Amid the economic crisis experienced globally in 2009, 3M Philippines stayed firm and now celebrates being one of the most established companies in the country.

3M Philippines proves to be the prime company of innovation being best known for its household brands such as Post-it®, ScotchBrite®, Scotch tape®, and many more.

“Innovation, for us, is about new products. And the reason behind why we lead in innovation is because we understand our customers,” says Jay Ihlenfeld, senior vice president of 3M for Asia Pacific operation. “We watch them work and continue engaging them in order to understand their needs and their issues. After that, we provide solutions to them in the form of products.”

Jay Ihlenfeld is one of the people who keep the innovation magic of 3M alive. He first started as a product developer and continually saw how 3M continually contributes to the technical management focusing in medical, dental and electronic products.

He moved from Europe to Japan in which he saw how 3M technology evolved. It is after that he became in charge in Asia Pacific Operations as senior vice president.

Having more than 200 employees today, 3M Philippines expanded and provided the specialized needs of the Filipino people. “In the Philippines, our focus is on the businesses that are driven by the strength of the domestic economy. These are health care, automotive after-market division, modern trade, food safety, and of course, electronic business which is very important to us.”

With its continuous growth, 3M now has several branches over the Philippines including Cebu and Davao. Meanwhile, The 3M Customer Technical Center in Bangkal,  Makati City provides capabilities for laboratory and technical service engineers to engage in customer technical support, application research, process enhancement and engineering support. “In here, we do product development and product modification. We also provide a lot of service. We teach our customers how to use the product and train them about modern procedures using it.”

Today, 3M sells over 10,000 products locally to provide several markets such as Consumer and Office, Display and Graphics, Electronics and Communications, Health Care, Industrial and Transportation, and Safety, Security and Protection Services.

“3M’s success is due to having products that work and perform the way they’re supposed to. We make sure customers get value from their money with our products. We also want to help them succeed by giving all the service and support that they need.” said Ihlenfeld.

With these, 3M continues to satisfy customers with its superior products that have quality that continues to improve the lives of the Filipinos.