Benzinga | Feb 23, 2021 01:27PM EST

N95 Mask Producer 3M Expands Use Of Palantir's Foundry Platform To Help With Supply Chain Demand

Palantir Technolgies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) is quickly broadening its customer base beyond its government contracts after showcasing its Foundry platform on Demo Day last month.

What Happened: Palantir announced on Tuesday an expansion of its partnership with 3M Co (NYSE:MMM). This is the latest in a series of deals with commercial customers for use of Palantir's Foundry platform, and the multi-million-dollar deal includes increased use of the platform across all of 3M's product lines.

Why It Matters: Palantir's Foundry platform allows customers to access information quickly to react to changes in supply chains. This should help 3M because of pressure to respond to the increased demand for its products, such as N95 masks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3M's expanded use of the Foundry platform allows 3M to increase its supply chain alerting, demand forecasting and business planning to focus on customer product needs.

"The success of our business depends on our ability to respond quickly to changing facts on the ground," said Brig Knott, 3M's Vice President, End to End Service, Operations & Lean Six Sigma.

What's Next: Palantir has signed multiple new or expanded partnerships in 2021, including its most recent partnership with Akin Gump law firm. Investors will want to see this continue over the coming months as proof that companies are able to benefit from the use of Palantir's proprietary Foundry and Gotham platforms.

(Photo: Foundry, Palantir)