What Makes 3M Stand Out as an Employer?

3M came to Medina in 2002 when they acquired a similar business. As part of the Industrial Adhesives & Tapes Division, they produce performance labels, which need to be durable and hard to remove. You can find their products on the side of vending machines, under the hood and on the door of your car, and on many healthcare products including IV bags. Go ahead and look the next time you’re at your car!

Founded: 1902

Number Of Employees In Medina County: 83 Employees

Made in Medina County sat down with Mark Gryskiewicz, Plant Manager, and Adam Rosenberger, Human Resources, to learn more about their operation.

Q: How does our Medina plant fit into the bigger picture of the 3M world?

A: The corporate vision for 3M trickles down to the divisions and contains the following:

Technology advancing every company
Products enhancing every home
Innovation improving every life

The technology aspect is what mostly applies to our Medina plant, where we manufacture performance labels for the transportation, appliance, electronics, sports and leisure/small engine, healthcare, and office supply markets. You can find our labels on industrial equipment, tires, IV bags, and security labels. I didn’t realize how complex labels are before starting in this industry!

With the breadth of our product line, we tend to do a lot of custom and small run orders. Our lead time is as short as 2 days, but can be 14 or more when shipping internationally. Two days is quite impressive! When considering the distribution of our domestic customers, we are pretty well centrally located. Our customers buy from us because of our technology, quality, speed, flexibility, service, and technical expertise.

The strategies we have in place to fulfill our vision are expand our relevance and presence in the marketplace, invest in innovation, build high performing talent, drive operational excellence, and be everywhere! These are obtained through our leadership’s behaviors of play to win, prioritize and execute, foster collaboration, develop employees as well as self, innovate, and act with integrity and transparency.

Q: How many employees do you have here and what is the draw from the Medina area?

A: We currently have 83 employees and typically range between 80 and 90, depending on demand. Sixty percent commute less than 10 miles, and another 30% come from 10 to 25 miles away. The average years of service to the company is twelve. There are some employees who were here before 3M’s acquisition, which shows their dedication and 3M’s ability to retain good workers. It speaks well of the company’s culture that people stick around.

Q: You participated in the manufacturing job tour organized by MCEDC. Did you get any candidates?

A: It was a great resource and we were able to hire five people as a result.

Q: What makes 3M stand out as an employer?

We are always interested in community involvement. In order to help educate the future generation of workers, we are happy to partner with Wadsworth City Schools on STEM. There are actually two teachers spending part of their summer working here in the plant, so they can add to their curriculum and teach students the skills necessary for a career in manufacturing.

In addition to our community involvement, we are proud of the recognition we have received. Health and safety are very important to our business, and is proven by receipt of Medina County Safety Council Awards over the last four years. Most recently we were awarded for Preventing Accidents in the Workplace, with over 580,000 hours worked without lost time injury. So far our Incident Rate for 2018 is zero.

Q: You also work hard on environmental programs. What does that look like?

In 2017 we received TLMI’s Environmental Leadership Award for our recycling practices. We set our landfill goal to zero for 2018, and currently are at 98% – 99%. With our baler process to turn waste into energy, we have diverted approximately 375 tons of waste from landfills. And I’m happy to report another local manufacturer right here in Medina is using it!

Q: You spoke of 3M’s culture of doing things right the first time and continuous improvement. How do you reinforce this with employees?

A: We encourage our employees to share ideas and feedback through interactive conversations. We have various teams that meet, with members overlapping to convey ideas upward within the organization. When offering training, we have someone with experience on the particular equipment involved. We feel it’s important to engage and empower our employees.

Q: What is next on the horizon for 3M Medina?

A: In the next five to ten years we plan to invest in equipment and technologies. As our customers want new technological advances, we need to stay on top of the trend in order to keep performing to their expectations. We are here for the long haul.

For more information on 3M’s Medina plant, visit the company’s website.