3M’s announcement last week that it plans to build a new facility in Singapore to produce coatings for film-based products will not affect the company’s Hutchinson manufacturing plant.

“We don’t anticipate any impact on our facility,” Hutchinson site director Mike Retterath said Tuesday.

In 2007, the company expanded the Hutchinson plant with an 80,000-square-foot, multi-story addition used to manufacture clear, high-precision films used in making residential and automotive windows, and computer and TV displays. “We’re still running that operation and we’re as busy as ever,” Retterath said.

The Singapore facility will produce coatings for film-based products used in commercial, electronic and automotive applications. It will help the company better serve the Asian market and support efforts to accelerate growth.

3M said in April that it plans to phase out production of cover tape and component carrier tape for electronics at its Hutchinson plant and move those operations to Singapore. The company has not announced any layoffs, but 86 jobs will be affected, according to Retterath.

The Hutchinson plant, 3M’s largest in North America, employs approximately 1,500 people.

For details, see the May 8 print edition of the Htuchinson Leader.

(Doug Hanneman is editor of the Hutchinson Leader. He may be reached at hanneman@hutchinsonleader.com [2])