3M plans to construct a plant in Wroclaw to make products including protective tapes aimed at the aerospace industry.3M`s aerospace and aircraft maintenance offshoot intends to locate the new facility on an existing 3M site. The new unit is scheduled to open in late 2009. The plant will produce protective tapes which until recently have only been manufactured in the USA.
According to Brian Young from the Aviation Division at 3M, the plant is envisaged to meet the demand of many aviation sector clients located in Europe and Asia. The construction will have been finished by the beginning of the next year and is expected to double the concern`s productivity.
3M in St Paul, Minnesota, said the addition will complement a sister factory in Springfield, Missouri, and significantly increase the firm`s overall capacity for surface-protection products and structural bonding adhesives. Many of 3M`s aerospace customers are in Europe and Asia, which brought about the Poland project.
- This factory will effectively double our capacity to support our customers where they do business and supply better service around the world - added Brian Young, general manager of the aerospace unit, said in a news release. In a consolidation move, the new Wroclaw plant will be set up near two existing facilities. One is the Scotchcast medical cast padding plant established in 2005 and the other is a 3M unit making optical films for LCD screens, launched a year later.
3M has already invested in Wroclaw 64,8 million PLN in 2005 in the Scotchcast (synthetic cast) production and 108 million PLN in the optical foil plant for LCD screens in 2006. 3M is likely to spend around $33 million on the plant.
