3M: AN AMERICAN STAR IN EUROPE
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3M was born early this century as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing. The mining soon
ceased when the company's founders failed to dig up the corundum they had hoped to
discover. So they turned to trading in sandpaper, a product that uses the abrasive corundum.
From the beginning the company was forced to innovate or die.
3M sündis selle sajandi alguses kui Minnesota Kaevandamine ja Tootmine. Kaevandamine
peatati peagi, kui ettevõtte asutajad ebaõnnestusid korundumi väljakaevamisel, mida nad olid
lootnud leida. Seega nad pöördusid liivapaberi tootmisele, toode milles kasutatakse
abrasiivset korundumit. Algusest peale oli ettevõte sunnitud uuenema või surema.
Today 3M's headquarters and many of its laboratories are in St Paul, Minnesota. Most of
its customers are other industrial concerns. Its 60,000 products range from medical-imaging
equipment to Scotch tape to abrasives for the car industry. With that unpromising