As with any domestic company in the mature U.S. market, the way to growth is in its global efforts, no longer at home. 3M (NYSE:MMM) has been working on that over the years, and is now growing at an increasingly strong pace in its international businesses.
One example is in the percentage of international revenue now part of the company, which has now reached 63 percent of annual revenue generated, while in 2001 it was just over half of company revenue at 53 percent. At the end of 2008, it's expected to reach 65 percent of overall annual revenue, and by 2012 reach a significant 70 percent.
Also significant in the same time frame, is about half of the 3M workforce was in the U.S. in 2001, whereas now it is down to 44.7 percent
Like most companies expanding globally, 3M has its top priorities in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), but they also have a significant presence in Poland, and is starting to build out in Kazakhstan, Turkey and Ukraine.
To give an idea of how important the global market is for 3M, while they've grown a respectable 17 percent domestically over the last five years, during that same time, sales in Asia doubled; in Europe they grew by 44 percent; in Latin America 39 percent.
Responding to those realities, the idea is to put research centers and factories closer to suppliers and customers in order to cut costs and respond quickly to sales opportunities.
This is a must for 3M if they wanted to be a competitive company going ahead. This will continue to add strong growth for the company, while at its Minnesota headquarters, it is increasingly becoming the administrative hub of the company, while focusing more and more on research, development and planning, rather than manufacturing.
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