From Friday 16 May 08 weblog: "They are just making sure you work for the money while doing four jobs at once and getting paid for one....."

This is what happened at the Victoria BC plant also. But now its sold to a Chinese company. I do not know how military technology can be sold to china though.

This plant did not have the best salaries. The upper management in the US has a bad understanding of the nuts and bolts of what was being done.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Things are changing. All because Cote and direct reports need to make his bonus! Guess Cote & Friends were never the little guys?

I am trying to make ends meet. Maybe just maybe take a boat out for the weekend and not worry about spending the money due to the next round of layoffs. Or even have a cook out with friends. Times are tough! So why does it have to be 1.7 million profit. Whats wrong with 1.6?

Cote and Friends.... Hope you read this blog! Just going to throw it all away for a yearly bonus. Remember who makes your money. All the little guys like me! And honestly a company I use to brag about to friends and family. I wouldn't recommend any product we make.

What happens when Honeywell is so lean, they ship Cote & Friends jobs to India! One day......

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

OMG... Is this how we treat customers? Now I know why we're losing business. I guess it is also no secret that marketing at Honeywell is in bad shape. We have lost major business because of this. I think everybody needs to buckle up, things are going to get worse in manufacturing and design (maybe even R&D) in North America.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Last weblog>>I just wish the people at the top would stop worrying about the next balance sheet and start worrying about what us customers think.<<

I work in customer support and I hear this (and far worse), directly and daily from our customer base and quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it. Not that I think you all don’t have legitimate concerns, but every year Honeywell gives the customer base an opportunity to make those concerns known during our Honeywell Users Group (HUG) conferences. And every year the customer base that shows up at HUG appears to be a far cry from the one complaining to the field all year. The one that shows up at HUG rolls over, get it’s belly scratched, and falls in line.

If the concerns you bring to field service during the year are legitimate, then when you’re in an environment with those who can actually affect those concerns, please bring it up and hold your position until you get a satisfactory response. Only you, Mr. Customer, can change the things you see as problematic; but not if you continue to go mute when it counts. If you won’t hold your ground, don't expect change and please stop complaining.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Here in Europe, TAC used to have strong links with the people who designed and maintained Honeywell Control products. They could get problems answered very quickly. Since the migration of engineering to India/South America/wherever, communication lines have become slow and (in some cases) unreliable. I just wish the people at the top would stop worying about the next ballance sheet and start worying about what us customers think. With the changes of the past year, I'm starting to get very nervous about future product support.

Saturday, June 21, 2008 - Regarding the TAC and Auto College emails:

There are no current plans to move Auto College to Houston or TAC to India. That is what we've been told. Whether one chooses to believe that or not is up to the individual. I'll admit getting a straight and truthful story from anyone in leadership around here for the past few years has been interesting, to say the least. But, unless there is solid evidence to the contrary, this is what we have been told and so, it is the only story that we know. I suppose to some that will sound a little foolish, but then again, there is no more reason to believe an unsubstantiated rumor (for those loyal readers of this weblog, consider the "Honeywell to be bought by Siemens" rumor that has been around for the past five years or so and refuses to die) than a mistrusted statement; if nothing else, at least the statement can be tracked.

To further elaborate on the TAC move, the comment offered about the need for a TAC reveals not only a blatant ignorance of what TAC does and why it exists, but also what is going on with our product families. That there is a need for a TAC in India, given the increasing presence Honeywell products have in supporting and controlling the infrastructure of that country, has been recognized and is being implemented. I suppose in some circles the obvious conclusion to jump to then is that they will then absorb all of the existing TAC centers and be run from one pole, as opposed to the four current. I can't say that won't happen, but I can say there are numerous and significant factors why it shouldn't. Those factors have also been recognized.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

To the previous comments regarding TAC moving to India; it shouldn't be too difficult to work-out, support for existing (legacy) products has already been shipped to India (until they reach end of life), new products are bought-in and re-badged rather than developed in-house, what use would there be for TAC?

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Is it true that the automation college is relocating to Houston, TX? I also hear that TAC is moving to India. Comments please.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Here in Europe things are little better. Here in engineering, guys are overloaded and under resourced. Sales staff still awaiting their sales target!! (Yes it's almost mid year and sales staff still do not know their targets).

The reality is much of the sales / engineering organizations feels isolated and demoralised, many have left and many many more are considering their positions - some people may say good - but generally that would only be management who in 2 maybe 3 years time move onwards and upwards leaving the utter chaos they have created behind them for someone else to deal with.

Management like to call themselves "leaders" but there is a good deal more to being a leader than a title and sadly most of Honeywell's are not.

Friday, May 16, 2008

I started working for a good company 25 years ago: "Sperry Corporation". After the merger and change to the UNYSYS company, they sold our group to Honeywell. Honeywell was actually a decent company until Allied Signal bought it. Since then it has been downhill all the way.

If you have seen the movie "Logan's Run", there seems to be a parallel with the movie and managements relationship with Honeywell. People will be required to report management at the appointed time. In my case I would lose 29 weeks of severance pay. The rich management worship the Honeywell "GOD": Stock and they smile all the way to the bank.

Friday, May 16, 2008

(edited) The Honeywell Vancouver site is being managed by a third-world-sweat-shop money-hungry person that does not care about anyone but himself and his bonus at the end of the month/quarter! It's sad that there are so many talented, hard working people who actually know this business inside-out, and its a shame that Corporate has decided to have this person lead what he does not understand.

When it comes to cut costs, even when involving people that have been there longer than he has, he'll outsource pretty much all the work to whoever makes it cheaper - he is the best at that!

Come on all of you people, who are still left in there waiting for packages (that will never happen) run and do not look back. He was put in charge to close the doors.Nothing else. Do you really think he will stick around for long?

Let's not forget that Honeywell wants people to know that they are the best company to work for and they have the best salaries. They are just making sure you work for the money while doing four jobs at once and getting paid for one. This used to be a company that people enjoyed working for and were valued. That's no longer the case these days. And it will get worse!

Friday, May 16, 2008

I work at Honeywell and will be "Riffed" at age 54. Has any more been negotiated for the bridging to age 55 for retiree medical benefits? Any comments would be appricated!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Honeywell DCS open standards??

Currently at two Honeywell sites in Australia, Honeywell is doing everything in there power to block Emerson Wireless gateways from being connected to their DCS.

The standard connectivity is serial Modbus, nothing special and a common interface to most DCS and PLC. However Honeywell is trying everything to convince these two sites that there are interoperable problems.

Modbus serial is easy and open, so what’s the problem? Is it because the system lack connectivity, I think not? Or is it because these two sites have tried both wireless solutions and found the Emerson one easier and faster to set-up.

Both sites want open standards HART7, but they get told continually that ISP is the way, the way to what? Seems like the old DE (Dead end) protocol solution again, locking out the competition.

In the end the end users will vote with their dollars, and this time around it’s only a gateway replacement not rows of input cards that will keep other suppliers away.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

I've been working for Honeywell for the past 3 years, and I've seen many bad things inside the HPS world, as I'm about to quit.

I couldn't understand how management could be so bad, until I read this weblog. It's hard to face reality, as I could only imagine an employee's dissapointment while working for 10,20 or more years, and watching numbers and "double digit" profits replace people and innovation. It's plain and simple, Honeywell's soul was sold to the devil, represented by Mr. Cote's ambition and selfishness.

I presenced the departure of many talented people over these past 3 years, people who represented Honeywell's real asset: Experience.

Nowadays morale is low, and the "new Honeywell culture" relies on Wall street's god: Money. China, India, Mexico are the new Honeywell locations, it reminds me of the sweatshops from Nike or Adidas, and unfortunately, that's the direction where we are all going.

In the meantime, I have to deal with faulty out-of-date products from Business Flex and Uniformance, not to mention the Experion fiasco, lousy TAC support (teenagers from a hotline), R&D in crisis, as many talented and experienced people leave everyday, so you'll end up with an enginneer from India who barely speaks English and has never been in an industrial facility.

TDC represented what Honeywell was a few years ago, unfortunately, nowdays we work for a sweatshop, plain and simple.

My apologies. Due to spam filters and other reasons, the weblogs have been blocked. The problem has now been corrected, and your comments are now coming through. Please continue your weblogs.

Jim Pinto

Sunday, March 09, 2008 11:52 AM

On February 22nd 2008 Honeywell announced the closure of their Montreal Aerospace site. This started in December 2002 when Adrian Brown (she has since been promoted) made the decision to cease all OEM manufacturing of fuel controls for Pratt & Whitney Canada at the Montreal site (Leaving only Repair and Overhaul). Most of the machine shop work went to China and the Assembly and Test work went to Honeywell Rocky Mount, NC. The work would be transitioned in 6 mths (what a joke). After millions and millions wasted, that transition is not fully complete 5 years later, good luck completing it now. They actually teach a course at Honeywell headquarters based on this failed transition and what not to do. We were told to work hard to help the transition and the Repair and Overhaul work would come. They could not bring the work until the "TRANSITION" was over. Paul Vidano told everyone in a town hall meeting to "make your numbers and the work will come". Well Paul, we did make our numbers, our OTTR, our TAT, much to your surprise I suspect. Shareholders should be demanding to see the numbers on this transition, because they are in for round # 2 with this recent announcement.

Honeywell says this closure is for declining work. This is true. When you have no marketing, no leadership with any power at the site level, what the hell do you think will happen. Work will fall from the sky I guess. The Air Canada APU contract should have come to Montreal, instead you ship APU's from Montreal to Phoenix to be repaired. That's really smart, considering they could be repaired literally down the road from Air Canada. That's putting the customer first, another round of applause for a great management decision.

On the topic of severance. What did people get at other sites that have closed? They are calling people in with some weird formula based on your age and years of service. It's anywhere from 1,2 or 3 weeks per year of service, but you must work hard until the end and if you find a job during your severance period you have to call and report it to the company so they can stop your severance. These people are sick. Who comes up with these policies? That's for the non-unionized people. The jury is still out on the compensation for the unionized people.

Paul Vidano showed up on Feb. 22 to announce this closure, along with his bodyguards. After 5 years of lies finally some truth. It's sad to see a site close because of such poor management. Sure they will say it was the big bad union. There are no strong unions, just weak management. It's funny how Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Air Canada, are all expanding and hiring people.

Good luck Honeywell with this new transition. You will need it!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) outsourcing is hitting Honeywell in Mississauga, near Toronto, as of June 2008. As has been at other sites this will be another round of layoffs and complete confusion after the transition with failed results. Another good system will be broken. Way to go , Honeywell!!! This is all part of Dave Cote's "transformation", which is code name for layoffs in North America.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Life at Honeywell-North Vancouver is nothing but living hell day in and out - you get reamed by being social and reamed again if you sit in your corner doing your job! Let's face it folks - this place is going down the tubes daily.... Senior management has no clue of what to expect from corporate next - unless of course their bonuses... and costs and more costs at the expense of the hard working individuals that have been producing and holding steady for the longest time. It has been 1 year now that the "new" and "empowered" Plant Manager came into action..... come on now - who is he kidding? We know why he is there and we also know what is plans are - get his name well known in Corporate Honeywell and at the same time push all the employees out of the door (you know the ones he does not like or thinks they are a threat) so he does not have to pay them out - he gets a bigger bonus! I just wish one of these days Corporate gives him the boot too! It will serve him right! For all th e honest, hard working employees that are still working there - get the hell out while you still can! Your jobs will eventually end up in INDIA.....

Friday, February 22, 2008

Honeywell management seems confused as to their long term strategy. They are offering signing bonus's and referral fees to employees as they reload the staff with average people. I am an employee in Houston and have been keening watching this strategy for the last year. I expect these new hires will be gone in 18 months when they don't produce but upper management will remain in place.

Friday, February 22, 2008

On Friday February 22, 2008, management announced the closure of the Montreal Honeywell Aerospace site as of August 22, 2008, even though the site was a good performer. The standard business lingo was given, but most people believe it was for other reasons.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Life at Honeywell is not fun anymore. People are so unsure of the future and if you cross paths with your manager beware 'cause you're job is on the line. And at the North Vancouver "center of excelence" that is a fact. You cross the key guy and you are gone. He has no respect for anyone. He will fill positions with his old buddies and has no regard for long time employees. I'm glad I don't work there 'cause all the place is now is a burning platform and he will keep it burning.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Life at Honeywell in Clearwater, FL is anything but good if you're one of the great majority. We have oppressive, short-sighted management. We have small "merit increases" to look forward to. We have a massive case of "big brother" corporate trying to micro-manage and monitor everything we do. Information Technology has our business computers so overloaded with junkware and spyware that the machines are all but crippled when we attempt to use them for productive purposes. Even the fastest newest machines are hobbled by this madness!

Tier 5 managers are cursed with an inability to effect changes, due to the oppressive nature of their own leadership chain. It is encouraged that anyone who wishes to get ahead at Honeywell blindly say "yes yes yes", never question a decision, and do the company's bidding no matter what the moral cost. In the end, we are left with ineffective leaders who are soft and malleable. Too much reliance is placed upon perception, hearsay, and blind faith in senior management.

A free thinker is treated like a cancer. Innovation is stifled. Hard work is rarely rewarding if you refuse to toe the company line or even if you are perceived this way. Tier 5 managers are forced to rate even excellent employees as "below standard" within their group, as the "bottom 10%" is dictated by senior HR/management to receive zero raise. (This leaves the difficult situation where a superior employee in a group of other superior employees may receive a zero raise, yet a completely terrible employee may get the highest possible raise in their group of even more terrible employees.)

Morale has been steadily on the decline since Allied-Signal bought us. We are continually told how we should be thankful for our jobs and that we're too costly compared to outsourcing so we should not expect too much in terms of "average" merit increases. Cost of living is also not taken into account.

GE moved on long ago from the Jack Welchian philosophy of business. I figure Honeywell will only follow suit when senior members of ex-GE management are GONE from our own leadership ranks. I pray to God these folks GET THE HELL AWAY from Honeywell soon. They haven't the foggiest clue how much damage they've done to our core Aerospace business with their "one size fits all", dumbed-down management techniques.

It's only a matter of time before I too follow suit after the several co-workers that have already run away from Honeywell to other places nearby.... At least I can get a decent raise when I go!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

As someone who spent 21+ years at Honeywell (I left, last October), I feel qualified to give you some 411 on the "New Honeywell Culture". It sucks. Plain and simple.

Back in the old days, Honeywell certainly wasn't perfect, but things really started heading south when Allied bought it and brought a corporate culture spawned at GE under Jack Welch. Over the subsequent years, under Larry Bossidy (ex-GE) and now Dave Cote (ex-GE too, I believe), things have gpne from bad to terrible for the employees. At this point, there are basically five groups at Honeywell:

1. Those who drank the GE Kool-Aid and like it just fine (a very small %).
2. Those who are too new and/or are just glad/lucky to have a job (a small %).
3. Those who are close to retirement and are waiting it out (a small %).
4. Those who've had it and have left (eg, me and a surprising % of others I know).
5. Those who are destined for group 4 but haven't gotten there yet (a very large %).

Friday, January 25, 2008

Re: the big changes on the horizon in Phoenix involving Honeywell Process Solutions....

By the time the facility ends its manufacturing I'll have completed about 40 years of service. It no longer bothers me one way or another....it has been a good ride and I am proud of my participation and contribution to the business.....everybody has to leave sooner or later.

The posting of Jack Bolicks announcement in the Honeywell-weblog for the most part explains those changes. Surprisingly enough, the majority of those being impacted in Phoenix are likely/hopfully to be provided positions locally within the various Aero locations. Few transfers are going to occur to the new designated locations for the various product lines. There is also a large aging population within HPS (life'rs...including myself) who will seek positions within the same industry with the competition....or retire!

In my opinion, the knowledge loss, initially, will/may create small stumbling blocks along the way and any short-term impact to the customer is something yet to be determined.

Funny, but the one claim to faim that Roger Fradin brought with him to Honeywell was that in the ten-year period in which he ran Pittway, he had never laid off a single employee...boy how the times have changed!

Regardless of the forthcoming change, Jack Bolick has put Process Solutions back on the map and in the minds of the customers. Five years ago, nobody was even sure if the business would survive. I wonder what must be going thru the minds of Ed Hurd and Don Bogle regarding this latest change and the manufacturing closure of the Union Hills facility!? Afterall, it was the house that Ed built... sad!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ok, i just got laid off from HON Canada not too long ago, just before Christmas (had a great holiday...). Honeywell is an elephant when it moves it cannot step on only very specific targets most times, things happen in bunches. They don't care who says what during layoffs it's business and numbers have no feelings. In the end they know that the company has reached a very respectable status as a name and history, they think they can buy most people back whenever they want. The bigger the company the smaller you are, this family environment where people worked till thet get to 65 does exist anymore not even in Japan. Major Shareholers are the dictators we feared in the past accross all corporations. Good luck in this lawless jungle....

Saturday, January 19, 2008

With respect to the posting on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 where UOP was stated as "doomed to be ruined by HW"...I'd like to hear more. In Cote's last broadcast Jan/08, UOP was hailed as a great opportunity. It smelled as sweet as red roses. So what is really going on there?? Please speak up if you know!

Friday, January 18, 2008

The atmosphere is really strange at Honeywell these days. We find that when someone finds a job at a competitor's place people actually go out of their way and congratulate the person in a very warm way and are actually very happy and want to know all the details as to how the individual did it. This was not always like this and has become rather twisted. It used to be that when someone left there was sadness and a sense of loss. People wanted to work for the place. But that was when the place was more of a family and less of a Corporation. And that environment has come about more with Cote that with Bosidy.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Sorry to here about the new round of RIF's at HPS. Worked there for 20 years, left in '04. Allied sucked the energy and creativity out of that organization a long time ago. Best of luck to the 180 leaving soon and the 500 leaving later. I imagine there will be about 150 left to congratulate each other on how astute they are. Keep your chin up!!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Extract of message from Jack Bolick

To: Global HPS Employees

Honeywell Process Solutions regularly evaluates all its sites to ensure each operates at optimal capacity and provides the best delivery and quality possible. We also strive to simplify processes and reduce manufacturing complexity to better meet our financial commitments, the needs of our customers, and ultimately, secure a competitive position in our industry.

As part of this ongoing process, we have decided to transition the remaining Phoenix manufacturing and assembly factory work to sites around the world. This decision impacts approximately 180 employees in Phoenix.

Over the next 18 months, the following product families will be transitioned to existing manufacturing facilities:

• Experion Systems to Customer Solution Centers
• Field Solutions RDC to York
• TDC3000/TPS Systems Assembly to Tianjin
• TDC3000/TPS/Field Solutions CCAs Assembly & Test to Pune
• Software Duplication and Distribution to Honeywell International Sarl, Switzerland

In addition, we will continue to transition Series C I/O to contract manufacturers, and we will be transitioning responsibility of the TDC 2000 product line from the Phoenix factory to the service support operations.

Separate from this announcement, we have also made the decision to accelerate our globalization plan for the Technology organization at the Phoenix site.

The decision to make these changes was made for business reasons and is not a reflection on performance. To remain competitive, we must make these changes to ensure long-term growth for the business. Our focus on global growth drives us to reinforce Honeywell’s image as a premier technology leader. To achieve this goal, we must participate in the worldwide economy, open new avenues for our products and services, locate near our customers, and identify worldwide sourcing opportunities. This will allow us to be more competitive on a global basis.

We will provide support for our employees during this time including, as appropriate, applying for other suitable open positions within Honeywell, outplacement services, and severance in accordance with Honeywell policy. I ask for everyone’s support during this time as we work to make these transitions as smooth as possible for employees, customers, suppliers, and the business.

Sincerely,
Jack

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

I'm a machinist at Honeywell's engine division located in Phoenix, Arizona. All of the work is being systematically outsourced to Mexico and Czech Republic. They are taking the machines tooling gaging and they have the nerve to tell us we have a future here. What really makes me sick is we have hourly people that are traveling there to help expedite and train these folks in Mexico and come back with no work. They recently sent a whole department over the holiday. Now they are telling those people with 15-20 years or more experience that they have to repost for any openings. I'm talking people that have given their whole lives to this company and have worked very hard developing and optimizing these processes. I have news they are not paying these people well in Mexico in fact a lot of the workers leave to work for Walmart. You get what you pay for these days.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Will have to agree. Even though it is recognized as Honeywell, the truth is it still is ALLIED SIGNAL. And as for employee sastifaction surveys - we have not seen any since Allied took over!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - Reply to weblog dated Tuesday, December 4:

Unfortunately this is true of most companies today (not just Honeywell); Engineering, Design, Development (etc.) now take a (very) poor second place behind the balance sheet and budgetary forecast; the most technically brilliant ideas mean nothing if you can't provide the figures.

As an (ageing) engineer I find this sad. It destroys the long-term future of a company (and a country); innovation and ingenuity are being seen as too much of a risk, the only thing that is important is the next balance sheet; I just hope I see the balance restored before it's too late.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Guys, I read all of the blog entries below. You just don't get it! Honeywell (and especially the old AlliedSignal) is an Accounting company - not a Technology company. It's been like this for a long time. So, expect to be milked (business speaking). It is well advertised in the company communication that there will be zero, or less, job growth in North America. Honeywell's growth is from funding projects & businesses in Asia. When is the last time Honeywell held a formal employee satisfaction survey across the company?

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Just my thought on the matter of Honeywell. The way management in North Vancouver are treating the employees is a disgrace. There is no focus or direction from the Manufacturing Manager at this plant. They are laying off employees while keeping contract people on the payroll. What are the plans? Are there ANY plans? I truly doubt he knows what he is doing. But be honest; it is not his fault - it is Honeywell total lack of focus on the pulp and paper market that has ruined North Vancouver and created the problems they are in now. And that Mr. Cote will still get his bonus next year; it is truly a shame he gets a bonus while people lose their jobs.

Thursday, November 29, 2007 - what in the world?

Ok so, after reading a few of the comments, I feel better, its not me, its Honeywell; moreover, its not just my division, its all of Honeywell. Ever since I started working for Honeywell a few years back, it has been nothing but complete secrecy and total confusion. We never know where we are going or what the plans are. It is truly is complete management chaos, unless they are just playing us, knowing that everything is going to be transfered to AP anyway. By the way, the way they treat their employees is really bad, and if they keep firing soon-to-retire employees, they are going to get in trouble one of this days.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

There is a lot of pressure to use Honeywell products in house. Not too long ago, a 'Six Sigma' type project was chartered to determine the next generation automation system for the research pilot plants and lab plants at UOP LLC. (This was when UOP was still half owned by HW and half by DOW.) UOP has some of the best research capabilities in the world and needs the best technologies to stay at the top. The final report recommended Siemens followed by GE/Fanuc and others. HW placed last. It wasn't completely unexpected when management selected HW over the others, but it was very disappointing. As much as I wish that HW had offered the best product, it was overpriced and performed poorly. Management's decision was totally contrary to the recommendations and several research projects opted to go on their own with Modicon, ABB, even Labview, etc. Then, we all got a big scare when HW bought out DOW's stake in UOP and we were swallowed up by HW. There was a lot of pressure to use HW automation exclusively in our refinery installations. Fortunately, there was enough push back from our people and from our customers to make HW back down some (under threat of losing a lot of refinery business).

I really wish that I worked for the company with the best automation product on the market, but right now, it just isn't the case. I do work for UOP and UOP IS THE BEST PETROCHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IN THE WORLD. The US government knows it. Governments all over the world know it. People in the industry all over the world know it. We do things that no one else can do. And that is a fact! Why are we doomed to be ruined, as part of HW, by short-sightedness and incompetency?! Dave Cote seems to confuse real growth and return on investment with accounting tricks, employee indoctrination campaigns (many of my co-workers from communist countries have told me that this is the same kind of propaganda they saw back home), and hocus pocus. How about if we actually beco me the best in all of our business groups? How about if actually we retain and recruit the best talent by treating the the employees right? How about if we get and retain customers by having the best product on the market? How about if we have real, sustainable growth and become a genuine, good long term investment, with substance, for the shareholders, not a Wall Street joke. Dave Cote, organizational games, ripping off your employeees, and milking the cash cow to death is not real growth!

I have been here longer than you. I know my business. WE are pretty smart. WE are pretty good. WE have got the talent. WE have got the resources. WE are in the right place at the right time in our market. Don't screw it up! Don't let your short sightedness run the company into the ground! In all our business groups, let's do it right, let's be the best.

Sunday, November 18, 2007 - Re: Up 13% this year in organic growth:

A large part of the organic growth is forced internal sales to other Honeywell divisions, even though the competition has a better product and service.

Sunday, November 18, 2007 Picking up on the (October 28th) comment below that it is going to get much worse with JLL: Just remember the following equation. JLL = Reduced Service & Standards. You tell me down the road if I was wrong.

Monday, November 12, 2007

As a former employee of Honeywell, I must say that the way they treat their employees is truly awful. The Division that I left (in pulp and paper) is in a slump; as a mater of fact the whole pulp and paper Division of Honeywell is in a slump. But I guess that doesn't mater to Mr. Cote who will still get his bonus next year. But at whose expense?

I must say that I liked the early years of my career at Honeywell. But now they have nothing to offer to the employees, but BS. Sooner or later their actions are going to smack them back in their faces. As for me, I'm going to start a new career with a better future than what Honeywell (ALLIED SGNAL) has to offer to any of their employees. As for those that remain - beware empty promises.

Monday, November 12, 2007

The JLL fiasco hit at the Des Plaines, Illinois site of the recently acquired UOP LLC. Same disrespectful treatment, as previously noted, of long time, hard working UOP employees. Also, they apparently had no idea that the receiving department was more than just a mail room and regularly handles a significant amount of hazardous materials. Overall the integration of UOP into Honeywell has provoked an exodus of experienced engineers, etc. from the company. Additionally, some clever Honeywell person figured out a bookkeeping adjustment that would allow them to short UOP employees 2 weeks pay in 2007. This has been a record year for UOP and brought several hundred millions of cash into HW. Their reward to UOP was to squeeze the employees for a few million in payroll. There should be a law, but . . .

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Well after 6 months of the JLL co-sourcing at the MTO site. You could say that at this location, if it where not for the ability to fudge the numbers it could be considered a utter failure. It took 5 months just to get uniforms, despite what the eastern manager said, employees will be required to take there uniforms home and clean them. (I thought she said that it was ridicules to buy uniforms, JLL would have a uniform service!) Materials needed to do jobs takes weeks if not longer to get, vendors don`t want to wait 90 days to get paid. One observation I made was, if you come in and say things ( intense training, comparable compensation, PDA`s, etc.. . ) the old saying is true "If their mouth is moving, they are lying!" After putting up with BS from Honeywell management( performance reviews that are rigged, the do more with less for less mentality) for a number of years and the last six months of BS squared. I called it quits, went into my own small business. The only advice I can give is: If you're invo,ved in this co-sourcing, look for another job". It's going to get a lot worse, before it ever gets any better. Good luck!

Thursday, October 25, 2007 - Honeywell response to weblog about service:

Honeywell is NOT withdrawing from controls. We are up 13% this year in organic growth. We would be interested in helping the person get his problem resolved if we could understand where the problem is: Process SYstems or Building Systems.

If you provide a contact number, or email, a Honeywell Global Services leader will follow up.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Can anyone please tell me what's going on with Honeywell's technical/after sales support? It seems to be increasing difficult to get answers to technical questions regarding both controllers and recorders, the people we used to deal with (and get very prompt answers from) are no longer available. The service I currently get leaves me to wonder if Honeywell is withdrawing from the Industrial Controlls market.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Yokogawa wins a BIG Chevron order away from Honeywell. Why hasn't this made more news??

Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Japanese major electrical machinery maker, Yokogawa Electric Corp., said Wednesday it has received an order from U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. for an oil refinery management system, estimated at more than 100 billion yen (US$813 million; euro606.6 million).

Yokogawa Electric Wins Chevron Order - Yahoo Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070620/japan_yokogawa_chevron.html?.v=1

Sunday, June 3, 2007

The answer below (response from Honeywell management) indicates that Honeywell really do not know what are happening with their Paper Group in Brazil. How they can say this if they do not talk with employers about the real state of relations in this area? They are working on a Virtual field. They believe they are doing well, customers don't. It´s the end of the line. Whom will turn of the lights and and close the door? They said;"Honeywell is growing nicely in Brazil in Paper, strong in Pulp". They really do not know Brazil. Sorry guys....

Sunday, May 06, 2007 - regarding Brazil report - weblog April 26, 2007:

Honeywel management checked this out and cannot find any substance in the claim. Honeywell is growing nicely in Brazil in Paper, strong in Pulp. Only had one small job canceled due to a change in scope that later increased the contract.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

More layoffs, this time it's in the UK, the Ringwood development office will be closed at the end of June. When news was announced senior management were notable by their absence, the job was left to local management and HR representatives; to date we haven't received so much as an email from senior management!

Anyone in the UK want to hire a complete development team? If you want to see what our work is like, take a look at the X-Series recorders.

Thursday, April 26, 2007 - To Honeywell Top Managers:

Dear Sirs, your division in Brazil for Pulp and Paper is an example on how to kill a company. Please verify with your local customers the dis-satisfaction with the service done by them. Honeywell is losing most of the service agreements contracts to companies that are employing ex-Honeywell guys. Stupid! The bad service can kill a compnay!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Don't let the $10,000 signing bonus fool you. It is compensation for first year loss of employer paid benefits with Honeywell, like loss of Pension Plan and reduced health and dental benefits. After the first year you are loosing $10,000 per year in benefits when compared to Honeywell. You don't really want to work for a company that has no pension plan. Over the years, this loss adds up and will severly affect your retirement. Although JLL has a savings plan, Honeywell also has a savings plan. So this is a moot point.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Honeywell employees in Phoenix (E. Airlane) that lost thier job because of JLL are being hired (most of them) with a $10,000 signing bonus. Now, I believe that Honeywell offered a somewhat healty severance package, but you had to interview with JLL. if JLL offered a job and you turned it down, then you forfeited Honeywell's severance package. If you accepted a job with JLL then there's no need to offer this package and you can be fired for no reason at anytime, and as mentioned earlier, NO Pension Plan. JLL moves in next month in May and secrecy still rules.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Because of the JLL deal with Honeywell, 3 people were cut in Tempe and 25 in Phoenix. There were a total of 64 cut.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

It's funny how Honeywell prides itself in retaining top talent. What a hypocrisy. In the JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) transition, people are completely disregarded. One day they are stars in the eyes of Honeywell and the next day they are unacceptable in the eyes of JLL. This is a tossing out of human capital.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

On the Honeywell out sourcing to JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), JLL does not have a Pension Plan. Honeywell does. So you lose a lot for your retirement if you go work for JLL for any length of time - especially if you are in the prime of your life. Do the math! JLL can also let you go at will - for a reason or no reason. This is far less secure than Honeywell.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Yes, the Honeywell - Jones Lang LaSalles effect is taking place. It's amazing how misrepresentative and secretive it was over the last year. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman was a key element in this mis-representation at the beginning. The reality is that JLL is not hiring all of the Honeywell facility personnel. Honeywell has abdicated any decision-making process on this. It is known that there is a connection at the Board of Director level between Honeywell and JLL. So someone is profiting here. JLL has promised JLL a 10% aggrrgrate top level savings on facility costs in the first year. The consequence of not doing this is that JLL has to pay Honeywell a penalty. This clearly compromises the technicians and JLL is not taking on Honeywell employees to make this 10% in the first year - to the detriment of Honeywell. The first wave of outsourcing 23 sites is in 2007. The second wave of the remainrer of the sites is scheduled for 2008. So, if you are in Honeywell Facility Management, or a technician - watch out in 2008! Your job is seriously at risk. Be prepared.

Thursday, March 15, 2007 - from a former Honeywell Employee:

When I was laid off from Honeywell, the official reason was that my position had been eliminated. I signed and accepted their severance agreement. The agreement granted me full pay and benefits for several months. In exchange, I can never sue Honeywell.

Within months after my departure, a much younger person was hired to do esentially the same job. After I accepted the severance agreement, I discovered that it ended just six months short of the date when I would be eligible for retiree health benefits. Honeywell probably saved about a quarter million dollars by laying me off after 20 years of service. (By the way, my 20 Year Service Award came after I was laid off, with a congratulatory letter from Dave Cote.)

I wonder if others have made similar discoveries about their retirement benefits. Maybe my situation was just a coincidence, but it sure smells like age discrimination.

Sunday, February 18, 2007 - from Tom Webb [albacore124@aol.com]:

It appears Honeywell's Management has started to deflate the Six Sigma Plus program. Due to factual evidence, the corporate practice of using "modified" Six Sigma numbers/references without notification of data modification is ending.

16 February Honeywell press releases were sent out stating "Six Sigma is a highly respected measure of excellence. Honeywell’s own interpretation, Six Sigma Plus, is employed across all businesses and brands to drive growth and productivity."

Now if we could only get Honeywell to divulge the basis of the "Interpretation" . Imagine, people actually being able to find out what the system actually measures. I guess next year's proxy statements will be easy to foresee...

Thursday, February 15, 2007

More job cuts at Honeywell; Jones-Lang-LaSalle has been selected to take over facilty operations at 19 plants and Morristown Offices. Honeywell people have to interview with JLL to see if they can stay.

Saturday, February 10, 2007 - from Tom Webb [albacore124@aol.com]:

I guess if Honeywell's quality system has no published goals, and unknown system parameters it makes achieving any quality level desired easy and without debate!

Creating a "Six Sigma" quality System that is not based on Six Sigma is deceptive and shareholders can not be expected to find out otherwise. Honeywell does not publish the actual parameters used, or add notation that the "Six Sigma Plus" system is neither Six Sigma or Plus!

Using a Six Sigma System - 4.5 Sigma is 3.4 defects per million, 6 Sigma is 2.4 defects per BILLION... is easily understood and needs no clarification. Calling a Quality System "Six Sigma" and not using Six Sigma as the basis is misleading at best...

If anyone contacts me, I will send the "Official Honeywell" reply to this discrepancy.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - A senior Honeywell manager coments:

I would agree with the Honeyweller's comments below. We drive Honeywell based on six sigma methodology and zero defects, but set stretch time phased targets that balance reality with continuous improvement driven by DAMIC principles. This is the basis for Toyoda production system... baseline, set controlled stretch targets and drive continuous improvement based on quality methodologies such as "six sigma". Main thing is know where you are coming from (baseline) and sustain the improvement.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - A Honeywell manager responds:

I can understand the perspective of the person who wrote this but disagree with what was said.

Think this is about how you interpret what the meaning or intention is behind being a Six Sigma Company. My interpretation is that we as a company have embraced and adopted six sigma methodologies in pursuit of improving business performance, that six sigma training and methodologies are integral pieces of our corporate culture. Results will always vary, achieving results short of six sigma levels is not misleading because in my opinion the Honeywell definition of six sigma is the overarching program and not a specific point in time result.

Monday, November 13, 2006 - from Tom Webb - Proxy Statement was sent to Mr. Larkins at HQ today via FED EX for inclusion in the next shareholder proxy statement.

I am sure most Honeywell employees are not aware that what Honeywell claims to be "Six Sigma Plus" is really a 4.5 Sigma statistically based system (1000 times more defects than an actual Six Sigma system). I understand a "fudge factor" of 1.5 Sigma has been creatively added to the instructor's backpocket to try and further the Six Sigma Plus system as legit when these questions arise...

November 11, 2006

Secretary - Honeywell, Inc.

As a concerned Honeywell shareholder I am submitting the following shareholder proxy statement: This proposal relates to Honeywell's use of “Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” terminology. Significant clarification is necessary by Honeywell to adequately and accurately inform shareholders, customers, and the public of the actual basis of Honeywell's “Six Sigma” programs. Neither “Six Sigma” or “Six Sigma Plus”, which are routinely mentioned in Honeywell supplied information, are scientifically or mathematically based on Six Sigma Statistics - as strongly implied by Honeywell.

“Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” information supplied by Honeywell, including examples, percentages, illustrations, and other data published by Honeywell as being “Six Sigma based” are actually based on 4.5 Sigma statistical data. Information published in The Wall Street Journal (and other sources) detailing 4.5 Sigma programs pretending to be “Six Sigma” programs should be addressed immediately. Honeywell should remove “Six Sigma” from programs that are not, in fact, Six Sigma statistically based.

The difference between a statistically based Six Sigma program and Honeywell's “Six Sigma” programs is that Honeywell allows 1000 times more defects. Honeywell has published significant amounts of misleading “Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” data. Honeywell fails to disclose this on its website, Annual Statement, articles, publications, or customer training.

Clarification that Honeywell's “Six Sigma” data is really 4.5 Sigma statistically based should be immediate, and prominently noted to prevent further confusion. Even Honeywell's “Vice President Six Sigma and Operations” has been mistakenly quoted on the Honeywell website using 4.5 Sigma statistically derived information to portray Honeywell's Six Sigma vision!

Honeywell should lead by example. Investors, customers, employees, and the general public expect accurate information from Honeywell. Describing a program or a goal to be “Six Sigma” or “Six Sigma Plus” when Honeywell is really using a 4.5 Sigma statistically based program, or using wording like “Incomparable” when it is not, are contrary to Honeywell's “Open and Honest” communications policy.

Action Requested: Honeywell to rename Quality Programs, Training, and all other initiatives to accurately reflect the basis of these programs. Continued use of “Six Sigma” without a statistical basis should be discontinued immediately. Information provided by Honeywell needs to accurately reflect statistical rules, and not contain misleading references and implications. Honeywell's financial group is not allowed to redefine profit and loss rules; and the Six Sigma Group's measurements are also absolute - not subjective. Six Sigma Quality is a definition (statistically based) not open for corporate modification. No asterisks, footnotes, or additional clarifications should be necessary to determine what the information being presented really means.

Shareholders are asked to vote for accurate, statistically based Six Sigma Programs. “Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” quality systems should, in fact, be Six Sigma based! 4.5 Sigma statistically based programs currently being called “Six Sigma” or “Six Sigma Plus” by Honeywell should be accurately renamed or cease immediately.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

I witnessed Dave Cote in action when he took over TRW as CEO, then quit without notice after about a year, thereby setting the company up for a take-over. A 101 year-old venerable Cleveland-based company sold down the drain. And with plenty of layoffs (Wall Street loves that). Cote is a bully who cares about one thing - money, especially his own. Be advised.

Saturday, August 19, 2006 - from Andrew A. Perlowski [aperlowski@tampabay.rr.com]:

I second Doug Jensen's comments from March 13, 2006. He and his organization did contribute, and as a 1975 Sweatt Award recepient, I do look back at some of the best times during the 70's at Honeywell. I did have a privilage to work with Doug on couple of occasions. And we did have similar interests when I was working in Honeywell Protection Services, in Irvine California.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - To the previous (Saturday June 17, 06) post:

Many of us do read this weblog on a regular basis, and know exactly what you're saying. I'm one of the (very) few disabled Honeywell employees. I've had years of Honeywell management finding one excuse after another for not complying with the co0mpany's legal obligations. And all the time I'm being told Honeywell is a caring company that cares for it's employees. The management only looks in one direction, and that's up. The people beneath them don't count, but the next step up the corporate ladder does.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Does anyone know Peter Zornio's job title? And does anyone know where he has gone?

Jim Pinto Note: He has moved to Emerson Process

Saturday, June 17, 2006

I work for Honeywell at the Stinson plant. I was very upset and hurt with Honeywell when they sold us down the river. Right now, they are doing all they can to get rid of people, offering retirement packages to people who are not old enough to retire; quite frankly, other companys don't want our age group either. We are losing medical and other benefits. They push premiums up, so if we do get a tiny raise we don't see it. In fact, we lose ground.

I was young and foolish when I came to Honeywell. I thought that this company had a heart, that they cared. That is out the door. My head is all jumbled with so much that I want to say. There are always employees who have problems, but they do their very best for for the company, and keep struggling on to do their best. Ten you've also got other people who never seem to get sick, don't miss any time, work as much overtime as possible (because that's all they care about is MONEY). But, they don't work anywhere near as hard as the others, and they are the peoplee that Honeywell seems to be the proudest of.

We are on our way out because the company wants to pay a lot less in wages and benefits, move to cheaper States, break us. The supervisors tell us lies - under orders from above I guess. Some come around and treat people like dirt. God forbid that anyone should try to make the day go better by talking at work. Some areas are so bad. They say they want to do all they can to work with you to keep things going well. Right!!! It's all about the pressure, not listening to the workers.

Give us the product. Stop tying our hands. Let us do our jobs and it will get done. Why are they making everything so complicated? And now they want the workers to log in every hour, with supervisors and engineers coming around to check on and push people even harder. Don't they understand how nerve racking that is? Of course, that would imply that they cared - my mistake.

The company is pushing the supervisors too. How are they to get to know more, when they aren't allowed to be human and good with the workers? Of course some of them were always jerks. My emotions and thoughts about everything that's going on are in an uproar. I'm hoping that honeywell will not screw us over at contract time. A lot of us have very little hope left. There are many of us who saw the writting on the wall when Allied Signal bought the company. We started hearing and seeing the same things that had gone on at Alliant Techsystems. It's moving slower, but, it's still going that way. We have already been thru it. And for me it really hurts that the company is doing it again.

I'll bet mos people don't read this; and if they do, they probably think I'm just some crackpot. I'm not. I really cared about and had faith in this company for quite a while. Now I'm tired and beat; no matter what I do, it will not be enough for this company. I'll just hang in to the end - until they kick us to the curb....

Monday, June 12, 2006 - regarding previous weblog:

Looking at this objectively, ACS/Security is an extremely competitive market that is being targeted by the Chinese, etc. To maintain competitiveness, at least parts of this posting are correct.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

David Cote has to be the worst thing for this company. Everything in ACS/Security is being out sourced to Mexico or China. When will we learn, we must support our own country? Cote is coming to Syosset New York June 16th. We all see the closing of locations all through the US, and especially New York. We would have been better off if GE took us over. This man makes millions of $$$ bonus each year, and treats all employees like %#*#.

Sunday, May 21, 2006 - response to blog (below) from a senior manager:

HPS is a widespread global group to keep consistently motivated and focused on meeting customer needs. We are making good progress. We are meeting industry and customer needs as best we can, while aligning employees.

The comment is right on one point; it was probably a mistake moving power to Houston a few years back and we lost some key talent in Phoenix. However, few customers are in Phoenix and the whole EPC industry is represented in Houston.

We continue to march down the path of balancing customer, employee and shareholder needs in that order. We turned the corner in 2003 with double digit orders growth since that point.

Friday, May 19, 2006

I have worked for Honeywell HPS for 20 years and the latest management is probably the worst I've seen. They are certainly aware that the company is in decline, but are simply 'managing the decline' with the hope of maximizing their personal bonuses. The failure of management is clearly illustrated by the decision the move of the power gen group from Phoenix to Houston. This move cause the loss of many millions of dollars, the near failure of several major projects, and the alienation of long standing customers.

Saturday, April 1, 2006

I work for Honeywell and have been very disappointed in the events since the take over by Allied Signal. In the past two years sales and profits are up, Dave Cote has received 39% and 13% pay increases. But, the pay scales for factory workers in my division have not changed in three years. Now this year a number of people have received their raise as a lump sum bounus, in other words you dont get a raise so your over time pay did not increase.

I feel the CEO of a corporation should make more then the people under them, but my cost of living has gone up as much as his. I would like to see a more even spread of the profits among the people how make all the bright ideas happen not just to the greedy people at the top.

Monday, March 13, 2006 - from Doug Jensen [jensen@real-time.org], web: http://www.real-time.org:

I was employed at Honeywell's Systems and Research Center in St. Paul from January 1972 to January 1979. I went there because it was a leader in parallel processing computer systems (primarily for the DoD and intelligence communities).

We pretty quickly transitioned to being pioneers in real-time distributed computing systems, primarily for, and funded by, DoD (key projects included HXDP and DPM). But critical technologies were transitioned into some military products (such as the Surface Ships Division's H930 combat management system) and some industrial products, particularly the TDC-2000 (and subsequently into the Westinghouse DPS. I left Honeywell for Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Science Department, and Westinghouse was one of my consulting clients). My professional career greatly benefited from my time at SRC; Honeywell benefited too and so I won a "H.W. Sweatt Award". SRC also had a world class control theory group, and perhaps some of its other groups were stellar too.

After my departure to academia, SRC was merged with the Corporate Research Center. I understand that eventually that organization was dispersed across various product organizations - I haven't kept track of that for quite a while. I speculate that the remaining control-theory people, and perhaps some people from other parts of SRC, may be still making contributions to Honeywell's products and science in general. But, what was once an internationally famous and highly innovative applied research organization seems to be long gone. I'm grateful for having had the opportunity to contribute and learn so much during its zenith - those eight years really launched the mainstream of my career in real-time distributed computing systems. I just thought some of you might want to know this tiny bit of Honeywell's past glory, since SRC never appears on this weblog and website.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

What fascination to see the different views on this weblog. Especially since I can actually see it.... It is blocked by Honeywell's "net-nanny" internally! Make no mistake, that is deliberate. We've recently been threatened (again) if we reveal any Honeywell internal information or make comments publicly. Therefore, I make none.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Honeywell in Europe are having intersting times. Having merged with Novar PLC most of Honeywell's GM's affected were eventually ousted after many poor years of performance and finally their EMEA VP last week. Lets hope they don't bring Novar back down to thier level after the fiasco with Wembly Stadium, currently losing millions. Terminal 5, Novar's jewel in the crown, should be safe for a while it is unaffected by Honeywell's HBS (UK) poor record for managing large contracts.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

I've been over 20 years at Honeywell, and have risen through the ranks over that period. Since the introduction of Bosidy and Total Quality, the company has been on a decline. Especially since the year 2000, we have been plagued with leaders and manager whose stay averaged about one year. Every one of them ultimately demonsrated that they were there only for their own self-interest - doing a lot of damage in the process. Most have since left Honeywell. This leaves an awful impression on the troops and leaves the place feeling cynical.

The most recent Gillette re-org in Aerospace is the worst. Every call I make to other divisions in the US clearly indicated that no one seems to know who is responsibile for what. Imagine what customers think! The leads to a high degree of CYA (cover your ass) atttitudes. The organization is paralyzed in the decision-making process. When this type of message is being sent from the lower ranks, site leaders ignore it as being negative. There is simply no backbone being exercised.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Honeywell acquires Tridium - Extract from M2M magazine NEWS FLASH

In one of the most significant M2M acquisitions to date, Tridium Inc., Richmond, Va., was acquired today by Honeywell Intl. Tridium, a leading application infrastructure provider, is expected to operate independently within Honeywell’s Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) business.

The move is a potentially significant one for the M2M market, with Honeywell naturally positioned to become one of the largest technology providers in machine-to-machine due to its leadership position in industrial automation and control.

Tridium is best known for its Niagara Platform, one of the top infrastructure products in M2M. The company also covers most of the rest of the machine-to-machine value chain, giving it a broader technology focus than many of its peers. The company recently launched an upgraded version of its platform named Niagara AX, with the new iteration mainly focused on enabling flexible application development. For Tridium, being part of Honeywell helps overcome some of the limitations of operating independently.

Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Tridium has 85 employees and $13.4 million in annual revenue, and the company says it has around 6,000 installations and 50,000 users.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

News is that Honeywell is in process to purchace Tridium, Inc., which makes front-end interfaces for Invensys, Johnson Controls, Carrier, McQuay and Siemens products. It will be interesting to see how this aquisition shakes up the competitors.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Yesterday's announcement:

"Honeywell has entered into an agreement to acquire the 50% interest in UOP LLC which is currently owned by Union Carbide Corp, subsidiary of Dow Chemical> This gives Honeywell full ownership of the entity."

However, I hope that Process Solutions will use more of UOP's knowhow and expertise in their business: consulting, performance improvements, etc. That's where the future business of DCS vendors lies.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

The "new" Honeywell has increased cash flow and profit by not paying it's suppliers in less than 90 days; this has worked, on paper; but we no longer have much choice of supplier; small companies can't afford to wait, the big companies are (now) adding a percentage to cover the time it takes to get paid. Already we are having to (further) cut internal costs to bolster increasing supply costs.

Saturday, July 30, 2005 - regerading the Pinto request for feedback:

I am a Honeywell employee; after receiving your email I was called to my managers office, the email had been "intercepted" and gave the impression I had been conversing with you; I received a warning for something I had not done.

Monday, July 11, 2005 - from a Honeywell employee:

I think the opening comments in your "Honeywell Culture" article say it all - "I've just completed an extensive review with the involvement of senior management." I don't think you are providing an unbiased view based on an objective, critical mindset. I suggest you seek out customers and employees for their views - you might get a better view, not from the 40th floor but from the ground floor.

To say Cote has turned Honeywell around is far from the truth. Growth continues to lag and recent acquisitions have been poorly integrated and have not yielded the results intended. Honeywell continues to languish as a stock and the Company continues its plodding "growth" (thank God for aerospace and turbo chargers!). I cannot fathom what metrics you are looking at to claim a "turnaround"!

Jim Pinto comment:

Before and after publication of my article, I sent an email to EVERY Honeywell employee on my list, asking for direct feedback. I did receive some - mostly positive. Whoever you are, YOU did NOT send me any feedback - till now.

Friday, April 29, 2005

I work for an Australian company that has been dealing with Honeywell for 20 years. Five or six years ago there was a lot of feedback that Honeywell was behind the 8 ball in the technology stakes. We decided to stick with them, partly because it was difficult to change and partly because we have always received very good service from the local organization. So we crossed our fingers and hoped that this was part of the game of leap-frog in the technology business and that Honeywell would get it together. We are very glad we did. I understand Honeywell technology to now be as good as any, possibly better. The real benefits that we have working with Honeywell are:

1. They can truly integrate everything from TDC2000 on into their current platform. That is worth big money to us in avoiding downtime and reengineerig
2. They have a full suite of applications that address all of our needs. That means less cost for us in keeping software from different vendors hung together.
3. Their people are committed. As an example we recently had a water incursion into a DCS cabinet and didn't have enough spares to get it back up and running so we were losing production. As it was Christmas break, we didn't hold much hope of a rapid recovery but they had us back up and running in a few days. We didn't need to jump up and down - they just did it. I understand a number of the people came in from leave to make that happen. They begged borrowed and stole equipment from around the world to rebuild our system.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

The one part of GE that came from Allied is the Six Sigma process. While this may have some great tools for all problem solving, it definitely appears to be more focused on manufacturing, which Process Solutions has farmed out to other OEM's. Honeywell has taken a lot of so so managers and made them Six Sigma Black Belts. Now when any new opening are available, Black Belts are supposed to have one extra credit at interview time. It would serve the corporate brass if all the so so managers got promoted.

Secondarily everyone gets trained in Six Sigma. Everyone stops contributiing to the corporation for two weeks plus the cost of the instructors, doughnuts, etc. The Green Belt projects that are done claim to save the corporation money. Just show me the cash. Most are a joke in terms of cash. Its like a balloon, squeeze one end and the other end gets bigger.

Lastly, basic economics and business says if you want to control costs, you must control overhead and head count. Corporate brass hires staff like we're at war and they're recruiting for the army. Give me the days when most everyone worked and the result of the work was an invoice for someone else's money. Internal invoices, while they make budgets stay in line, don't buy much on the open market.

Friday April 15, 2005

The NEW Honeywell Culture
Extract from JimPinto.com eNews - 15 April 2005

How has Honeywell's corporate culture fared under new CEO David Cote? Getting 114,000+ employees moving in the same direction takes time and leadership. The new management team has spent a lot of time and energy cultivating key initiatives throughout the entire company and remaining laser-focused on them.

The NEW Honeywell is now reemerging with its own special culture, a blend of the old Honeywell and Allied Signal, with a touch of GE. The original Honeywell brought an innovative, engineering culture that thrives on customer results. Allied Signal brought financial and process disciplines, plus strategic planning. The GE influence brought organizational strength and Six Sigma commitment.

JimPinto.com eNews, 15 Apr. 05: The NEW Honeywell Culture

Friday, April 1, 2005 - from a MicroSwitch/Freeport, IL. employee:

I have been a Sales/Marketing leader in Honeywell's Sensing and Control Division for nearly 15 years. Sadly I have to report yet another cull of the talent which made S&C one of the best performing Divisions inside Honeywell and the most admired by GE when they tried to buy us.

This is the third major RIF since late 2003 and is entirely down to the new guy, Ron Sansom, (ironically also a reject from GE) hired by Roger Fradin. He has not made his numbers on one single Quarter since he joined, has not even looked like acquiring any further Companies or indeed developing much needed new products/markets and is on the verge of selling the Automotive Business. Yet another nail in the Freeport coffin. What he has done is take the Business back to a 1995 structure which was split by technology and was a disaster.

It is probably too late to bring Ray Alvarez or Ron Sieck back; but what about Allan Wright? He did a great job before and could do so again. Sentenced by Gilligan and executed by Fradin they replaced him as leader in 2003 despite his success in putting Sensing and Control back onto Honeywell's agenda as a priority business, delivering over $300 million in Growth through the acquisition and integration of Invensys Sensor Systems and Sensotech and bringing excellent Customer focus to the businesses. His sin? He missed 2 quarters out of 7 during a worldwide recession. Sure, he also cut costs, removed employees (typically underperformers) and moved many jobs offshore, both engineers and factories, but there was a clear strategy and purpose to his actions.

So from being a favoured Division to being seen as a problem inside Honeywell (Cote has declared a moratorium on any further acquisitions until the Profitable-Growth problem is fixed) this business is bumbling along from one crisis to another.

Time to do the right thing, Mr. Fradin? What do others think?

Saturday, March 12, 2005

News everywhere around that Honeywell is negotiating with American Standard to buy all of the Trane operating units. Any direct feedback on this?

Thursday, March 10, 2005 - from a Honeywell and AspenTech customer:

(press release dated 10 March 2005)

Honeywell unveils comprehensive simulation solution for Processing Plants

Honeywell unveiled today their plans for the simulation portfolio : UNISIM. After they acquired HYSYS from AspenTech, it was not clear yet what their plans were with it.

Anyway, my company (a major oil company) welcomes Honeywell as a new player. AspenTech can use some competition........

Friday, December 17, 2004 - responding to the previous pro-Honeywell comments:

Many people have "bet the farm" and their jobs on Honeywell, as was indicated in this weblog. In some measure it would be a slap in the face for them for someone (in their own company, or elsewhere) to install a competitor's system. Indeed, this is the value of an installed base.

One of the current realities is that the large number of people needed to keep a Honeywell legacy system running simply will not be needed. Independent analysis of the competitive systems shows Honeywell cost, capabilities, reliability, functionality and compatibility with modern technology, applications, software and solutions to be dismally lacking. Further the relative growth rates show that customers world wide agree.

Honeywell is very clear about their commitment to supporting their old stuff; and that Process Solutions is "a keeper". Of course, what else would they say?

Friday, December 17, 2004 - from a Honeywell customer:

My reaction to the Jim Pinto eNews of 17 december, about Honeywell. Consider this as an opinion of a long-time Honeywell watcher.

My company is a Honeywell customer in EMEA, for already more than 25 years. In my company, we consider Honeywell as a very reliable supplier, unlike some of their competitors. More than 50 % of our systems corporate wide are Honeywell.

In the process business, another business watcher considers 3 suppliers as those with the longest tradition, and also the ones with the largest installed base : Honeywell, Invensys and ABB. All 3 are leveraging on their installed systems. Which is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same moment. When you have a customer with a large installed base of your systems, you are "inside", but at the same moment that customer will ask you to maintain the system as long as possible, meaning that he wants to stay as long as possible with it, before installing a new system. My company is targeting lifecyles of at least 20-30 years, with some intermediate minor upgrades.

Honeywell in particular has been very successfull in maintaining their older systems : we e.g. have Basic Controllers, connected to a hiway with TDC2000 system, installed in 1980, still running without any problems, and still with full support of Honeywell. We have been migrating Honeywell systems to TDC3000, TPS and now Experion, without any problems, and without losing previous investments. The old slogan "Evolution, not revolution", is still valid with Honeywell !

The fact that Honeywell has invested significantly in upgrade paths, and in long term support programs ; may have given the impression that they were slow in developing new systems. Which may be true for a part, but let us be pragmatic. As stated in the eNews: 70 % of sales is to the installed base; part of that is upgrades to new systems, but a large part is support, services, spare parts, applications, etc.

In our industry our first goal is to keep everything running at the lowest cost. A supplier that can guarantee a lifecycle of 20 to 30 years, without major upgrades, is what we want. Second priority for us is new functionality.

I think that at this moment Honeywell succeeds in achieving the balance between supporting their "installed base" customers and entering into new markets. Their Experion system is certainely a success now (some hiccups, but remember the launch of TDC3000 and TPS/GUS : these also worked out quite well after all. Every new product has his initial problems.)

I don't believe that Honeywell has any intention to sell Process Solutions : it is a wealthy business, internal organization is good (Jack Bolick is doing a superb job), management is stable, infrastructure is being expanded in the emerging markets, services business is expanding rapidly.

Process Solutions is a relatively stable income source for Honeywell, that can act as a buffer for other Honeywell divisions. Of course : in a diversified conglomerate as Honeywell, margins will not always be comparable : that's because of the different nature of the different businesses. Process Solutions will probably never be the top performing division in Honeywell, but at least it's stable.

Let's not continue to compare Honeywell to an Emerson and others. They have different business philosophies, different portfolio's, different customers, different corporate diversification, etc.

If Honeywell, like suggested in eNews, would go for a joint venture in China : why not ? There are many companies in different industries that have joint ventures in the Middle East and the Far East : this is normal practice. My company also has JV's over there : it adds some complexity but it also facilitates the business.

Friday, December 17, 2004 - Extract from JimPinto.com eNews:

Honeywell presented two very different outlooks at a financial analysts meeting on 6 December 2004: Turbocharging technology ($2.2B in 04, 8.5% of total) and the Process Solutions business ($1.8B in 04, 7% of total).

The Industrial Process Solutions story was disjointed and unconvincing. It was probably included in this analysts meeting as a ploy - to attract potential buyers. I'm providing this summary those who are interested in a Honeywell prognosis.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004

This is funny! After 10 years of reorganizatin of the old honeywell ACS or CBG Division, 10 years of customer confusion, and declining revenues, and the lowest employee morale in the company's history, they decided to change the name to Honeywell BS.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Now that he is over 1/2 year on the job, does anyone have views about Roger Fradin's leadership? And the Honeywell ACS strategy/future?

Thursday, August 26, 2004 - responding to the previous weblog:

I am a manager on a small division of Honeywell and feel that we can all improve on our support of and communications with our customers. There are always situations where we do not have the patience to wade through the endless webpages to identify a part number and want to speak to a person who can help us.

Can you provide the actual 800 phone number and where you got this number so that I can formward this information on to others in Honeywell in an effort to improve our communications with our customers? we strive to support our customers and I never like to hear about a negative customer experience.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

I work for an OEM and recently tried to purchase Honeywell pressure transmitters. Here is a recent conversation I had with a Honeywell 1-800 help line I got from the web:

Honeywell: (After recording telling me to purchase from the web site) Thank you for calling Honeywell, how may I help you?
Me: I'm trying to purchase a 10000 psi flange mount pressure transmitter that is...
H: What is the part number?
Me: I don't know, but it...
H: Then you want to specify a transmitter, not buy one.
Me: No, I want to purchase one, but need assistance with the part number. As I was saying, it is from the Data Instrument line and...
H: Then you need to go to the web page and get a part number.
Me: That's why I am calling, I would like assistance with building the part number so I can make my purchase. It's a 4-20mA tra..
H: Then you want to specify one.
Me: %?!##@ it, I want to buy the transmitters. I need help.
H: CLICK

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

EU court dates May 25, 27 (2004) expected on GE-Honeywell. The saga continues...

BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - General Electric and Honeywell International are expected to get hearings at a European Union court on May 25 and 27 to appeal their rejected merger, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

The Court of First Instance has proposed those dates to the parties for separate oral hearings. Each company has brought a separate appeal from the European Commission's decision in 2001 to reject their merger.

Monday, January 5, 2004 - departure of Kevin Gilligan - good or bad news?

News release: "Honeywell announced today that Roger Fradin has been named President and CEO of its $7 billion Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business. Fradin will report to Chairman and CEO Dave Cote and become an Executive Officer of the company. He succeeds Kevin Gilligan, who resigned from Honeywell to pursue leadership opportunities outside the company...."

In recent years, I heard several Honeywell people saying that Kevin Gilligan was an obstacle in getting Honeywell's business back up. The press release seems to confirm that, stating that his resignation was already prepared for some time ago. Being a loyal Honeywell customer, I hope the move is positive.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Actually I'd say Honeywell is doing pretty well. Costs are down, the focus is on satisfying customers and growing through innovation, and there seems to be a strong desire to hire more marketing people to support the techies in finding and commercializing new ideas. The stock price is recovering finally.

If we don't get bogged down in the whole "What's your China strategy?" the same way we got caught up in the "What's your Internet strategy?" debacle, Honeywell could do quite well in the economic upturn.

Thursday, October 30, 2003 - Update on Honeywell Grimes Division in Urbana, Ohio.

Two projects were leaked out (code names Rover and Eclipse) detailing the companies plans to outsource and close the fabrication facility located on Russell Street in Urbana, Ohio. Upper management has been denying the rumors for months. But now it seem the cat is out of the bag! It will be interesting to see how they reply to the leak!

Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - from a Honeywell customer:

Two weeks ago Honeywell IS announced a 2-fold reorganization, with a new name: "Process Solutions".

Services for the IS systems will come together again with IS. They tried for a couple of years, to integrate Services for IS with Services for Homes and Buildings controls. This was not very successfull. As a matter of fact, Services started to act as a separate company more and more, having their own developments, etc. We, the customers, warned Honeywell from the beginning, and - still in time - they listened.

The other part of the reorganization will be going back to the a region based structure. For a few years, the whole IS was organized in vertical markets. The idea behind is was good, but it resulted in too much fragmentation. Apparently Dave Cote is much in favour of a strong regional organization.

Both parts of the reorganization certainely will allow Honeywell to put more focus on the customer needs.

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Lay-offs & Outsourcing to affect Urbana Ohio (Grimes) - within coming weeks. Repair & Warehousing to be possibly outsourced. Grimes name rumored to be dropped.

Monday, September 29, 2003

Mandatory all-hands meeting at Honeywell Industrial Controls today. News awaited...

Monday, September 22, 2003

I noticed on Honeywell's Automation and Control website that they are posting a "Lifetime transmitter". Where did this come from? Did they actually design and build a new transmitter? Same goes for the ST2000.

Where the heck is the specs on this thing? Guage or absolute transmitter? Where is the DP version? What materials are available? For use in the bio/pharma industries? Just the kind of controls you'd want in the manufacture of ingestables!

Friday, August 08, 2003 - a knowledgeable industry analyst responds to Andrew Bond's "Industrial Automation Insider" report on Honeywell being "hot":

Andrew Bond pointed out that Honeywell's cumulative orders were announced to be over $200M in Nov 2002 and now $240M through June 2003. Extrapolating the numbers forward results in a yearly run rate of $60M.

The Honeywell clarification offered was: "The $40M and $240M referenced were for US orders only, not worldwide."

If this was a US only number, then Mr. Cote missed a great opportunity to promote the success of Experion. Assuming the Rest of World orders equal to the US number (very conservative since most suppliers acknowledge the US is the weakest market place), Mr. Cote could have quoted a much more impressive number.

Someone from Honeywell could easily clear up the question by announcing the worldwide Experion orders. They have not been shy about releasing these numbers in past press conferences and webcasts. You would think they would jump at the chance to strike fear into the heart of their competitors by announcing numbers around $0.5 bn.

Does anybody know the real story?

Thursday August 7, 2003 - Extract from Andrew Bond's "Industrial Automation Insider" (Aug. 2003):

Honeywell gets Hot

Honeywell Industry Solutions was named as one of START Magazine’s "Hottest Companies of the Year". Three months ago Frost & Sullivan named it "Industrial Controls Growth Company of the Year." In both cases it was the launch of the Experion PKS Process Knowledge System which was cited as the main reason for the award.

Automation and Control Solutions, of which Industry Solutions is a part, was one of only two Honeywell divisions to report increased revenues when the company announced its results for the second quarter in mid-July. ACS revenues were up 4% compared with the same quarter last year but margins were down from 12.5% to 9.6%. The group as a whole raised second quarter revenues by 2% to $5.7bn.

The most intriguing aspect of the announcement was the claim by CEO Dave Cote that "During the quarter in our Automation and Control Solutions business (ACS), cumulative orders climbed above $240 million for the Experion PKS process control system." Now what’s intriguing about this is we first reported Honeywell as claiming $200m worth of orders for Experion PKS back in Dec. 2002. There is widespread scepticism in the industry about last year's claimed rate of order intake.

Honeywell invited Andrew Bond to Brussels and showed a breakdown of what made up the £200m, albeit some four months after the original claim. So if Cote is now claiming $240m of orders for Experion PKS in July 2003, and $200m was previously claimed in November 2002, should we conclude that they’ve only sold $40m worth in the eight months from December to July which equates roughly to a rate of $60m worth of orders per year?

That question we put to Honeywell, and they replied: "Honeywell have received an additional US$ 40M worth of orders for ExperionPKS since Nov. 2002. Receiving orders can not be seen as a linear process because the number of orders may vary from month to month. We have now shipped 158 Experion R100 systems since the release of the system in Jan. 2003, some of which are upgrades from existing PlantScape systems to Experion PKS."

Bond suggests that what this seems to be saying is that they have only received $40m worth of orders since Nov. 2002. He then asked what others had been suggesting: that the current figures have only been achieved by slapping an Experion PKS label on anything and everything that goes out of the gate. Does the $240m include orders for PlantScape, TPS, Fail Safe Control, and Alcont since the introduction of Experion PKS or are these accounted for separately?

Honeywell's response: "PlantScape, TPS and TotalPlant Alcont orders are counted separately and are not included in these figures. This US$ 240M reflects projects based on Experion PKS, not on TPS, PlantScape, or Alcont. Therefore, it truly reflects growth and acceptance of the new platform for new business and not 'flow'business on installed systems, which is still a much larger number. It will take some time for the majority of out business to move to Experion PKS; our point here is to show that we are seeing rapid acceptance of the new platform for new projects and major expansions. Standalone, or TPS/PlantScape based FSC projects are not accounted for in this number."

The real crunch will come this November when Honeywell will volunteer what the total Experion PKS orders have been over a full 12 month cycle.

Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - from a Woodside employee:

I am a former Honeywell employee now working with an upstream oil/gas producer, which happens to be one of Honeywell's biggest customers here in Australia.

Honeywell is currently pushing a concept called PACE or MANAGEABILITY. PACE can be many things bur would in its ultimate form be a total outsource agreement for the entire controls system. I am curious as to what others, particularly Honeywell insiders, have seen of this. Is it a good idea, or a dark Honeywell plan to take over!

Friday, July 25, 2003 - from Jeffrey Brandt [jdbrandt@supernet.com] - regarding his frustration about Honeywell response, and the follow-on reaction he got to his previous weblogged comments (Tuesday, July 01, 2003):

Two distributors (not from my home area) wrote to me and offered their help. One of these two forwarded some stuff to another guy. THAT guy called me with a web-guru, and we talked for 1/2 hour about the limitations of www.honeywell.com

At the end of the day, I can say this:

• All the Honeywell people I talked to were sincere and helpful
• All the Honeywell people I talked to understood my frustration
• All the Honeywell people I talked to will 'mention it to their boss'.

Saturday, July 19, 2003 - from an industry insider:

Cote had scheduled an all employee telecast on Thursday, July 17th, which was to immediately follow Honeywell's Q2 Earnings Release to the market. Unfortunately, there was some difficulty with the up-link to the satellite and so the employee telecast was scrapped.

On Friday, July, 18th, John Bolick held an all employee meeting with Industry Solutions personnel. John was very upbeat and conveyed to us Cote's compliments over how the business had shown a 4.0% gain for the QTR and that Experion PKS orders and backlog continue to grow at "remarkable" rates.

In so many words, John Bolick had indicated that the subject of IS being rumored for sale raised it's ugly head between himself (Bolick) and Cote. The response to the employees was loosely phrased, but interpreted as meaning, "It was being considered for sale somewhat over a year ago, but that is not the case today, and rumors on the subject are senseless and counter productive."

Currently it appears that Industry Solutions is one of only a couple businesses which can own any bragging rights toward improved and increasing performance to the bottom-line.

It sounds as though Siemens is not going to be getting their hands on IS anytime soon!

Wednesday, July 16, 2003

The Honeywell (Old Measurex) QCS folks are indeed investing in sensors. It's great to see firms try to create real wealth by creating real business value. The MBAs(ex ABB CEO and ex Invensys CEO) and lawyers (See Rockwell weblog re: lawsuit also see ABB weblogs about asbestos lawsuits) don't create any real wealth, they just find legal ways to steal from others.

From what I have seen Honeywell is targeting sensors that will be of real value to the industry and if so they will create real shareholder value for Honeywell. A process control company actually planning to improve the business by improving process control. Sounds good to me.

Saturday, July 12, 2003

There has been a lot of talk and action at Honeywell lately focused on Sensors. CEO David Cote seems to be pinning a lot of his growth hopes on this sector. What are your thoughts on this?

Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - from Jeffrey D. Brandt [mailto:jdbrandt@supernet.com], who was frustrated about Honeywell's response:

You know, I've read now for some time, all these things about the Honeywell deal. Down here in the trenches, I gotta say: Why Bother? I've been trying to contact Honeywell for 1 week, to talk about some PLC stuff (they bought the old ISSC).

I've made 10 phone calls to a hand full of 800 numbers. One guy even told me that Honeywell doesn't make PLCs. They even have a phone number you can call to find out which division makes the part number you have in your hand. THAT guy also told me that my PLC part numbers were not good numbers.

Their web site does not list Distributors or Reps, but allows you to register so that in 2 business days, you'll be permitted to search their database. Well, its been a week, and I don't feel like I'll be missing anything.

The people I do talk to are universally apologetic for how disorganized everything is.... How does this outfit stay in business? And, given all this, who'd want to run this business, much less buy it?

Extract - JimPinto.com eNews - 29 May 2003:

Siemens & Honeywell - news re-surfaces

An industry guru commented:

"I can't see any way that Honeywell can fix what they have without a complete redesign. They are simply putting patches on their old designs. To really move to the new world and be competitive would take them the better part of 5 years and close to $200m (which they will not get from David Cote, their hard-nosed CEO). And even if they did get the budget, the technology will have moved ahead and what they introduce in 2007-8 will again be way behind the competitors."

"Siemens is ready for a big acquisition. The largest industrial automation needs a presence in process controls, and the only two possibilities are Foxboro (from Invensys) and Honeywell IS."

Wednesday, April 9, 2003

All Honeywell stock owners should read the NY Times article, "Again, Money Follows the Pinstripes" (click below) before voting their proxies for the upcoming Annual Meeting on April 28th. There are several Shareowner Proposals that deserve support, particularly Item 8 - Resolution on Pay Disparity. Unsuprisingly, the Honeywell board of directors has recommended a vote against this and all other Shareowner proposals.

NY Times: Again, Money follows the pinstripes:

Wednesday, March 5, 2003

What has anyone heard about Honeywell selling BASF fibers and Honeywell fibers before they have even signed the papers for the BASF fibers for Honeywell plastics swap?

Friday, January 17, 2003 - Joe Ginger [jeginger@mwci.net] wrote:

It is interesting that apparently NAFTA was created by lawyers that are now profiting by suing American companies to enforce unfair business advantages given to foreign companies.

More job loses are being scheduled for the Illinois operations. See the attached news-story (extract only here):

Friday, January 10, 2003
From the Ashville Citizen Times
Mars Hill plant to lay off 180

MARS HILL - The Honeywell plant in Mars Hill will lay off 180 employees - more than two-thirds of its work force - over the next 12 to 15 months as it relocates switch assembly operations to Mexico.

Honeywell officials told workers about the plan Wednesday, explaining that the work will be moved to company facilities in Juarez in order to reduce manufacturing costs. Between 60 and 75 members of the plastic molding department and support staff will remain at the Mars Hill plant. News of the cutback at Madison County's largest manufacturer reverberated throughout the community.

Honeywell has been a mainstay of Madison County's economy since it opened in 1973. The plant makes electro-mechanical switches used in everything from golf carts to trolling motors, from lawnmowers to airplanes. The Mars Hill plant employed more than 500 people in the 1990s, but has gradually phased back to its current level of 255 employees.

Thursday, January 9, 2003

With the potential now that Rockwell may be taken over by Eaton, Honeywell now may acquire the automation division from Eaton in the future. There were rumours that the Honeywell/Rockwell OEM relationship had terminated - this is not true. The relationship could not be stronger. Honeywell may take the chance in buying Rockwell Automation if the Eaton Merger takes place.