Economic

Five initiatives have been adopted across the globe to make 3M bigger than the sum of its parts. Across the company, teams are working to get innovative products and services to market faster, shrink the cost of doing business and satisfy customers more effectively than ever before.

Driving value through Performance Initiatives

Six Sigma
3M introduced Six Sigma - a business process improvement methodology - in February 2001. Six Sigma creates a common language and measurement tools to reduce variation and deliver consistent results.

3M Acceleration
3M Acceleration starts with what we do best: create and commercialise innovative products. We're committed to generating even greater returns on our $1 billion-plus annual research and development and related expenses investment.

eProductivity
We're using information technology tools to improve operational effectiveness and efficiency. At the same time, we are re-engineering key business processes. As a result, 3M people are generating solid returns on our investment.

Global Business Process Initiative
We're working towards better, faster, more responsive corporate services at globally competitive costs.

Global Sourcing Effectiveness
By fully leveraging the company's size and geographic reach and by strengthening relationships with suppliers, 3M people are obtaining more competitive prices on a broad range of materials and services.