3M Co. has just announced plans to increase spending on research and development, product lines, and acquisitions in 2010 in an effort to emerge from the recession further ahead of weaker competitors.

3M spent approximately $1.2 billion on R&D in 2009, and plans to spend as much as $100 billion in the coming year to advance product lines and research, and to hire up to 80 new employees with doctorates, 3M CEO George Buckley said. Capital expenditures will rise as much as 15 percent to over $1 billion.

“I knew that if we kept investing in R&D, and we kept it pretty much flat, that increasingly as other weaker companies couldn’t maybe spend so much in R&D that there would be a separation,” Buckley said. “It’s prosperity of the fittest.”

As CEO, Buckley says he is working to reignite creativity at the origin of consumer staples such as transparent Scotch tape. The pipeline includes a coating that may keep cars and solar cells clean without washing and a new ceramic abrasive, Cubitron II, whose grain self-sharpens during use to extend the life of the material.

3M shares have almost doubled since closing at $41.83 on March 6, and have risen about 5.5% since Buckley arrived in December 2005 from Brunswick Corp. 3M rose 53 cents to $81.96 last week in New York Stock Exchange trading.

I believe Mr. Buckley is pulling, pushing, and driving 3M back to its R&D roots. This is a company that prides itself on developing the most iconic products. That all came out of internal innovation, and he wants to make sure that’s not lost.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about R&D