The numbers behind the Post-it: Here’s what it takes to make 80 billion each year
3M is a manufacturing global powerhouse. Across the world, the Minnesota-based company makes over 60,000 products in just about every sector of manufacturing — from medical supplies to sandpaper.
One of the companies most well known products, Post-it Notes, is made in Cynthiana, a city 40 minutes outside of Lexington. Here’s some interesting facts about the global supplier of Post-it Notes, based in the commonwealth.
- The Cynthiana factory has a physical footprint of 500,000 square feet. Part of that is used to make Post-it Notes, while the other is used to make Scotch packing tape.
- Globally, the 3M company has 64,000 employees and 112 production facilities. A measly 550 of those employees are based in Cynthiana. That means every single Posit-it Note in the world is made by less than 1% of the company’s employees.
- Each year the Cynthiana factory makes between 80-90 billion individual Post-it Notes, and around 100 million rolls of packing tape.
- One Post-it Note can be made in as little as three hours. On average, plant manager Jason Orr said it takes between 3-16 hours for a Post-it Note to be ready to leave the factory.
- Currently, 3M makes 25 different colors of Post-it Notes, though the colors are changed every few years to keep up with buying trends.
- The first machine to make Post-it Notes is still in use at the 3M Cynthiana plant. Since its first use in 1984, it has made over one trillion Post-It Notes.
- The Cynthiana factory opened in 1969, making this year its 55th anniversary. The factory started making Post-it Notes in 1984, just four years after the products initial public launch. Before Post-it Notes, the Cynthiana factory mostly made projectors.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
Kendall Staton
Lexington Herald-Leader