3M - (originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company), founded in 1902, is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the industrial, occupational safety, and consumer goods industries.
3M had been producing magnetic recording tape since 1947, with "Scotch" sound recording tape becoming one of the company's commercial products. Subsequently, 3M developed a full-fledged Magnetic Products Division.
The company worked on developing its own magnetic coatings during the late 1960s and early 1970s:
The technology combining cobalt-doped (or cobalt-modified) magnetic oxide with a double-coating process formed the basis of the famous Scotch High Energy tape, developed by 3M around 1970.
By 1967, the company operated four full-scale American magnetic tape plants: Hutchinson, Minnesota; Freehold, New Jersey; and Camarillo, California; Wahpeton, North Dakota.
3M maintained its own international network for the production of magnetic tape and cassettes.
Plants in the UK included Gorseinon (South Wales), which produced magnetic tape starting in 1952 and launched automated compact cassette assembly in 1976 (closing in 2002), and Slough (UK), which produced magnetic tape.
Plants in Italy included Caserta/San Marco Evangelista, which produced magnetic recording media from the 1970s, and Ferrania (acquired by 3M in 1964), which produced both magnetic and photographic media.
The Gorseinon plant served the UK, EFTA, and Eastern Bloc markets, as well as parts of the EEC, while the Caserta plant served other EEC countries.
According to *Billboard* magazine, from 1977 onwards, only professional reel-to-reel tapes were manufactured in England, while compact cassettes were imported from Italy and the USA.
In the 1960s, 3M acquired the Italian company Ferrania, which produced recording tape, calculator tape, and magnetic products for television, selling its tapes in 60 countries worldwide. Following the acquisition by 3M, the company's branches outside Italy expanded significantly, as did production volumes and market penetration.
Later, the magnetic products division expanded at the San Marco Evangelista plant in Caserta - which became 3M's Magnetic Products plant in 1973 - manufacturing recording reels, floppy disks, and eventually videotapes (VCR/VHS).
By 1988, 3M’s sales turnover had reached $10 billion, split evenly between US production and the rest of the world. The market was divided among the USA and Canada, Europe (particularly France, Germany, and the UK), and other continents, with a strategic focus on "developing" nations. The Argena plant was located in Argentina, while in India, Ferrania specialists worked alongside local staff at a facility acquired by 3M.
The Freehold plant opened in 1963 as 3M’s second U.S. magnetic tape facility, producing audio, instrumentation, and video tape; it closed in 1986 because it was too small to be effectively modernized.
The Wahpeton, North Dakota plant began operations as a 3M facility in 1977, and in 1986, a portion of the Freehold production was transferred there. Later, the site was sold to ComDel. Following the spin-off of the media business from 3M, the site became part of Imation.
3M acquired the Hutchinson site in 1947, but magnetic tape production did not begin there until 1956. In 1996, the plant lost much of its previous workload and underwent reorganization.
In 1996, 3M exited the business; magnetic media production continued under Imation.
In 1996, 3M exited the magnetic tape business by selling the relevant assets to Quantegy, a company linked to the former Ampex tape business.