D

iversified technology company PT 3M Indonesia aims to gain a bigger market share by targeting specific markets to better meet demand from various industries.

The company, whose market share is now less than 5 percent, did not disclose its market share growth target, but globally it aims to boost sales by around 2-3 percent.

3M Indonesia president director Karina Chaves Rodriguez said the company had divided its market into four groups: industrial and original equipment manufacturer (OEM); infrastructure, construction and energy; health care and consumer retail.

'€œThis market-focus [strategy] is also in line with the country'€™s strategic plan to achieve growth by providing better infrastructure to the population, better healthcare solutions and diversifying itself from the commodity based economy to industrial based. All of that will increase people'€™s purchasing power,'€ she told a media gathering on Thursday.

The company, a subsidiary of the US-listed Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing (3M) Co., is known for its wide array of products, from Post-it sticky notes to 3M window film.

Karina added that the company initially marketed its products based on the 46 technology platforms they are made of, such as abrasive and adhesive. However, starting 2015, it compressed them into four market centers.

3M Indonesia, which entered the local market in 1975, sells 10,000 products, ranging from Scotch Brite kitchen sponges, Nexcare masks, oil-absorbing facial sheets, stethoscopes, industrial tape, cleaning liquid, vehicle sound absorbers, machine filters, cable joints to reflective sheeting for road signs, to businesses, individuals as well as the government for infrastructure projects.

The company is optimistic about sales growth in the country despite slowing demand, especially from the automotive sector last year. Local car production saw a decline from 1.2 million vehicles in 2014 to 1 million in 2015.

It believes that the government'€™s goal to build 15 new airports, 172 seaports and 35,000 megawatt (MW) power plants by 2019 will help boost its industrial product sales and enliven other sectors.

The new strategy is also applied worldwide to achieve its 2 to 3 percent sales growth this year after booking US$30.3 billion sales, mostly from industrial products followed by infrastructure, consumer retail and health care, from the 200 countries in which it operates and sells 80,000 products.

For Indonesia itself, 3M refuses to disclose the firm'€™s domestic target but said that it would comply with the government'€™s local component regulation.

3M Indonesia country technical leader Audist Subekti said the state obliged the automotive sector to have 20 to 40 percent local content and a minimum of 40 percent for infrastructure.

'€œWith such policy, the company will either outsource more local producers or prioritize marketing specific products,'€ she said.

The company'€™s wide playing fields also face huge competition from present players, including thousands of Chinese products, ACE, Llumar, Solar Gard, Nexgard and Voksel Electric.

Audist said the company had one diversified manufacturing plant in Tambun, Bekasi, West Java that fabricated various goods, from automotive-related products to consumer retail. 3M Indonesia employs around 300 people.

'€œThe rest of the items are imported from different countries but this year we'€™re planning to make one of the countries in ASEAN our fabrication hub for consumer retail products. The choice depends on which country offers the proper incentives that will help save costs,'€ she said. (rbk)