VIDEO: TOOLING UP: Scotch-Brite: From Household Brand to Industrial Applications

GERMAN MUNOZ: When we talk about performance, we have some cases with customers, so for example in the stainless steel, Scotch-Brite precision surface conditioning discs in coarse grade, they process 40% more material in the same amount of time compared to other non-woven competitors. And all this while finishing 1.5 times as many parts.

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Scotch-Brite, bringing new solutions to the surface. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you've joined us here today. Before we get started, I have got a question for you. Do you want to miss any upcoming episodes of Tooling Up? Of course not. Go ahead and click those like and subscribe buttons. All right, everybody subscribed? Great. Let's get started.

Today I'm excited to be talking about Scotch-Brite Precision Surface Conditioning discs with German Munoz. And he is the Surface Conditioning portfolio manager at 3M. German, thank you so much for joining us today. And welcome to Tooling Up.

GERMAN MUNOZ: Thanks, Toni. It's a pleasure to be here.

TONI NEARY: So I love to hear about people's different career pathways. And yours is very different. Is it true that your wife predicted your work for 3M one day?

GERMAN MUNOZ: Yes. I met my wife in Austin, Texas. When we got married. We moved very close to the 3M offices in Austin. She always was making comments on how 3M is a Minnesota company. It was, Minnesota, Minnesota mining and manufacturing. And she always said it was it would be really cool if I ended up working at 3M. When my daughter was born, we ended up moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, just to be close to family, and I ended up working for 3M so we always joke about that prediction and I'm actually excited. I really enjoy working for this company.

TONI NEARY: And I love it. You've been there for 13 years. Tell me a little bit about what you love about working for 3M. 

GERMAN MUNOZ: So my first job at 3M was in the customer contact center. I was listening to customers talking about our products, asking questions. And after a couple years doing that, I had the opportunity to join the abrasive sales team. We moved to California, and in California, I had a big territory for abrasives. And that's where I learned everything about abrasive and industrial applications.

I really enjoyed the job because it's like seeing how everything is made. You get to visit all types of customers and you learn about their processes. And my goal was to help them to improve those processes.

TONI NEARY: Now while abrasives may not be something every family is discussing around the dinner table, I'd find it hard to believe that every kitchen sink in America does not have a Scotch-Brite pad, but there's a lot more to the company than that. Tell us a little bit more about the history of Scotch-Brite, the brand. I mean, 50 years of innovation.

GERMAN MUNOZ: You know what? Since 1958 Scotch-Brite is a household name. And it's not just for kitchen pads. And it's funny because a lot of people relate Scotch-Brite with kitchen pads and yet, when you look at kitchen sink, Scotch-Brite is not just on the cleaning, but as well on the finishing. Like all that beautiful scratches that you see in your sink are made with the Scotch-Brite products.

So it's not just a household brand for pads and as well for commercial and industrial applications. We are pioneers of the non-woven technology and we are the market leader for industrial surface conditioning products.

TONI NEARY: Well, I can tell you're an abrasives expert by how smooth that transition was to talk about precision surface conditioning discs. So let's talk a little bit about them. How are they different than other abrasive discs that are out there?

GERMAN MUNOZ: Precision surface conditioning this is a multi-purpose disc that we designed to do it all. And what I mean, when they set about doing it all, it has the ability to cover a variety of applications. So when we talk about those applications, it's about cleaning, finishing, deburring, edge breaking, releasing, blending, refining, even light grinding. This is all possible because we revolutionized the industry by combining 3M precision type grain and non-woven material.

And what we're doing is delivering a next level results and consistency that all our customers expect from a Scotch-Brite line up.

TONI NEARY: Okay, wow. These discs do everything except the dishes, so these discs can be used earlier in the production process than ever before. Is that right?

GERMAN MUNOZ: Yes. Our idea is to improve processes with our customers and introducing the precision surface conditioning discs, we have as well expanded our range of grades. So what we did is we introduced five new grades to the market. So we have a fine and extra coarse disc that will allow our end users to actually have an all new process with surface conditioning products. Usually for a stainless steel, they need to use five different steps to achieve the finishes they require.

Let's talk about a finish number four. In a finish number four, there are three or four steps before we can use a non-woven belt to blend that finish. With the precision surface condition discs, we can reduce up to two or sometimes three steps, depending on the application to improve that process.

TONI NEARY: And I think it's amazing because when you're looking at reducing the number of processes, you're increasing efficiency as well as reducing some of that risk of error. So I know that you're working in a lot of different industries. Who are really seeing the benefits of this new technology and seeing it implemented?

GERMAN MUNOZ: So for industries, these products are fit to work in aerospace, automotive, collision repair, food and beverage, AOEM, metal fabrication, MRO, rail, transportation, and heavy equipment. When we talk about performance and we have some cases with customers. So for example, in the stainless steel, Scotch-Brite precision surface conditioning discs, in coarse grade, they process 40% more material in the same amount of time compared to other non-woven competitors.

And all this while finishing 1.5 times as many parts. So performance is one of our great advantages when we talk about precision surface conditioning discs. And the other example, in aluminum, precision surface conditioning medium, it removes three times more material than other non-woven competitors over the life of the discs. This offers productivity gains including three times as many parts and finish it two times as much material process in the same amount of time.

 So when we talk about improving processes, this is the perfect disc for that.

TONI NEARY: All right. So speaking of grit, let's get down to the nitty gritty. Are there metals that these discs really do work best on?

GERMAN MUNOZ: So Toni this is amazing because the surface conditioning family of discs really works in any substrate. And we can talk about aluminum, stainless steel, copper, carbon steel, inconel, titanium. So there is like vastly amount of substrate that this disc can perform. And one of the tips that we give to our customers is when they use the power of 3M abrasives, the whole system, when they use our tools, they use our Cubitron 3 fiber discs, or grinding wheels and they combine and finish with our surface conditioning line of discs, that's where you can get a lot of savings in your process.

TONI NEARY: Absolutely fantastic. I cannot thank you enough for your time today. Anything else that our audience needs to know about this new revolutionary product?

GERMAN MUNOZ: Just one last thing. If it doesn't say a Scotch-Brite it's not a Scotch-Brite. Scotch-Brite is only a 3M in product. Everything else is just a surface conditioning product.

TONI NEARY: Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time today German.

GERMAN MUNOZ: Toni, thank you very much. And I'm very happy to be able to be here today.

TONI NEARY: It was so great hanging out with German today. If you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did, and you want to make sure that you see more discussions just like this, please subscribe to our channel. to find out more about Scotch-Brite Precision Surface Conditioning discs, visit www.mscdirect.com/products/scotch-brite. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: What more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.