After more than a century in business, it would be understandable for a company to run out of fresh ideas. But 3M (MMM) is still at it, at age 104. The manufacturing conglomerate -- an abrasives maker that broke out by inventing masking tape in 1925 -- is introducing new products as if it were a startup.
The latest: Post-it Picture Paper. Rolled out nationally this spring, the product marries the adhesives of 3M's iconic sticky notes with photo paper so consumers can print digital snapshots at home and slap them up on the fridge or any other flat surface. Moreover, the company already is testing its next Post-it extension: stickable index cards. "The innovation machine remains strong," observes analyst Mark Gulley of Soleil Securities Group in New Canaan, Conn.
