporation in setting up the plant.
Source : Business Times - 3 May 2008
