www.3M.com

Founded in 1902, 3M is fundamentally a science-based company. The company produces thousands of imaginative products and is a leader in scores of markets – from health care and highway safety to office and industrial products. 3M employees apply the technologies – often in combination – to an endless array of real-world customer needs.

For more than 90 years, 3M has been serving the automotive marketplace as a materials and technology supplier to the global automotive industry. The company draws from more than 40 technology platforms to provide over 1,000 products to the automotive market. It is currently exploring innovative solutions to key issues facing the industry, including automaker and consumer demand for weight reduction, fuel economy improvement, emissions reduction, decreased NVH and increased interior comfort and convenience.

As a global enterprise, 3M is committed to developing high-quality, high-performing products backed by significant R&D testing and strong technical service.

3M Automotive Division:

• Offers more than 1,000 products to the automotive market for body, paint, chassis, powertrain, exterior and interior applications, including:
  • Acoustic insulation products
  • Acrylic foam and high-bond tapes
  • Adhesives and fastening systems
  • Cabin air filtration products
  • Catalytic converter mounting systems
  • Decorative and protective film products
  • Electrical and lighting components
  • Fluoroelastomers for hoses, seals and gaskets
  • Identification products for badging and nameplates
  • Lead-free, composite-based wheel weight systems
  • Microspheres for lightening plastics
  • Noise damping products
  • Plant safety and environmental products
  • Security labelling and identification materials
• Is transnational in organization and operates in more than 60 countries.
• Provides its products, services, technologies and solutions around the world through a network of regional automotive sales and technical service centres located wherever vehicles are manufactured.
• Conducts significant testing at automotive R&D centres in North America, Germany and Japan.
• Owns one of the largest accelerated weathering laboratories in the U.S. that is located at a single industrial site.
• Runs state-of-the-art engine testing facilities for thermal and emission solutions.
• Has more than 30 manufacturing locations worldwide.
• Holds ISO9001:2000 registration, as well as TS16949 (Quality Management System) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management System) registrations in the manufacturing plants.

3M Product Profiles

3M™ Wheel Weights

The 3M™ Wheel Weight System combines conformable wheel balancing material and industry-leading 3M™ Automotive Attachment Tape to provide an all-in-one, securely attached wheel weight balancing system. Designed to have less impact on the environment than lead wheel weights, 3M Wheel Weights replace environmentally harmful lead wheel weights. The flexible, conformable material is provided as a roll good designed to be cut to weight to provide precision balancing, enabling customers to reduce their cost of ownership by eliminating traditional wheel weight inventories of individual part sizes.

3M™ Automotive Attachment Solutions

Industry leaders for attaching exterior automotive components since 1978, 3M's double-sided foam tapes offer unique adhesion and stress relaxation properties and resistance to environmental conditions for excellent long-term performance. For bonding weatherstrip seals, gaskets and other elastomeric materials, 3M offers a system with significant improvements over traditional attachment methods such as pins, wire carriers, channels and liquid adhesives. Adhesion promoters, related tapes and processing equipment are also part of the attachment solutions offerings.

3M™ Engineered Films

3M's extensive line of OEM-approved glossy and matte finish Paint Replacement Films are often used as substitutes for paint to fill in areas of the automotive body that would be too expensive or difficult to paint. 3M™ Paint Protection Films are specially designed to preserve the beauty and integrity of automotive finishes by helping to protect against rock chips, abrasion and weathering.

3M™ Light Management Solutions

3M provides advanced lighting technology designed to assist in creating visual statements through illumination. From exciting, innovative looks to subtle accent lighting, products such as 3M™ Precision Lighting Elements (PLEs) and 3M™ Light String help you fashion unique lighting effects that differentiate your products from the rest of the market. In addition, 3M offers a wide range of Vikuiti™ Optical Films used in vehicles to make virtually any electronic display brighter, clearer, more durable or more private.

3M Automotive Division
3M Center, Bldg. 223-1S-02
St. Paul, MN 55144-1000USA

Web: www.3M.com/AUTO  

 

Click here to obtain a copy of AUTO 2009