3M expands Polish auto components plant

The US-based group has just received a formal business activity permit to build the new facility in Wroclaw city’s Special Economic Zone ‘Invest-Park’. The facility, which will employ 50, is due to produce parts for automotive filters and catalysts, according to the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency Palilz.

3M, which is already well established industrially in Wroclaw, is due to launch another new operation in the city in the middle of this year. That plant is set to manufacture structural bonding adhesives and surface protection products for the aerospace and aviation sectors.

A year ago, the global group opened its fourth business unit in Wroclaw. It invested more than $40m in the operation producing industrial tapes used in many sectors including automotive and ‘white goods’ manufacture. That facility began employing around 120 and when fully operating will require a 200-strong workforce.

Back in 2001, 3M launched a plant in Wroclaw for resin-based medical plasters after it acquired Viscoplast. Three years later the American group shifted all production of the light Scotchcast casts from France, Japan and the US to the Polish city. A third local unit manufactures products related to health and safety at work.

3M Poland, based in Kajetany, near Warsaw, also operates businesses in Gdansk and Katowice and additional production areas include abrasives, filters and cosmetic wipes.