Diversified technology company 3M on Friday officially opened its new customer innovation centre in Johannesburg. The centre is aimed at creating a platform through which the company can interact with its South African customer base to enable greater exploration of the possibilities of its technologies.

The customer innovation centre will educate visitors about the applicability and diversity of 3M’s products and technologies across a range of industries. Out of 46 global 3M technology platforms, the local 3M centre focuses on six technology platforms that are aligned with 3M South Africa’s key focus markets.

The six chosen technology platforms are abrasives, adhesives, ceramics, films, microreplication and nonwovens.

“The centre also gives our customers the opportunity to share their challenges with us, giving us insight as to how we can improve our service capabilities, as well as develop new innovations in a collaborative spirit,” 3M South Africa country technical manager Gunter Halfar said.

Speaking at the opening, Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom said he was inspired by what he had seen during a tour of the innovation centre, adding that such centres were needed to support innovation in South Africa.

He pointed out that there were many synergies between South Africa’s innovation strategies and the way 3M functioned as an organisation.

“3M’s motto is ‘inventing tomorrow’, which in many respects is what the National Development Plan (NDP) is about. It focuses on [the] developmental imperatives of the next 20 years, using, among other instruments, science, technology and innovation as the vehicles for achieving higher economic growth rates and, thereby, improving the lives of all South Africans,” Hanekom said.

The Minister added that 3M’s approach to doing business, in the context of the NDP, provided a commercial example of the holistic approach that is needed to achieve sustainability.

“The value of science and technology in advancing the general welfare of society is immense. Without science, we are less able, and possibly unable, to respond effectively to our many challenges,” he said.

3M’s customer innovation centre will be run by a dedicated manager and trained service engineers who are experts in their fields.

In the technology area, where the platforms are displayed, customers will have the opportunity to experience the individual technologies with interactive demonstration tools.

As part of the centre, 3M has also created a dedicated mining innovation area, which allows customers to experience a simulated underground mining environment where aspects such as heat, noise and humidity are recreated. Interactive product demonstrations will showcase the various products and solutions that 3M offers specifically for the mining industry.

There is also a dedicated customer training facility, which serves to further educate and instruct customers on the use of 3M products.

Meanwhile, Hanekom said that inspiring young minds to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, engineering and science formed an important part of creating a culture of innovation in South Africa.

To this end, Halfar commented that although the customer innovation centre was first and foremost for 3M’s customers, the company also wanted it to attract scholars and students from around the country.

“We’re a science- and technology-driven company and, as such, want to play our part in inspiring young minds to think big,” he said.

Hanekom added that the core business of the Department of Science and Technology was to support research and development to make a culture of innovation ubiquitous and affordable.

“It seems to me that every single South African organisation should be looking for a better way of doing things because, until we have eradicated poverty; everyone has access to affordable healthcare; and everyone has adequate shelter, sufficient food and access to clean water, we cannot afford not to do things better.

“Science and technology can be learned, but innovation is a state of mind and I believe it should also be the state of the nation,” he concluded.