3M Awarded Department of Defense Contracts to Further Expand U.S. Production of N95 Respirators
May 07 2020 - 11:15AM
Business Wire
Company will increase U.S. production from 35
million per month to more than 95 million per month by October
3M has been awarded two contracts through the U.S. Department of
Defense in recent weeks to further expand U.S. production of N95
respirators in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Beginning in January, 3M ramped up production of respirators and
doubled its global output to 1.1 billion per year – including 35
million N95 respirators per month in the U.S.
These contracts, a collaboration made possible under the
authority of the Defense Production Act, will allow 3M to make
another 39 million respirators per month in the U.S. An additional
investment already underway by 3M will add another 22 million
respirators per month to that output, nearly tripling the company’s
total production of N95 respirators to more than 95 million per
month in the U.S.
3M has invested over $80 million in ramping up N95 respirator
production since the outbreak began in January. Those investments
and actions, along with these contracts, will enable the company to
nearly double its current capacity again to 2 billion respirators
globally by the end of the year.
“3M is working around the clock to get much-needed personal
protective equipment to the nation’s frontline healthcare workers,”
said Mike Roman, 3M chairman of the board and chief executive
officer. “Being selected for these contracts will allow us to
increase our manufacturing capability even more. We thank the Trump
Administration and the Department of Defense for their close
collaboration on this effort and share their goal of protecting the
American public.”
The increase in production will be made possible by the addition
of new equipment that manufactures N95 respirators. The
construction of that equipment has begun in Wisconsin where initial
production of the respirators will start in June. The equipment
will eventually be relocated to a new expansion at 3M’s facility in
Aberdeen, South Dakota. 3M’s Aberdeen plant has been a key part of
the company’s U.S. manufacturing strategy of personal protective
equipment for decades and throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
In addition to partnering with the federal government to
increase production of N95 respirators, 3M has also been working
with the Trump administration to import a total of 166.5 million
respirators from 3M’s overseas manufacturing facilities in China
and other Asia locations. Those imports have already begun and will
continue over the coming months.
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assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements
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About 3M
At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives
daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000 employees connect with
customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative
solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M
or @3MNews.
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Tim Post (651) 733-9789 Tpost3@mmm.com
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