Sunday, March 14, 2010

Let's see, a salary of over $13 million for a man who only knows 3 words: "Offshore", "India", and "China." He's still overpaid.

Friday, March 12, 2010

I wonder when they decided to drop their bonus? If they decided late in the year then that would explain why they never publicised it.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Apparently Dave Cote did the right thing last year, as mind-boggling as that is. I can't understand why they wouldn't have publicized this more.

"Honeywell International Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Cote’s 2009 compensation fell 57 percent as an incentive plan was suspended and bonuses for top executives were canceled amid the economic slowdown. Cote, 57, had total compensation of $13.2 million last year compared with $30.8 million in 2008, according to a proxy filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission."

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

When Diamond Dave Cote goes to India he receives the red carpet treatment. Literally. He and his limosine entourage get a traffic-stopping police escort from the airport through town, just like a visiting head-of-state. Once they reach the "campus" he is greeted by specially installed red carpet. India figures nothing they do will be too excessive for DD. And why not? Over the years he has stubbornly held to his belief that India (or China) will be The Solution that will make him a genuine Honeywell Hero, despite mountains of evidence that indicate otherwise. So despite lackluster mediocre performance, he continues to reward India by handing over thousands of US jobs.

Face it, in his version of Honeywell the only job that matters is his, and he has surrounded himself with sycophants who refuse to tell him otherwise.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - A new UOP poster here.

While in the process of shipping as many engineering positions as possible from Illinois to New Delhi, we were given an unexpected accounting reprieve from the outsourcing executioner. At the start of 2009, the internal cost of a Delhi engineer was changed from a ridiculous 30$/hour in 2008 to a more realistic 70$/hour for 2009. The folks here were very optimistic that we could compete at this "price", since we were only about 40$ more an hour. This says a lot about the efficiency of our well trained (millions of dollars spent) eastern counterparts. If it would have stayed that way, we could have shut them down.

When the final accounting was done for 2009, it seems the current cost structure didn't exactly make the New Delhi office seem like such a good idea. Diamond Dave said it was a good idea, so it has to be, right? God forbid someone grow a pair and tell him otherwise. So the internal cost of the Delhi engineers, who for the most part can't tell their backside orifice from a spiral wound gasket, has been cut in half for 2010. And the poor schmuck that priced them at their real cost for 2009 is probably unemployed right now.

You want to know what the sad part is? At over 100$ an hour internally billed, we could still compete with these guys priced at 35$ an hour. We really can. But we will not be allowed to in the interest of DD mandated globalization - we will be redcued in number until we are ineffective as a whole. Our efficiency has increased dramatically because of reduced headcount with the same or more work to be done. We stupidly sacrifice to get it done because that is the way UOP taught us to work. It is part of our culture that Diamond Dave seems hell bent on destroying.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I am a smart, driven, unique, and useful software engineer
and they are lucky to have me!
I am a smart, driven, unique, and useful software engineer,
and they are lucky to have me!

"You are a number, just an EID. You are expendable. You are a resource, a headcount, a live body. You can be swapped out or replaced or outsourced with any plug-and-play body anywhere in the world. You have no say in what you do or how you do it, and you should not complain because you are lucky to be employed."

Monday, March 8, 2010

Sad but true. In my position, I attend/participate in a quite a number of Aero leadership meetings. I've heard it over and over... we must do what we can to move the jobs overseas - that is the first desirable option. But then the next topic is usually around "we have a lot of thin spots in our skill sets. How can we recover these people?"

Without strong ethical leadership at the top, this rudderless ship is doomed to circle the toilet bowl...

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Source: Seth Godin's Blog:

Carnegie apparently said, "Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors......Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory."

Sunday, March 7, 2010

I am sure that someone in Honyewell senior management (or one of their minions) reads this blog and probably thinks it is simply some kind of peanut gallery throwing garbage at our illustrious, award-winning leader. In my opinion, some of the most articulate and HONEST people around are contributing and I say: "thank you".

Folks, Mr. Cote is the anti-Midas. As far as we're concerned at UOP, he has taken a nearly 100 year old company, installed his apparatus and pretty much turned it into an ATM machine, which is rapidly running out. This is just a continuation of what has been happening under Allied Signal since the 1980's but now the machine is starting to be unreliable and it's time to get out the blowtorch.

I have never seen such a "political entrepeneur" in action before, it is truly a sight to behold. I have met the kinds of investment "analysts" who run around attending roundtables, roadshows, conference calls and the rest of the crap that Wall Street likes to parrot back to investors in Morningstar, Forbes and so forth. Forbes used to be a somewhat believable magazine but is pretty much a tool for the "we love us" crowd. They must be either stupid or short sellers. Whoever runs any company in such an unethical way has no business advising the President of the US. That being said, the president himself likely is doing this for show anyway. I hope Mr. Cote enjoys a good discussion with his other advisory board member, Andy Stern (Service Employees International Union President) Mr. Stern can work out a deal to get those American scientists and engineers good janitorial jobs.

Friday, March 5, 2010

It's not just Aerospace, either. Every aspect of Honeywell that Diamond Dave touches has been turned to crap, although he is revered in India and China. Guessing that love affair will end as soon as they begin to realize how merciless he is.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

I always think that Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is the worst, and Aerospace is always 90% better than us. Makes me feel a little bit better now, because I got laid off last year.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Like many others on this blog, I too just recently left Honeywell Aerospace for other opportunities. In the last all-hands meeting from the President of Aerospace, Tim said that upper leadership will not be taking bonuses this year. Why do I get the feeling that upper management's ideas of no-bonus will not match the no-bonuses at lower levels? Time will tell and soon.

Last year the rank and file took a 10% pay cut for half the year, and when they gave that back, they furlowed the entire Aerospace company for the first full week of 2010. Cuts at Corporate, nope! The primary goal is to offshore as much as possible at all costs.

The idea that Dave Cote would be on any advisory board for the US Government is very SCARY, unless he is going to offshore the Senate and Congress? It would be a good idea for someone to question the number of jobs he has created in the US in the last 5 years, verses the number that he has sent to other countries. After that question is answered honestly, the entire truth would be on the table. Of course at that level of management and politics, the truth is different than the working class version of truth.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

I don't do a lot of blogging, but reading through this collection of comments, this may be the most negative employee forum that exists on the Internet. The thing is, I think almost everything I have read is true and I agree 100%. I left Honeywell last year and actually began working somewhere that I could contribute and have a career (with things like pay raises and promotions, which by the way are still regarded as important employee incentives at good companies). I think everyone should get out there and look. The good employees don't have to put up with the kind of garbage doled out in Aerospace and served up as leadership and strategy.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

I think that it is totally fair that we are able to slam Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano on this website. These guys have had a negative impact on tens of thousands of people (including families). In the pre-Internet days, these guys would operate in secrecy and no one would really know what went on. Today and here, their actions and behaviors can be evaluated and judged by all. It's a 360° review that we were forced to do at the site level, but were directed not to evaluate senior leadership. Funny how rules are only for certain people!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - To the post complaining on Mar. 1 about Aero HR:

It's not HR. They are simply doing what they are told. HR doesn't dictate policy. I wouldn't blame the Aero HR VP, but the Aero SBG President. I'm so glad I am out of a place where employees are considered the biggest liability that must be disposed of at all costs! The rest of you should leave the first chance you get. It will be the best move of your life.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - To the Tuesday, March 2, 2010 posting on Unions:

I agree with you in that Unions are a force that HR really listens to. I can tell you that the unofficial policy at our site is not to do anything to upset the Union. Give them everything they want. The problem is that Honeywell, at the executive level (Phoenix Aerospace), has a serious anti-union stance and is not willing to work with them or any other organized group. Because I am Management, I have seen Aerospace Corporate powerpoint presentations that sites having unions are to be "contained" or "eliminated". I can probably give you the server where to find this presentation. Eliminated means "transitioned" or closed. Aerospace has seen some of this activity through Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano (the real CHAMPION of Site Closures).

I've been on a number of Collective Agreements. Let me tell you that the number and depth of derogatory comments that I heard at the Corporate level at midnight to 3:00 AM negotiations from "intelligent" people would make your ears curl. I have never heard such derogatory language from "intellegent" people. So I came to th econclusion that you don't have to be "intelligent" to be Honeywell Leadership. All you have to be is a bully - with an education less that high school. All you have to do is threaten everyone on a daily basis with their jobs - and you will be successful. Cote's bible! Or, is it Honeywell's culture?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cote is doing to Honeywell what he did to TRW and they were glad to see him go away. He was on that 10% reduction with them and almost crippled several internal departments with the reduction demanded each year. God help us if Obama picks him for a political appointment.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I totally agree with the comment below on unions coming in. I have been to training classes that are supposed to help me identify union activity. I am supposed to tell why unions are not wanted. You know what? I am to a point where I would encourage people to get a union. HR doesn't want one so they can keep screwing us with no pushback. Evil will triumph when good men do nothing. I don't see another alternative to pushing back on HR, unless we have the numbers of a union. If we push back by ourselves, we are labeled as troublemakers.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - "Stealing from the employees."

That is the clearest and most concise description of today's Honeywell that I've seen. Thank you. And just when you think you've seen it all, when you think they've taken all there is, they find something else to pilfer. Again, and again, and again.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I really can't understand the Phoenix area Aero HR policies. For HR being sooo afraid to have unions come in, they seem to be doing everything in their power to encourage one to come in.

As a manager, I would expect HR to give me the tools I need to manage my group. Instead, HR says 10% of my group are poor performers that I must begin documenting in order to begin the termination process (yes, we have forced distributions that HR wont admit to). This year, Steve Kelley HR VP says 5 of the 9 blocks in the 9 block are "outer L" and they must be put on a PIP (personal improvement plan). The PIP states you must improve or be terminated. So even if its your first year in the outer L, you are now on a PIP. You get a PIP 2 years in a row, and you are gone.

I really believe HR is tasked with reducing headcount without having an official layoff. No one could be so insane as to come up with these ridiculous policies unless they were intent on reducing headcount. And giving generous raises to the non-U.S. sites this year, while we get nothing is the ultimate insult. We are training those people.

The sad thing is, I enjoy my job and the people I work with. I respect the Engineering management. HR is just ruining this company and making me look elsewhere. What value does HR add to the products we sell? NOTHING!

Monday, March 1, 2010 - To add to the comments:

I've since left Honeywell after a very long career there. As a consequence, I knew no other life. Life was very good prior to about 2001, but then it really went down the tubes very fast - but I didn't know it. When I was going home it was like replaying a nightmare.

I only realized later what Diamond Dave, Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano did to the organization - for their own self benefit. Where I am now, there is no crap. Yes, there are issues as in any organization; but this place loves my contribution. At Honeywell, I was not loved - even at the senior level. Most of the problems came from the really tight centralized and autocratic control exzerted by Phoenix. There is even a case where a hamburger flipper became a Director. Can't say more - but the "hamburger flipper" words were by the fellows own admission on a multisite telecom.

Honeywell WAS a good placeto work at - until Diaond Dave arrived at the scene. We know, that as a Republician, Diamond Dave really does not like the the heath benefits paid. So you have seen an annual paring back.

Monday, March 1, 2010

As a manager at Honeywell, I can tell you the layoffs have multiple effects:

• The refusal to allow us to replace poor performers mean these guys are kept on the payroll and the good employees do their work for free anyway, simply because if we manage them out of the system we get no replacement. Replacements are only at headquarters level, not at the plants.
• The lack of pay raises and the continual "you are lucky to even be here" attitude driven down towards our top performers (who contribute most of the results) means many of them have left, and the ones who have not are looking to leave.
• Nobody is safe unless they work at Aerospace HQ, where failure in prior leadership roles is a guarantee that your job will be safe.

I am not based in Phoenix, so as far as management goes at Honeywell I am a nobody and my opinion is not important, but outside the castle walls things sure look different. What are you guys doing out there?

Sunday, February 28, 2010

After seeing how Honeywell treats its employees, I feel an obligation to advise graduates and anyone else looking for work to skip Honeywell and look for a place where employees are valued and careers are possible. Honeywell has become a stagnant cesspool of despair where noxious gasses bubble to the surface in the form of periodic new directives from Diamond Dave or one of his lemmings. Some of us are stuck here, but we at least can do others a favor and help them avoid getting trapped in the slime.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Word on the street has it that the major airplane manufaturers no longer wish to have Honeyell on their platforms. What does that say for the future of the Honeywell Aerospace division? One by one our customers are leaving.

If corporate relies on mergers and acquisitions for growth, they will surely fail. If any of these new aquisitions have Boeing or Airbus as a customer then they (Boeing/Airbus) will undoubtably leave.

Diamond Dave's strategy is not only affecting employees, but customers as well. With an unmotivated workforce and a less than satisfied and dwindling customer base, it's no wonder that the stock is not performing to its potential. Has Wall Street caught on to Honeywell's propaganda machine? We can only hope so.

Only Dave Cote's exit will give Honeywell any chance of turning things around for employees, customers and eventually the shareholders. After all, without a dedicated, highly motivated workforce and a satisfied and stable customer base, why would anyone want to invest in Honeywell?

Sunday, February 28, 2010

I heard that Honeywell Aerospace will be doing lay-offs soon, combined with more furloughs. I am thinking the lay-offs will affect individuals who have 6 or greater on their performance. Any truth?

Saturday, February 27, 2010

No raises this year! 25% MIP payout! I think everyone should be updating their resume and looking unless they want to continue to make involuntary contributions to the Dave Cote foundation and the Aero HQ Phoenix jobs bank for washed up managers. Though I guess the continued on the job training on power point BS and conference call buzzword bingo may count as "vocational training for the learning impaired". Maybe a tax deduction for that?

Outside of ideological extremists or the US Government (who are both looking more and more alike these days, by the way), I cannot think of any causes less worthy to send money that I rightfully earned.

I know life is not fair and to accept this, but I cannot believe that Honeywell leadership is not even interested in the APPEARANCE of fair treatment to the employees who worked so hard to keep our company profitable, wait are we still making a profit. Oh yes, I forgot, we are making BILLIONS of dollars and nobody gets a raise but senior executives.

Friday, February 26, 2010

According to Bloomberg News, in 2008, the second-largest contributor to PAC's and political candidates was Honeywell International Inc. Honeywell gave $3.1 million for 2008, up from $1.6 million for 2006.

Or this, from The China Post - Honeywell International Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Cote, whose corporate political action committee gave US$3.1 million to federal candidates and parties for 2008 campaigns, was invited to meet with President Barack Obama about proposals for an US$816 billion stimulus package.

The whole purpose of CEOs and the corporate PACs making donations is to get on that guest list for whoever is running government. The whole purpose is to befriend whoever in the end is going to win so they can have access.

It goes beyond this. If you check the federal candidates for office who received contributions from Honeywell, you'll find many of them from districts and states where Honeywell layoffs have hit the hardest. You can't even complain to your congressman or senator with any hope of consideration because they're already in Honeywell's pocket.

Getting on this commission is no coincidence. It's about payback. It's about power. We've already seen how Diamond Dave manipulated the company for the benefit of upper management and to the detriment of the US workforce. What's next?

Thursday, February 25, 2010 - On the topic of Cote on the deficit commission.

Cote is the only Republician in this group. Remember that Republicians lost the ellection! They are in the DOG HOUSE. Congress is so divided that this Cote panel will have no teeth. So I would not worry that Cote will actually make a policy impact.

But what I am concerned about that Cote will use this potential appointment to raise his personal profile with the wimpy Honeywell Board of Directors - a form of nepotism to enhance his personal benefit. What I would closely watch are the political contributions that are made subsequent to Cote's tenure. Pay more attention, not to what Cote contributes, but what his VPs and Directors are told to contribute.

In the past I Googled on what Speranzo and Vidano contributed - among others. They were amanzingly similar and followed the pack. These are of public record. I'm wondering if there was any collusion or unspoken dirrective?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Cote for the new federal deficit commission? First thing he'll do is offshore all the little people's jobs, then give all the upper managers a bonus. Then he'll give Honeywell a bunch of no-bid contracts, (of course he'll still have shares in the company). So much for "Change we can believe in".

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Well, Well! No raise, and I hope that Diamond Cote has large pockets to cart our money away. $ billion dollar company, and we cannot have a 1% raise. What’s up with that...? How can one Aero space site be completely controlled by the personnel in the H.R group (one individual). Doesn’t Cote know that, if it weren’t for the little people, his pockets would not be running over? Why doesn’t Cote invest his bonus money into his employees (the little people)?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dave Cote will suggest that we outsource the entire Federal Government to China and Mexico.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Good! Maybe if Cote goes after our top heavy government, he'll learn a thing or two.......and leave us alone for awhile.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

According to Business Week: U.S. President Barack Obama is considering Honeywell International Inc. chief executive officer David Cote for the new federal deficit commission. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-22/obama-said-to-be-considering-honeywell-chief-for-deficit-panel.html

Why would Cote be considered on the list? We need to stop this from happening.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Call it the GE/Allied Signal culture, but the personification of that culture is Cote and the board. It is them upon whom the responsibility for the demise of legacy Honeywell rests. When the day comes (and it will) that talent and abilities become the differentiators between successful companies and those who merely wish they were, Honeywell will finally realize that they squandered the most important resource they ever had -- their employees. At that time one can only hope that there will be an accounting, and that these fools will be forced to leave after receiving the full measure of scorn they so richly deserve.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

What built the legacy (red) Honeywell, and what has been destroyed by the Allied Signal/GE culture, is not a specific person or policy, but something simpler, and much deeper. It is the fact that management across the business no longer realizes that character is more important than personality, that education isn't the same thing as wisdom, and that business ambition that is untempered by common sense and experience is dangerous and unsustainable.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Yes I also wondered how Vidano and Speranzo in Aerospace Aftermarket lived with themselves, carrying out Cote and Gillette's orders to hurt other people and do the wrong things for a company that was so many thousands of peoples' livelihood. It makes you wonder why people compromise and do what they do for money, and where their souls are. But then, Honeywell never paid me the kinds of bucks those guys earn, so I guess I will never know. Insignificant people like me actually have to look people in the eye when I tell them something and stand behind it with my actions. That used to be called leadership, before Honeywell became what it is today.

I wonder if they live in such self deceit that they actually have no regrets. "Just business", they probably tell themselves. They will all be judged, and their arrogance or connections or money wont do anything to save them. I hope they find their way, even if it means finding a new beginning outside of Honeywell, before it is too late for them.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

This is so typical of the new Honeywell culture. Sleep with a potential customer, kiss his @$$ and promise him the moon. Then deliver an inferior product and lie, lie, lie to cover things up. The amount being spent to fix problems that were caused by either a bad design or something that we knew we couldn't deliver, staggers me. But like the best of politicians, management puts a great spin on things and makes it sound like we had to do it for the good of the company. Meanwhile profit margins go down and our formerly "top" customers say, "I've had enough" and give good money to our competition. But as long as Diamond Dave gets the thumbs up from the shareholders, then all must be good at the OK Corral.

Monday, February 15, 2010

I have worked for Honeywell/AlliedSignal for 24 years. I have been in the manufacturing business for 33 years. Never, never have I been so demoralized as I am today. Our leadership (Dave Cote, et al) are traitors to the people that made this a premier company, and to the Unites States of America. My only prayer is that I can hold on long enough to make it to retirement in 2 years! I used to think this was a GREAT company - but no more! The middle level leadership is unable to speak the truth for fear of being terminated (many good leaders have already left) The only thing that matters is Cote and his bonus. God have mercy on his soul!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Here is what there are going to say at the investor conference...

"The economy has been bad during the past year, and we have seen that reflected in our sales figures. However, we have done better during this recession than we did during the last one, so the company is in good hands. We see very little growth for the first half of this year, but it will pick up in the second half of the year. To show you what a good and solid company this is, you will see that our free cash flow is still high. We have positioned ourselves solidly in the (insert buzzword here) market..."

They will talk about high free cash flow and being poised for the future. They will not give anything definite and will dangle the carrot of growth at least 2 quarters out from where we are currently. They will talk in nebulous terms about investment and potential growth without giving any real numbers. They cannot give real numbers because the numbers show that investment in R&D has plummeted and their skilled workforce are leaving in droves.

It is just going to be a whitewash of unverifiable statements such as "we are invested in our future" and some numbers obtained by some questionable accounting, or by giving incomplete information about how the numbers were obtained.

Investors will go away feeling happy; Dave Cote will have pulled the wool over their eyes once again and the stock will stay about where it is now. However, as the recovery starts to pick up the pace and Honeywells numbers do not show as much growth as the rest of the economy, the investors are going to start asking questions. At that point, Dave Cote will say that he has navigated the company through hard times and that he is going to retire and spend more time with his family. The resultant bust that Honeywell goes through due to Dave's complete mismanagement of the whole deal, will be blamed on the new CEO.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

I have been with Honeywell quite some time, and am sad to see what has been taking place recently.

It is OK for a company to care about profit; that is why they exist. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. I have been reading these blogs with some interest for the past year or two, and am amazed at how negative everything is. There is ample opportunity at Honeywell that is not realized without taking it from the working people, especially while increasing rewards to the senior leadership team. We furlough only to ramp up to the next week. We cut pay on lower level people and leave the executives alone. We do not buy new equipment and instead enter into expensive operating leases or "maintenance agreements" that cost the company 3 times as much. We have hiring freezes but email after email comes out of Phoenix HQ announcing reorganizations, new directors, new VP's, new program managers. What's the difference after all, when they are the same people milking the system year after year?

There are some good points about working at Honeywell, though I have yet to find anything good about the type of leadership that comes from our Phoenix HQ. There is a complete lack of diversity there, since they spend their whole lives out there in the desert and have no perspective on what happens outside of Phoenix, which now is most of the work in Aerospace. The plants in Phoenix are not leaders in efficiency, HSE, cost, quality, human relations, or delivery. It is a shame that this happens right under our so called leaders' noses. Anyone that remembers engines knows what I mean. Do as I say, not as I do in my own house.

This type of hypocracy must end. Are we here to turn a profit or not? If so, empower the people closest to the action to make decisions like hiring, firing, captial spend, etc. and hold them accountable. Funny how that actually works at other companies. If you want mindless lackeys running the plants in the field, pay them all $40,000 and keep on with your spreadsheets, conference calls, and micromanagement, because the managers that are WORTH more than that have had it and are all probably out looking.

I say - start with the bloated Phoenix gravy train and start setting a higher standard for the rest of us. The jobs bank out there has to come to an end, and the tenured managers/directors/ OE specialists/HOS specialists/ etc.. out there doing nothing but making slides and hosting conference-calls need to be held accountable or eliminated. Have you ever heard of a VP cutting his staff to set an example? Or is that just what is expected of a plant manager or program manager? This has to come to a stop sooner or later. I hope you guys wake up out there...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Check out this little jewel of information -
Energy-savings project leaves Army in the cold:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/30/nation/na-energy-fraud30

Saturday, February 13, 2010

All of these sound bits accurately reflect the angst and demoralized state of the most valuable part of Honeywell - its employees, AKA intellectual capital. Honeywell only cares about profit, which is clearly evidenced by the amount of time devoted to monitoring and managing its finances. There are no real long term business plans for growth and IR&D. Instead it’s the same old thing day after day of what’s our revenue and gross margin numbers and what are you doing about increasing it? And my favorite management attempt at motivation…. “Well if you don’t fix it we’ll find someone who will, and you're out!”

Friday, February 12, 2010

So, Honeywell is having its Annual Investor Conference on Monday, February 22. It's the dog-and-pony show, where major investors are lubricated not to sell their shares. But going into this meeting, Honeywell shares have declined significanly and can't seem to sustain an upward trend. Normally you would fire the CEO for this performance. Focus of the meeting are presentions for China & India. If you look at the metrics of growth for these areas versus North America, North America has actually out performed since 1975. This ia also the concensus by economists.

The expectation is that they will out perform in the coming years. But if the US comsumer is not buying, these economies won't go anywhere.

Friday, February 12, 2010

You can't go wrong with Trane. When I have to get service because of down-time on my chillers, I am able to call the technician directly on his cell phone - even on long weekends. No hastles. As you can guess, long weekends is when the equipment usually has issues. Go figure.

When I call Honeywell for a tech, I always got an answering service or they bogged me down with quotations and purchase order requests. How do you get that administrative support on a long weekend? What I missed telling you is that I am a Honeywell employee - on the same dammed team! You wouldn't know it, though. The experience is like dealing long-distance with China.

Johnson Controls is even superior to Honeywell when it comes to customer service. Johnson Controls also has direct access to techs when there are issues. The paperwork is always taken care of later and it is always fair. When you call them, they have a live person on the phone who really knows her stuff.

The issue here is company orientation. Others, with their structure, are truly oriented to the customer. Honeywell is oriented to the Accountant first, and maybe the customer later - if he pays a premium and if they have time. Note that Speranzo (a hot topic in previous blogs below) forced all of us to switch all of out services to Honeywell - a method of forcing internal Honeywell sales inspite of quality of service. We knew that Honeywell would only turn around and re-source the contract to Trane and Johnson Controls after taking a healthy profit.

So this is the problem with Honeywell. With all the high level rhetoric, the place has lost contact with the people on the floor that know best. ALL decision are centralized in Morristown or Phoenix

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I came across an article today concerning Honeywell http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x210267296/Marshfield-energy-audit-under-way-after-officials-decide-against-hiring-Honeywell. Does anyone know about the "shoddy workmanship and overcharging" mentioned in the article?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I think we have far too many directors and VP's and people who say they are managing the business in Phoenix and not enough people servicing customers or doing the work. Aerospace is so top heavy it is ready to collapse. How many people do we need doing "operations excellence" or telling everyone "we are just resources, you own these processes and the progress"? These people are part of a bloated cost structure that makes Diamond Dave think the answer is laying people off. Aero headquarters is a jobs bank for mediocre managers, the only thing you need to be eligible for the welfare program is an Arizona zip code.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Diamond Dave couldn't do "Undercover CEO" because he is so stuck on himself that there are pictures and video of him everywhere. I would know that weasel if he showed up one day for me to train. I might have to even give him a forearm shiver or two as well. He wouldn't want to be exposed for being such a scumbag. Hopefully that show will help these CEO's realize that the people you treat so bad are the ones keeping you in your position.

Monday, February 8, 2010

After working 29 years at Honeywell I have nothing but regrets. I sometimes feel ill just thinking about coming to work... so much stress. The employees are treated less than human. I treat my dog better. I pray everyday that they shut down this plant and outsource everything. I tried to take the RIF but was not lucky enough to get it. I would just quit even knowing that there are no jobs out there if I could only get unemployment until I can find another job. Getting a job here was the worst mistake I ever made and I would not advise anyone to work for Honeywell... ALL I want is out and a way to support my family... will keep praying for another layoff. So many people I work with feel the same way. Pray with me.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I bet Diamond Dave Cote would never have the ball to do CBS' "Undercover Boss".

Sunday, February 7, 2010 - To the poster of Feb. 3:

Consider that what has happened to you since UOP was bought by Honeywell is a microcosm of what has been happening to the rest of us since old Honeywell was acquired by Allied Signal (and other companies that have been purchased since then.)

We feel your pain, because we've been experiencing the same thing, only longer. To Diamond Dave, employees aren't resources; they are a drain on the company's profitability. Something to be screwed, used, and abused to benefit stockholders, until they are eventually disposed of with the trash.

As painful as it is, you guys would be well advised to forget any and everything you may have felt about company loyalty, and depart asap. It will only continue to get worse, with the attendant negative affect on attitudes and mental health.

Diamond Dave wouldn't have gotten the message even if you stood up and left the room en masse.

Here's how Wikipedia defines 'psychopath': "A personality disorder whose hallmark is a lack of empathy. Researcher Robert Hare, whose Hare Psychopathy Checklist is widely used, describes psychopaths as "intraspecies predators who use charisma, manipulation, intimidation, ..... to control others and to satisfy their own needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse. What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being to live in social harmony."

Psychopaths are glib and superficially charming, and many psychopaths are excellent mimics of normal human emotion; some psychopaths can blend in, undetected, in a variety of surroundings, including corporate environments." Sound like anybody we know?

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I just found this blog this morning and find it quite interesting. Most things are pretty accurate. Gillette ruled by fear and now he's gone, but don't think that environment is gone because it didn't start at his level and Cote is still here. For those of you much earlier in the blog who say "Honeywell" messed things up when they took over, you are sorely mistaken. Even though the press called it a merger, make no mistake Allied Signal "bought" Honeywell. They only kept the Honeywell name because it had better brand recognition. As a 25+ year heritage Honeywell employee, I can guarantee you the management style that took over in 1999 was nothing like heritage Honeywell, so please don't try to say this company represents what Honeywell was all about. John C. Honeywell has been rolling in his grave ever since that dreadful day. Also keep in mind there are no heritage Honeywell people in exec. management - they were all driven out by Allied Signal and GE - the clones.

With that said, I agree that morale is at an all time low - and we've had rough patches before, but nothing like this. I try to keep a positive attitude thinking the worst is over, and every day I go to work I am unpleasantly surprised that it isn't. Our product quality continues to fall beause of standardization and the fear factor discussed elsewhere in this blog (everyone in middle management being afraid to say no - that won't work in our business). I'm sorry but I will say it - one size DOES NOT fit all (and that's why my management keeps me away from exec mgmt because they know I won't keep my mouth shut).

Building things for Space, Missiles and Munitions is a far cry different than building things for commercial or even military aircraft (much less Home and Building controls). The government should be really worried. Especially about outsourcing. I get involved quite frequently in "what-ifs" and am appalled and amazed at the things our exec management even wants us to consider, especially in the business unit I work in. If Honeywell executives had their way, the entire company, except the executives in Phoenix and Morristown, would be outsourced. The government needs to realize that Honeywell is no longer a company who really cares all that much about the Defense and Space business. They don't care about your requirements or your needs. They'll take your money, but other than that they don't care, make no mistakes. And the ones that take all the punishment for late deliveries, overruns, failures, etc. are the dedicated workers, who are told by upper managment to "fix it" but aren't provided the tools or the envirnoment to do so. Even though there are still a lot of empoyees left who care about doing a good job, the stress level is driving a lot of good ones away, because they can't compromise their personal values to satisfy management goals. Even though the economy is bad and it's not a good time to change jobs (something HI mgmt definitely takes advantage of), even though it will have negative effects on retirement, I can tell you I am out looking. And yes, I have already commented on the White House contact-us website.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

I will say it again. We all se what is going on with Honeywell and all the major corporations in America. Amreica is being sold out by them. If Obama is focusing on jobs now. He has to hear us. Go to www.whitehouse.gov and email the President with a link to this weblog. There is strength in numbers. We, the people, ARE America! And we have a president and Congress and Senate that works for us. Make some noise, people.

Friday, February 5,

I agree with the comments on Aero leadership. They just keep recycling the same people in Phoenix, we will never go anywhere. Rob Gillette got what he deserved and the First Solar board is now asking themselves why they spent so much money on a guy who is such a dud. Maybe he got over there and figured out it was more difficult than shutting down factories and moving them to China and Mexico.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Diamond Dave was on a little press and politics junket to Des Plaines on 2/2. Touting the new "Honeywell" biodiesel that UOP developed, he had some allegedly non-corrupt US House Rep take a spin in a big Chevy truck powered by the stuff. While The Man himself was here and wasn’t too busy overtly pressuring senior management to join the HIPAC (Honeywell International Political Action Committee), he took an hour out of his time to have a little talk with about 400 UOP employees. I say 400 because the “conversation” was limited to one live room with a limit of 300 and two satellite rooms in Des Plaines that had limited capacity as well. It was not broadcast or available via telecon anywhere else.

The meeting started with the usual stuff that I gather is common from The Man. He talked about the stock, the dividend, and the Wall Street analysts that he would love to be able to coerce by any means into driving the stock price higher. Then he talked about how important the stock was. Then he talked about the importance of the stock some more. He did also mention that he also has to consider customers and employees at some point, but I believe that was because his handlers told him to do so in that little ear bud we could not see. Surprisingly, I can’t say it was boring. It was more shocking than anything that he was facing a room full of people and couldn’t even pretend that we mattered. I guess he may be sociopath enough to tell the truth as he sees it and think everyone else feels the same way. He also talked a lot about “bad companies” versus “bad times” and attempted to convince us that this was all due to bad times. Seriously, why waste a crisis?

Most of the rest of his delightful time with us was devoted to Q&A, which started off slow. Who wants to complain to glittery Diamond Dave Cote when he’s standing right in front of you and has the power to make you a distant memory before you even leave the room? But the questions eventually heated up. I didn’t take notes and do not have a great memory for the spoken word, so I’ll summarize his answers to the top few questions as best I can recall:

• What did Honeywell do with the savings from cutting our salaries, either by furlough or reduced hours? His answer was pretty smart on the surface. He compared our salary in 2009 as a percent of sales (which tanked 15% in 2009) to that of 2008 as a percent of sales and showed us that we actually made more money as a percent of sales, even though we made 11% less due to his furlough actions. What he didn’t say is that the shareholders got an even bigger slice of the pie at our expense because their real earnings didn’t go down at all. He held the dividend because he had to or risk his own income being cut. So shareholders, rejoice. You hold shares in a company run by a CEO that is literally robbing its employees to pay you the same dividend you got in 2008 even though we are in the worst recession in 80 years. And he does it for his own gain.
• What percentage of the increases in healthcare costs are being passed on to employees? Again, I have to wonder about his state of mind. He told us we are now paying a full third of our health care costs. And He himself did it on purpose to “get our attention” about how much we are costing him. His passion for this subject is well rehearsed, and could have happily eaten up our time together and more, but he didn’t let that happen. He basically told us that it was our fault and our responsibility that we are paying so much out of pocket. What he didn’t say is that this cost savings to Honeywell allowed him to pass a large chunk of money on to the shareholders in the form of a dividend that wasn’t reduced even in the face of the worst recession in 80 years. Again, shareholders rejoice!!!
• You talked a lot about being able to tell the difference between a “bad company” and “bad times.” What about good times? When times get better, what can we look forward to from Honeywell? (Please note that the room erupted in applause at this question because even in our record year, Honeywell was very stingy with the rewards. Dave was not pleased.) Diamond Dave completely blew this. He should have said “We have your back” even if he was lying. Instead he gave us more weasel words, basically cementing our feeling that he does not care about the Des Plaines employees or the culture that produced an almost century old World Class Company.
• When will Honeywell reinstate our matching on the 401K, which has been cut by 50%? This answer was much less impressive. He weaseled and waffled and said he couldn’t give a time. Understandable, right? Who can predict the “when” of when things will get better?

• What conditions in the company (cash flow, stock price, etc) have to exist before the 401K matching is reinstated? This he should have been prepared for, but he wasn’t. He’s the guy that makes the decisions for everyone, but he is not aware of the metric that will allow us to receive the previously agreed to match on our retirement savings? If he is not aware of it, then how is he going to know when to reinstate it? My gut tells me the short answer is that his intention is to never reinstate it, but he will hold it in his back pocket as a carrot to throw when he takes something else away.

I guess it boils down to a basic philosophy difference: real customers and real employees versus faceless shareholders represented by analysts that have no moral position in what transpires between the employees and customers. UOP culture focuses on the customers first, then the employees, and the shareholders have historically benefitted from the success of the former pair. Honeywell culture focuses on the shareholder with no consideration for the customer beyond what money they have and zero consideration for the employee.

I fear greatly for UOP, its customers, its employees, and their families. Diamond Dave does not.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The damage that Gillette, Speranzo (VP Integrated Supply Chain) and Vidano (VP Aftermarket Service)have caused, is trancending. The damaging trio! Gillette went to First Solar. Look at the stock FLSR. It's in the dumpster as when Gillette abandoned Honeywell for First Solar. Speranzo wanted Gilletts's job, but didn't get it - so he went in limbo looking for a new career. Tim M. had no place fo Neal. Vidano also abdoated to Defense & Space - with the depature of Gillette. I wonder if he will live up to the title of Champion of Out-Sourcing in Defence and Space - with th egouverment looking iover his back? It's amazing how damaging, fickle and irresponsible these executies are. While they were in place, they reigned through fear! This is their legacy.

Monday, February 1, 2010

It's amazing what a place like Honeywell can do to you. Last Christmas I was doing a bit of Christmas shopping, like many people around. Normally I go about my bsiness, spread a bit of holiday cheer and even hold doors open for people.

But, in this one case, I saw a lady that purchased a Honeywell humidifier. And for some reason, the characteristic red and white box markings just set me off - an event that has never happened before. Instead of just passing by and rushing to my next destination, I stopped, took the lady aside and explained to her why she should NOT buy a Honeywell product - like the humidifier.

Clearly the origins of this spontaneous eratic behavior were in the antics that Aerospace execs would play - who are all gone from Aerospace today - Gilette, Speranzo and Vidano. The latter of these came to be known as the Site Closure Champion. Word always went out prior to his visite for everyone to be on their best behavior - because his reputation preceeded him. Great environment! <> The point is that every persons job outsourced you have one less salesperson for Honeywell product. You will tell 2 people the good news, but tell 10 people the bad news.

Monday, February 1, 2010

The funny thing about the Secretary of Treasury visiting here was - right behind him, literally, there were 3 Honeywell employees from Mexico videotaping a line they are sending South of the border.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

I just emailed the President and copied the address of this blog with a plea for help. Again, go to www.whitehouse.gov and go to the "contact us" web-page. If enough of us do this, he will at least hear us.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Working as a CSR in S&C, it is very difficult at times to hear so many customers express frustration as to the inability to supply products on-time and on a consistent basis. Once a week it is expressed that the brand of Honeywell will never be purchased again because of the high prices and inability to produce the parts in a timely manner. Jobs that are scheduled to take 4 weeks often take 6-8 to complete, and customers refuse to accept the time that engineer's may take to do their part before production gets the job on the floor. We've seen orders be in the engineer/design phase for 30-45+ days and then have the 4-10 week lead time on top of that. Try explaining that to the engineer at a major university or NASA, Parker Hannifan, Baxter, etc., etc. every day. At times all you can do is tell the csutomer they have every right to be upset and hope they don't yell at you too much before hanging up on you.

Honeywell seemed like a mess when I started, and, after reading this blog, I see the the inadequacies are all over the company and not just limited to my location. Now with rumors of more lay-offs and furloughs hovering over the whole company, what I thought would be a great career move by joining Hoenwyell turns out to be more of a dead end with no future. After seeing people with 10, 15, 20 or more years be let go, there is no reason to think my job is safe.

Friday, January 29, 2010

I see that EMAI held their kickoff meeting in Monte Carlo this week. This makes the effort of enforcing the furlough total BS.

Friday, January 29, 2010

I think someone should contact Michael Moore and have him do a documentary on how Aerospace is shipping high tech (or at least as high tech as you can go when a company won't by new equipment and wants to use duck tape and coathangers for maintenance) manufacturing jobs to Asia, which will lead to the Chinese developing an aerospace industry that will one day allow their Air Force to challenge ours. Well, at least we will have highly paid people at AERO HQ in Phoenix who can make power-point slides to describe their progress to the general public. Good thing we are expanding the number of people in our company who work THERE.

What business does Dave Cote have at the white house, begging for money, when he does not even try to pretend that he cares about new hires, expansion, or capital purchases in the US?

Friday, January 29, 2010

The president claimed to keep jobs from being outsourced in most of his election speeches, but yet we are still hearing about more positions disappearing. Employees are being forced to travel to Mexico and train individuals to take more American jobs and nothing is being done about it. Sometimes I wonder if we should be afraid more of Bin Laden, or Dave Cote and his actions. I also wonder if the president even cares. All of them since H.W. Bush haven't done anything about NAFTA and the destruction of what made our country great: Manufacturing.

Friday, January 29, 2010 - Comments to "whitehouse.gov":

Got it. Done. Who's next? What next?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

If you really want the government to know what is happening at Honeywell e-mail the president on www.whitehouse.gov. Tell the president about outsourcing at Honeywell. If enough employees do this maybe someone will listen. Today one of the presidents advisors is at the Golden Valley plant in MN.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

One can only hope that when it finally comes to the government's attention what Cote and the board have done to their US employees that there will be sufficient punishment involved to make it hurt...and hurt bad. Traitors.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Officially / Unofficially. The new policy is there are no progressions(being promoted in your current job). Of course they do not have the guts to tell all the worker bees. The only way you can get a promotion is to apply for a higher level job. And, of course, there are not many new job posting. In all the surveys, the US employees say there is no career growth opportunities. This new policy sure helps. NOT. Plus, no merit increases this year too. It just keeps getting better. Honeywell Management figures that in the US it is hard to get another job. "You are lucky you got a job and you should leave if you do not like it". Honeywell's new mantra.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

At 9:29 PM Jan 27, 2010, Obama said in his live speech that it is time to slash the tax incentives for those companies that ship jobs to China. This applies big time to Honeywell in a big way! Honeywell is one of the largest exporters of jobs overseas - they do it very secretively.

It's time to hang Cote ("Et tu, Brute") & his Board of Directors and piers and their outsourcing policies. We need to recognize that these people are evil and do not have the interests of the USA employee at heart.

USA is becoming second place to Germany and France - who are seriously re-investing in their economies. Just listen to the convesation about replacing the US dollar with the Euro as a currency standard. It may be crazy to think this would happen, but with the increasing US debt and 10+% unemployment, a lot of countries are really nervous about holding US dollars.

Cote is so passé - so 20th century, so OLD - like the dinosaure of GE Capital of Jack Welch age. We know today, after the GE crisis, that Jack used GE Capital to mask (cook the books) many of GE's problems. No one talks about Jack anymore. Neutron Jack has been neutronized!

It's 9:55 PM. I don't see Cote rubbing sholders with Obama as he did when Obama started his term. Has there been afalling out? See this evidence in previous blogs on this website.

So that was the State of the Union address. People are out of work in America! How long will you stand for it? Why does Cote use Americans to work against Americans? Cote uses American Transition Teams to ship your jobs to China. I had spoken to one transition team member. He had told me that he was on 26 transitions teams. That means product move was being planned at 23 sites. Perhaps you are one of them?

Monday, January 25, 2010 - HOS- Honeywell overseas:

Good luck USA.! Dave Cote and most of his "crew" will be long gone before we see the full impact of the hemorrhaging of jobs. They are heroes to the stockholders today but will be seen as the sleazebags they really are in the future. I hope they can be happy in some of those third world countries that will own our jobs. I guess with Dave's bonuses he could always buy his own county. It seems like a very long time since I worked for a company that I could be proud of.

Retired Manager
Olathe, Kansas

Monday, January 25, 2010

Is there a nation wide freeze on raises? Or is it just the Olathe, Kansas location? Most of the employees at that site have long since stopped believing anything the managers say. (Oh and don't forget to do your yearly code-of-conduct training.)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

I currently work for Honeywell in New York. Honeywell acquired the Pittway Corporation (Ademco) back in 1999 and I have slowly watched the jobs move to Mexico and China. Instead of leading the market with new products we now follow. I have seen many competitors’ products being analyzed so we can design an equivalent product. The smart ones in my department left a few years ago. Engineering is slowly being moved (hardware/software/QA) to China and India. I have heard our raises this year will be 2% but they will not be given in April (April fool’s day!!), they will be pushed back a few months. Furloughs may also take place after the first quarter. I also heard the building will be empty in about 1.5 years when the lease is up. Morale is low but most of us really don't care anymore. If you work hard or do the minimum you are treated the same. Sit back, do the minimum and job search. I will not help transfer my job out of the country.

Sincerely,
Over worked and under paid in NY.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

VOTE! VOTE Your conscience - VOTE for your brothers and sisters around the world! VOTE!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

This isn't directed so much at Dave Cote, as it is towards the Board of Directors.

I work in one of your facilities. I have worked there for a long time and I plan on trying to do many more years until I retire. I have pretty much given the best years of my life to this company. I have given up time with family on holidays so I could cover for a guy who just happened to have the opportunity to spend Christmas with his. I have been with guys who trudge through the muck of a creek at 1:00 AM on a very very cold night out of concern for their neighbors and their health and security during an environmental excursion. I have seen guys come to the aid of a fallen coworker and go above and beyond in their efforts to revive that friend and coworker. I have lived and bled with the guys for a long time. Ok? See where I coming from with this?

So let's cut to the chase. You have taken away my retiree insurance plan. You have taken away half of the 401 matching percentage you contibute. For those lucky enough to even be able to participate, that is. Some poor bastards don't even get that. You have, after have giving us 2% raises last year and week long furloughs, announced that this years raises are going to be reassessed at the end of the 2nd quarter as to whether the company can aford it or not. And, all the while sending out SM updates about the millions and millions of dollars to be made over the next 3 to 5 years. All this as the economy crumbled and the cost of living shot up through the roof.

Now don't get me wrong, I really thought the million dollar aid package and the humanitarin flights to Haiti was I a very kind response to peoples suffering. You should be applayded for the effort. So with that said, let me conclude with a question...... Shouldn't one of you guys at the top really let Dave Cote and your other cohorts know that there has been a building collapsing for a few years now, and it is landing on me and my family. Both, my family at home and my family at work. How about a little charity around here?

Friday, January 22, 2010 - To the individual who asked about the 2009 Honeywell Proxy statement:

No, the board's comp package is on page 15, they took a little over $2MM together, around $250K each. Not bad for attending 5-6 meetings per year.

Page 25 outlines the merit increases in base pay our officers qualified for and received, a year when no hourly or mid level managers were eligible.

Page 28-29 outline the ridiculous bonuses officers, including Cote and Gilette, received.

Page 36 outlines the nearly $80,000,000 in salary, stock, and bonus our CEO and four other top Honeywell officers combined earned in 2008.

Page 51 shows their golden parachutes, or how many millions they would get by getting "dismissed without cause" or for other reasons, like a buyout. I guess that is what a RIF is called when you are a big-time executive. The employees I laid off last year got squat.

I am not saying all executives do not earn their pay, not at all. I am sure many of them worked very hard to achieve their goals and try their best. But in a year when my family's already meager income was reduced 10% and we had to put groceries on our credit card, the fact that these guys not just took home millions, but accepted RAISES for hitting cost targets that were partially possible because of wage cuts simply disgusts me.

The fact that they are all hell bent on moving our manufacturing base to China to continue meeting these targets (vs. improving what we have here in the US and EMEA) infuriates me.

Leaders should share sacrafice and lead by example. Or at least be smart enough to pretend that they do when so many people are watching. To hell with them all.

Friday, January 22, 2010

You bet! I'm glad the blogger noticed, I did the calc. and total of senior management compensation plus board of directors (each is paid about 2X the average US board salary) comes to roughly $75 million if I throw in some of the perks, etc. If you divide that number by the 2008 income from operations, I come up with about 2.5 percent. If a mutual fund charged this kind of management fee, I think it would be very questionable. This is beyond belief

Thursday, January 21, 2010

I'm not a financial wiz, but after looking at last year's proxy statement, did the board of directors rape the company for over 70 mil?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Customers screaming for their parts. But some customers like United Technologies and Pratt & Whitney have cauht on long ago with their policy to get off of Honeywell programs and parts. Their attitude is: "Anybody but Honeywell". And they have just cause.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

After this week through overtime, mostly everybody on the shop floor will have managed to make back any lost wages due to the furlough. And at time-and-a-half we only have to work just over 26.5 hours. Not a bad deal! Sure, our on time delivery is down to 50% and our profit margin is non existent. But our middle management is the best in the business at cooking the books and making excuses. Customers screaming for their parts. Who cares. It's not like they can go to Walmart for a part. They are getting screwed and there is not much that they can do about it. You've got a sweet deal Dave Cote! As for us, we're just lucky to be working under you.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I recently had to do an RPS (Rapid Problem Solving) - over-used & huge waste of time. It was about why deliveries were being missed for a certain part number. What it came down to (already known) was that a cell was hogging the test equipment, basically 24/7, and we had no time allocated to it. But during the proposed fix I was told to not mention this. I was "advised" to instead propose that we dedicate more techs to testing these parts. No one ever questions how we could test these parts if we still didn't have access to the test equipment. So, your bonuses are safe. No need to purchase more test equipment. The problem has been swept under the rug! P.S.Military programs should be very worried.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Interesting, reading all these posts. As an ex-Honeywell employee I can only say I'm glad I left this dysfunctional outfit. Believe me there is life after Honeywell. No more corporate ra-ra-ra and all these BS Townhall meetings. I will never work for a publicly-traded company again. The guys on top of the ladder get the big Bonuses, the guys at the bottom the shaft. Look no further than Wallstreet. These "Spindoctors" walked away with Millions in compensation. Good luck to all of you. Finding another Job is hard work, but if you really want a change you have to be determined and believe in yourself. There are better companys out there; just don't give up.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Yes. At my site it got to a point that we could not even buy a 2"x4" piece of lumber without being on COD. Reason was that Honeywell (Phoenix) actually exceeded the 90-day pay period. So the supliers clamped down one after the other to COD. It would have been easier to get petty cash and go get it yourself - but even petty cash was eliminated.

Your only option was to pay for it out of your own pocket and really risk it not being paid on a expense report. No one had enough faith in Honeywell to assume that this expense report would be paid.

I'd rather buy a 2x4 and wack the Aerospace Leadership in the head - really disconnected from the needs of the floor and day to day needs that they themselves requested.

It must make a business leader look stupid to report on a leadership or sales call that he can't ship product because shipping lumber is not available for the shipping crates. But, no leader will be caught dead reporting this on a telecom. So, we end up taking expensive labor ripping apart wasted crates and rebuilding new ones - a process that costs a lot more than having the right materials in the first place.

Way to go, Aerospace Leadership! Aerospace Leadership needs to start supporting the floor - not in conflict with the floor.

Monday, January 18, 2010

When and where? And what do we do when we get there?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Yes, we can do this and join as a 401k employee share band. Lets get together at the Annual Shareholders Meeting and ask tough questions! Done?

Monday, January 18, 2010 - Regarding the 75 or 90 day terms:

This is Honeywell’s way of maximizing profit by, essentially, getting a short term loan from their suppliers. Remember from Economics 101 Time Value of Money? In essence Honeywell needs to maximize profit from finance gimmicks not sales of quality products that are profitably priced in an open market. Pity the small Mom and Pop companies that can’t tell Honeywell to “go pound sand”. This strategy is a slow death to them while turning down Honeywell’s orders is a fast death.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Has any employee thought about leveraging the votes associated with our collective 401k shares to make our voices heard to the board of directors, specifically on executive pay? Coming off our furlough, seems like the time for this is about right.

I think we could have all exercised our right to have a say at the shareholder's meeting or get something on the ballot that would at least force the company officers to share in any type of pay cut or furlough they pushed down to lower level employees. Or better yet, show them what a wage cut feels like by forcing the board of directors to allow shareholders to vote on this.

Go to the company website, investor relations section and view the 2009 Honeywell proxy statement. This is a public document and is official communication from Honeywell to the investing public.

Pages 20-53 of this document outline our CEO's and his cronies disgusting pay package. Pages 20-30 outline how Dave and his boys NEED a competitive pay package related to business results, not like we do, we are just lucky to have a job, right? It even mentions the same Honeywell behaviors that we supposedly all work to, but it manages to justify raises for the guys at the top and NOTHING for the people whose backs they stand on. Funny how they tell us these lies and then steal our merit raises and base salary and then cash their options in the next day. Grotesque that our board permits it.

Page 37 of the 2009 proxy statement outlines the "perks" that the company pays for. Over $900,000 for things like the use of the company jet and company bought life insurance and Dave Cote's home alarm system. How many engineers took a 10% pay cut in 2009 to pay for this?

Page 51 shows Diamond Dave's $14.85 million golden parachute, which he would receive if he was ever terminated by the board for any reason. How many weeks of severance did we give the machinists, CSR's, and forklift drivers affected by the last RIF? Not even close to this.... What about the over 50's that were forced to retire because Honeywell did not want to help them with medical insurance they promised them years before?

This information is public and on our website. We should print and post it in breakrooms all across the company. It is grotesque that our leaders in Phoenix and Morristown can be so arrogant, greedy, and selfish while honest people suffer.

Somebody needs to do something. These guys are stealing not just from us, but from America. And its all right here under our noses, down to the last cent.

Can we band together as shareholders and use our 401K shares to push the board to vote on reducing executive perks and compensation? Anyone know if we can do this?

Sunday, January 17, 2010

The net-90 terms is going to kill us. There are suppliers who are now holding us hostage if we do not pay in 30. Their terms are "want your parts pay me in 30 or else". The supply base is onto our game. Most of the Honeywell companies were small to begin with and use suppliers local to their area who had the expertise to make the product required.

We recently had to attend a webinar that all new orders had to be net 75 and if not took PHX approval. DO these guys have nothing to do down there??? I am all for doing what is necessary for the company but we are now negotiating from the end of a gun on all of our contracts.

I equate PHX with the wizard of OZ. They are running a company based upon theories that are not practical in day-to-day business. When you expose them they run for cover. I have exposed a few and they know I document VERY WELL so they leave me alone most of the time. Out here in the real world (away from PHX) we get the job done.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Ditto the earlier comments about permanent commitment being around CAPITAL and NEW HIRES. I cannot even get a plumber or a welder to come out to our site because of our payment terms. It is pitiful that a major corporation has been reduced to gimmicks like "paying net 90" to make cash flow look good.

How about making a quality product by people who are treated well? That may lead to cash flow from our customers? Withholding cash flow from small US-owned businesses will do the trick for only so long. It is a disgrace.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Apparently Servicon employees at Honeywell were notified today that they need not report to work the week after Easter. Happy Furlough!

Friday, January 15, 2010 - Re: Jan. 11 Here in Toronto...

I got laid off in Vancouver recently and totally agreed with you on the low morale, HOS/VSMs/metrics hiding inefficiencies. It makes me feel better that most of us can see the company is going down fast with all the “yes” management from top to bottom.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Red Headed stepchild? Everyone is a stepchild next to the phoenix golden boys. I work in Aerospace Aftermarket and I can't understand why our leaders come from Phoenix engines, a complex that was evidently so well managed that it is shutting down and moving to Mexico. And it was not even a union plant, not that you would have guessed it was union free by visiting. Yet everyone outside of Phoenix is always judged by higher standards.

What a great training academy for manufacturing managers who feel more comfortable with acronyms and power points than making their employer a profit! Now they are all directors and VP's, leading Aerospace into the twenty first century.

Do as we say in Phoenix, not as we do in Phoenix... Put THAT in a spreadsheet matrix!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

When the earthquake hit China, Dave Cote was quick to encourage employees to give to recovery and aid efforts. Of course it was was to show good faith to his growing interest (of siphoning America to the Chinese). Now that Haiti is in trouble, do you think he'll do the same? I would actually be surprised to see an all-employee email asking for Haiti relief.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

In the Town Hall meeting, Cote said the company's actions are actually benefitting America. Yea, just like in the 30's when they said cigarette smoking benefitted your health by encouraging deep breathing exercises.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Here at Honeywell Aerospace, Tucson, we have always been considred a "red headed step child" to Phoenix. We have no resources or people left here. We are less then half the employees we had 15 years go. Most of the Engineering work is "overseeing" engineers overseas who are doing the work we use to do. Hardware, software, Test Equipment- everything.Manufacturing moves something to Mexico or overseas each month.

There is no morale. Tucson has ben told by Aerospace VP's, "You're lucky you still have a job. And if you do not like it - then leave." A wonderful place to work! I do not see Honeywell getting any better. I have been at Honeywell 20+ years. Time to leave.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I think the only way to draw attention to this is to find some organization (not affiliated with a labor union) that communicates with Congress to promote investment in America's manufacturing infrastructure and seeks to stop this type of activity.

Honeywell should be LEADING something like this, and with the amount of Government contracts and business we have, we are eating at the trough of military sales and service, and selling out our employees that work on the commercial side where we can to move skill sets and capabilities out of our country, perhaps forever.

Someone needs to mobilize an effort beyond the plight of just one factory because a pattern that spans multiple congressional districts has been emerging for several years now and we cannot make it stop by talking to Phoenix or Morristown or complaining on this blog..

Any ideas?

Monday, January 11, 2010

It's interesting to hear the same stories from our cousins down south. Here in Toronto the morale couldn't be lower. One minute we are told to use airlines to travel and help our own business, and the next minute we are given a 1 week furlough. Sorry Dave. I can't travel if I lose 10% of my wages. But then again, you don't really care, do you?

So our plant isn't the only one that needs new equipment or repairs. You can only lean out a process so far with antiquated technology. But it's amazing how the middle managers can hide the inadequacies under the carpet to make any HOS driven changes look good. The sad truth is that efficiencies aren't going up, but the VSM's will do anything to fudge the metrics. But then again Dave, you don't really care, do you?

I thought we were the only ones complaining about the management Gods of Phoenix, but after reviewing the previous blogs I guess it's true. We are all fed (mis)directions by the same blind, dumb, tentacled octopus that is the Aerospace leadership. How they know our needs from thousands of miles away I'll never know. Oh but they must be smart with all their MBA's. Surely Diamond Dave would never leave a division is such incompetent hands. But then again Dave, you don't really care, do you?

I'm sure that this coming year you will get your well deserved bonus, more stock options and a standing ovation from the stockholders.

I almost forgot...I'm sure that many families in China and India will also thank you. Ain't capitalism great!

BTW. I'll make sure to post some MIS on our bulletin boards up here in the great white north.

Remember. There is strength in numbers. Wall Street...are you listening?

Monday, January 11, 2010

One of the other issues is even if you find someone with the power to make change happen in Honeywell they are paralyzed with fear because they know that if they make a mistake (or it looks like they made a mistake even if it was not their fault) then they will be fired. They don't even have to make a mistake, they just have to do something that upsets someone higher up.

Monday, January 11, 2010 -Re: Jan 11 "management make changes":

That's great in concept, but in Honeywell centralized management system, I don't know who these people "with power to make changes" are. They certainly aren't in the HPS level, or even ACS. Do you really think Fradin can make any changes? He can't spend a penny beyond AOP. Only Cote has that Authority.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Simply don't understand why managment, and those with power to make changes, can not see what is happening before their eyes? HPS is losing business and clients rapidly due to competition providing better service and more relevant technology. Yet we are told our systems and technology is world leading - but someone's forgot to tell our customers who simply don't believe it. Please Please Please take some action.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

There obviously are some very intelligent and experienced bloggers on here. What can we do other than "bail"? This obviously is not the climate to be hunting for a new job. Nor does that address the real concern of allowing these guys to sellout our country. What constructively can we do?

Friday, January 8, 2010

Diamond Dave, his parasites, *and* the dim-bulb political enablers who either are on the take, or else too obtuse to grasp the rape that Dave and other CEO's are perpetrating right under the pol's noses.

Capitalism is a great concept right up until it's exploited and abused. No one ever imagined that the Internet and global communication would make this level of corruption possible.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Smaller companies are where the growth will be, both in AMERICAN jobs and in returning to the local economy. I worked for Honeywell until 2009 and went to work for a medium sized company and am amazed at the no BS approach to results and the sense of commitment to employees and being a permanent fixture in our community (hiring, training, capital investment, vendor relations, etc...)

When I worked at Honeywell, I felt micromanaged from all levels, could not understand the ridiculous focus on census and internal metrics (vs. profitability and customer metrics), and felt that management was letting the walls and foundation of not just our plant but our company's manufacturing infrastructure, rot and crumble. We were all tenants in a public housing project waiting for eviction and told how lucky we were just to have a roof. I did not appreciate that.

I strongly feel like the smaller, more nimble companies are going to eat Honeywell's lunch, because a company that treats people like disposable short-term assets (with things like pay cuts, furloughs, no pay differentiation based on performance) will not do well anywhere. It is a shame that Honeywell is fixated only on the number of Americans working at its plants (and hell bent on driving that number to zero). But I think they will find that Indians and Chinese who are treated like crap dont appreciate it either and will walk as well when they see an opening.

The only sad thing is that these bright people will take Honeywell processes and technology to other companies overseas who will then use it to put even more pressure on American manufacturing by eroding whatever advantages we do have. It is happening already in China and India by Honeywell's own admission.

All of Honeywell's and especially Aerospace's leadership should be ashamed for their arrogance and and blindness and what they are doing to our country. Honeywell could be a leader in investment in training and technology and in building back up the US manufacturing base, instead, they choose to lie to innocent people about the future and sell them out.

Anyone can say they are investing in our future here, but if you want proof, don't listen to the talk coming from Phoenix and Morristown; look for the capital expenditures and new hiring. Been a long time since most Honeywell employees have seen activity in either of those areas.

Good luck to all you guys still on the ship. Just make sure you jump before it sinks and sucks you down into unemployment.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Elmer Ambrose Sperry (400 patents), Henry Ford (over 160 patents), Steve Wozniak (Apple IIE Patent). I’m sure it’s safe to assume that neither one these people ever said they wanted to be businessmen when they grew up. They had talent knowledge and great ideas that eventually contributed to the economy and the quality of life for millions. These people became wealthy CEOs, but they earned it. Conversely, the only thing Diamond Dave ever invented was a new way to screw people who actually work for a living. Dave and the twenty Business majors underneath him are locusts-parasites that seek shelter in large well-established tech organizations that other people built where they can set up shop and begin the slow drain.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

I agree. This is happening in large corporations like Honeywell, nationwide. Our country is being raped and pillaged by these greedy CEOs. Make that be our one bonding cry. "BUY AMERICAN!" and support your country, your family, your neighbors, your friends. ENOUGH! We have power in numbers.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

I second that on BUYING American, and I have been trying as much as possible. You can find American made jeans, shoes etc. if you search the web.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

We NEED to buy ONLY American across the board.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Just to add to the person who wrote they were handing in their notice first day back in January. Well done! I too left over a year ago and have looked back with no regrets as my life has changed dramatically for the good. I guess this is a message to all the put down, bullied and undervalued employees, that there is life outside this badly-run company. Instead of writing how pissed off you all are, take some action, put yourself out there and move out. The only way of bringing the CEO and the over-paid management to their knees is to ship out and leave them to drown in the shit pool they have created. Maybe there is a form of justice after all. To quote another infamous kill-or-be-killed company, 'Don't think, just do it'

Read this article - tell us how many signs relate to Honeywell:

15 Signs Your Workplace is Dysfunctional

Saturday, January 2, 2010 Re: "Aren't some of these CEO's guilty of treason or at the very least a treasonous act?":

It certainly seems that way. I would love it if just once someone would bring charges against one of these traitors so the damage they've done to the country where they claim "citizenship" would get some publicity. At minimum it might put in place some standards of conduct and shove a wrench into this "anything-goes" behavior that's deemed permissible under the banner of globalization.

If India or China are good enough places to send US jobs, then they should also be good enough places for Cote to go live.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

I am getting out of Honeywell :-) I am going to be handing in my notice the first day back after the new year. My new job pays more and has much better working conditions. <> A message to the people still left at Honeywell...

Even though the job market is bad it is worthwhile to keep looking. Honeywell pays very poorly when compared to other places and the depression you are feeling right now goes away with a new job.

I am going to take my engineering talents to another company, somewhere that does not see me as a liability whose costs are to be minimized. It's a pity because I leave behind several processes of which I am the only person qualified to do them. Oh well, that's Honeywells problem not mine.

On a related note, I will be taking my retirement out as a lump sum, I do not trust Dave Cote and his "pals" enough to let it sit at their mercy until I retire.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Is there a way to forward this blog to Dave Cote's email at Honeywell?

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

According to Wikipedia:

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation.

Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.

Outside legal spheres, the word "traitor" may also be used to describe a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, team, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong.

Aren't some of these CEO's guilty of treason or at the very least a treasonous act? They are not only selling their employees out, but they are selling out their very nation.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

MIS cries by disgruntled employees, pathetic management and a company that has not brought any differentiated products to market for over a decade now = a further slippery slide for HWL. The rise and fall of HWL automation will be studied in the MBA classrooms next decade as a lesson on how bringing great products to market and then simply milking the installed base with no repsect for the customer or adding value to their businesses is no way to run a business long term. Your competition, mainly the "blue guys" in Austin AKA Emerson Process management, will claim more market share when the financial crisis abates.

HWL employees - you need to MAS (make a switch) and not simply cry MIS.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

I have been reading this blog with interest over the past months and I cannot help but wonder if you have it all wrong. I see Cote and all of the other like minded CEO's as corporate terrorists. They are doing more damage to this great country than was ever done from 9-11 right up to present day. All 9-11 did was stir us and the Brits into invading Iraq and Afghanistan. I grant you that these two actions did the weapons industry good because we managed to clear out all of the old stock and get in some new stuff, but we have not solved any thing by invading those two countries, and as soon as we leave both governments will be over thrown and radicals will rule the entire region.

Cote on the other hand has been effectively maneuvering a lot of the development and production out of the U.S.A into India and China, although this has not reflected badly on the company at this moment in time it will be interesting to see what happens to Honeywell when the growth stops, Cote squirms his way out and the company implodes. It would not surprise me to see China step in and buy the remnants thus acquiring all of the technical data they need to take another step up the technology ladder.

I also read in a previous blog that Honeywell source code, generated in India is turning up in other companies software. It seems to me that Honeywell has lost internal control of the operations within these regions (Globalization will do that for you).

With what China spent on the last Olympics they could buy a company like Honeywell out of chump change, especially when the share price falls through the floor, but all the general public can see is someone (Cote) living the American dream (some dream).

Friday, December 25, 2009

Honeywell has what it calls it's 12 Honeywell behaviors which in theroy sounds good and should encourage moral & ethical behavior. But for some reason most if not all of Honeywell's managment team from the top down to the site level seem to believe that it is a tool which allows them to lie, cheat, and steal about their employees to other employees to get what they want i.e. more money in their pockets and or their own job security.

The Human Resource segment at Honeywell is what you could call a joke, if not just plain old B.S.! There is nothing Human about it and they really do not provide any resource to Honeywell's employees but rather provide and feed a hostile work enviorment which at times drives employees to lose it emtionally and physically! One could make a case that Honeywell is the new age MAFIA corporate style!

Friday, December 25, 2009

I'm soon to be an ex-Honeywell employee from the UK, thank God. Over here we were strongly encouraged to take up on Furlough and I do mean strongly encouraged. To be honest, me and my partner who also works at Honeywell. signed up for this; it cost us around £2000 but it was worth it - well that's what I thought anyway. Unfortunately, the site leader was and is still, corrupt to the level that the only word I can use to describe his is gluttony. For example, using a pool car at weekends to save his fuel costs, pocketing the money from scrap metals and packaging wastes, using company expenses system to pay for nights out by getting his managers to use their Amex cards, getting contractors to pay for servicing of his car and nights out, and the list goes on and on. Whils most of us have had to suffer the financial pain of supporting Honeywell in the endeavor to support other sectors of our organisation who are struggling. From an individual point of view, how fair is this?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I have hated labor unions all my life, though I have worked with good people who were union employees and respect their beliefs. One thing I see across Aerospace now, is that ISC management policies and attitudes like the ones we have, are a driving force for people to unionize and give organizers the credibility to bring their campaigns into our plants. By this I mean :

• Aerospace leadership never visiting sites. Never talking to employees, never following up on anything that is said or done or brought up to them. Cost control is not an excuse to hide from the working people in your comfortable offices in Phoenix while we work nights, weekends, holidays, and day in and day out to make your salaries and perks possible. Show the working people this respect and come face them, they want to do well for you all and believe in you.
• Employee relations surveys directed only at the local level, and when plant managers or line leaders get trashed as a result of Aero level policies, AERO leadership blaming them.
• Why do managers not have any type of survey around morale? Are you interested in what you will find or are we just going to pretend there are no issues? Leading by example is still a good approach.
• Complete lack of two way communication between the all knowing Phoenix leadership team and the field leaders, who by the way, managed the people and the resources that serve our customers. Two way means not just issuing directives or policy memos but dialogue, talking, and listening.
• HR leaders not being straight or consistent with company policy or policy communication. just tell us the truth.
• Outsourcing to the third world as quickly as possible, even in the face of being urged to pursue HOS. Dishonest communication around this as well.
• Pay cuts directed at employees in the field but not being applied to higher level managers.

Unions are not the answer. But if anyone in the Phoenix leadership circle reads this, reach out to the people in the field, the managers, the CSR's, and the engineers and let's work together to put Honeywell back on track. It is not easy, but lets take some first steps. We work in a culture where we know we can be terminated if we say ANYTHING that goes against what the Phoenix team decides or says in public, but that is not how progress is made, it is how insecure or scared leaders lead.

Lets make it right and try to communicate in 2010 so we can gain back the ground we are losing, each and every day, with our employees and our customers.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The idea of waging a campaign to "make it stop" is an idea worth pursuing. I have noticed around my facility that slips of paper bearing the letters "MIS" are starting to pop up on whiteboards, metrics boards and in more obscure places as well. Maybe if the idea takes off Dave and his minions will get the hint. Only time will tell.

M I S = Make It Stop

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Mr. Cote,

What a wonderful CEO you are. Based on the earlier posting, AERO saved $60 Mil in 2008. You should be proud of this outstanding achievement in this horrible economic time. What a thinker you are. With that $60 million savings, you have managed to dump on the street, approx 1100 employees contributing to the foreclosure and unemployment rate in the very country that has allowed you to make millions. You are a great American. What is worse is that this is a conscious effort with little or no real effect on the stock price. Now that is an achievement; destroy the very workers you depend on with no effect on the stock. That $60 mil for a company which makes revenues in the billions has no real effect, what is the stock price? Did it jump $15 on the news? The answer is no. It went unnoticed, but managed to destroy lives of real people and contributed to the burden this country must face. In fact it managed to get you a reputation for taking that raise of 55%, created mistrust throughout the company, which will slowly destroy this company from the inside.

This time it is different. Those left behind will not easily forget as they have done in the past. I have no loyalty for someone who would take such action when the country is hurting. In fact this goes not only for Honeywell, but for all the CEO’s and those VP’s that take the corporate jet each day to visit their paramours at the cost of a years salary for the average employee. Yes you deserve it, because you are all great contributors to this society we call America. Mr Cote, what would we do without such progressive thinkers as you to lead this countries economic power? China will never surpass the ingenuity of the American workers, which make your salary possible. Why not just lay off all of us and then you can report a bigger profit and take a bigger raise, and we will all just say nothing, because your are different and better then the rest of us. You are a great thinker and a great American...

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The best way to tell if layoffs are coming after the holidays at Aerospace ISC is to look for the announcements sent out via email about new directors and VP's.

As I struggle through my pay cut and look forward to the first (probably the first of many) furlough next year, I wonder where I missed the bus to the Phoenix Jobs Bank, where the same sorry set of characters plays musical chairs while our manufacturing infrastructure is gutted. This is shameful.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

We were told in AERO that the salary reductions saved $60 million in 2008. Dave Cote received an increase of $30 million, I understand. Our CEO and CFO hightailed it out of Aerospace earlier this year (don't know why ,since THEIR pay was unaffected). Will someone tell me what we are sacraficing for? Or for who?

Friday, December 18, 2009

A modern corporation must recognize that they serve the three people constituencies of stockholders, customers, and employees, and that none of these are more important than the other. Unfortunately, Neutron Jack earned fame and fortune by guiding GE for 20 years, while he ruthlessly gutted customers and employees in favor of stockholders. Allied Signal learned from GE, and has taken Honeywell down this same path. I now make a point to never buy anything with the GE name on it. I have found GE quality has been seriously degraded.

At the same time this was occurring, GE bragged about their Six Sigma program. How can it be that Six Sigma, with all the best of intentions, results in reduced quality? Simple, because management is only driven to increase short-term profits and only views Six Sigma as another marketing tool!

Honeywell used to be a great company to work for, and we made great products while serving customers. Unfortunately, those that are harvesting the company in order to prop up short-term profits will appear to shine as long as profits continue to rise. Only when customers and employees begin to rebel will any changes be made - and then it may be too late.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Maybe management will begin to get the message when the letters MIS (Make It Stop) begin to appear on bulletin boards, in conference rooms, and break rooms across the company: The employees have finally had enough.

Friday, December 18, 2009 - To the writer of MAKE IT STOP.

The capitalistic model works very well; however it does not work when you have corruption. Which unfortunately is reaching a peak in this country. Just look around: the SEC is keeping its eyes closed and allowed the market to get out of control and crashed the world economy.

Companies, especially Honeywell, told us that in order to save jobs we need to take a furlough - and then did the lay off anyway, reduced the 401 contributions and took away the health care from those about to retire. Well, why not? What are you going to do about it? The banks right now are doing what ever they want, like raising fees or making mistakes. Customer service is, "what are you going to do about it?" They know you can't re-mortgage, so you are stuck and they can do what ever they want. Just as Honeywell is able to cut your pay, your savings, lay people off and what the hell are you going to say about it? Absolutely nothing.

Honeywell knows that, and they can do whatever they want. Let's just say that you know someone who was wrongfully fired just weeks before retirement. You can't take them to court; by the time the case is heard, you will first run out of money, or you will die. Besides you have seen the whistle-blower from NASA or BA; they have no job, just a few minutes on 20/20. What a protection law that is.

Nobody can organize anymore, because there are no patriots left in this country. Although you have power in numbers, there will always be that one idiot that will step up thinking that he/she will finally be recognized and get a nice 9 block review, rather than standing up for a greater good.

Honeywell is not the only company which knows this. They all use the 9-block, just look around. When ever cost of fuel goes up, airline ticket prices go up and they should, based on the model. But look at your 9-block model, it’s the same at GE and across the country, everyone received a 2% raise, evet the best performing divisions. Why can’t I go to Honeywell and ask for an increase in pay?

Now lets look at the term performance raise. If the worst and best divisions get the same 2%, how is that based on performance? Or no matter what the COLA rate is, we all get 2-3% raise. Hmmmm, what a performance evaluation that is. If you fire all the B and C performers, somehow next year they find more. Must be the folks from the above paragraph. Just some food for thought - Cote takes a 55% pay increase, when you take a furlough.

Yes, Make It Stop.

Monday, December 14, 2009

The focus and emphasis in these blogs are on Honeywell; but Honywell isn't the only company practicing this grave exercise of betrayal of their countrymen under the popular buzz jargon of "globalization". There are many others.

Beware, all you naive and puffed-up imbeciles hiding behind MBA's and titles. When Marx is finished and is satisfied with the damage you have inflicted on your countrymen, your ally, whom you didn't recognize, will dispose of you like a dog. Yes, in exchange for quick wealth, you were duped and used into dumping and disenfranchising your fellow American partners in labor.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Anyone who thinks that the management will not take full advantage of the saving made by furloughs, lives in a dream world. No one cares about the day-to-day problems - they are just interested in the quarterly figures.

Next year, just be prepared for 26 unpaid vacation days. But relax, they still expect you to work those 26 days. And, for the record, these furlough days were in place so as not to layoff your brothers and sisters, and yet there is going to be a mass culling taking place before our Christmas holiday begins.

Honeywell's policy of savings-savings-savings does not apply to the people. They have to save themselves.

Monday, December 14, 2009

First came the Toyota Production System (TPS). Then Honeywell shamelessly pirated the program and turned it into the Honeywell Operating System (HOS).

Now we have the next logical step---MIS. Make It Stop. How wonderfully appropriate. I hope it catches on, because it truly is the only way to get upper management's attention and end these abusive tactics.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

A small suggestion to all of those with Honeywell Aerospace who will be blessed with time off without pay the first part of January -- make it stop.

Program managers and Project Control analysts are receiving direct messages from upper Aero management that missing milestones, hardware deliveries, or revenue targets due to the small inconvenience of this furlough is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The phone calls from numerous customers and and messages from Program Management indicating that schedule push-outs and deliverable targets are at risk are going unheeded. It is the opinion of management that we should all line up and work the extra time to assure that all January targets are met -- for free, of course, since paid overtime is not part of the Honeywell way.

Well, MAKE IT STOP! Let the milestones slip, the revenue targets slide, the deliveries can be late. The only way to prevent another furlough in July is to put the pain in the only place Honeywell management seems to understand -- their bottom line. Make It Stop!

Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Re: "and you reward our ideation by...SHIPPING OUR JOBS to China?!"

The bonus! You forgot the BONUS. It's not about whether it makes sense or not. It's about someone making their bonus under the guise of saving money. And every single time this happens, it weakens US manufacturing and strengthens China's. Cote gets a fatter paycheck and the politicians look the other way. Great, ain't it?

Friday, December 11, 2009

I am glad something like this weblog actually exists. I worked for Hand-Held Products from 2005 until we were acquired by Honeywell in 2007. We were a privatly owned company and did a majority of our manufacturing in upstate New York (yes I said NY...even with the taxes). I dont think we had the leanest operation ever, but we had some good stuff.

Well, after Honeywell bought us, they came in and looked at our operations from an HOS perspective and really liked what they saw...especially a 3 line SMT operation that was value-stream aligned and scheduled 100% by Kanban. Next thing we know some "accounting" team says it will save millions to move to China.... Bye bye manufacturing in New York. Here is where the story will turn your stomach. I took a position in HOS as a Lead NA Specialist. The first worldwide knowledge-sharing event we login into shows the SMT operation from some Honeywell plant in Mexico... guess what...they had the exact same pull system design we had 2 years earlier. My boss had the brass to ask the knowledge sharing team where they got the idea and they said from NY plant that you are from.

So let me get this straight. We do better than your sorry excuse for lean called HOS ever thought of doing, and you reward our ideation by...SHIPPING OUR JOBS to China?! I am glad to be out of there. 1 week removed and I am sleeping better already. Dave Cote couldn't manage a Taco Bell.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I see that the Brits lost their RGM this week, I wondered how long it would be before they realized that someone from turbo chargers couldn't run HBS. It makes a change to fire the head honcho just before Christmas. It is usually the foot soldiers that get dumped on. Lets hope the new RGM has some better ideas.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

There were layoffs today at UOP, Cote's favorite experiment in how to get the biggest bonus out of ruining a company. Nothing newsworthy (or more importantly reportable to the state), maybe 1% or less, unless you are one of the poor souls let go. The layoffs also left one of the best-selling UOP technologies with no domestic assets allocated to do design work. Zero. It would amuse me to see what the suits are telling the customers - and the bankers financing the projects - who pay a premium for premium technology when asked who is designing their units. If it is made in China, wouldn't an astute consumer expect a sticker or something somewhere to convey that? Might there also be an implied lower price to reflect the lower cost, or God forbid lower quality, of not using a domestic asset? Is UOP to become the WalMart of licensed refining technology? Probably not. Cote will hopefully be tarred and feathered before this happens to another UOP technology.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Having read the below comments, I cannot help but feel that it is time for many Honeywell employees to start looking around for a new job and use their experience and history to find a better job!

I recently left due to the obsessive workaholic culture they have created and haven't regretting leaving one bit. My main concern are the amount of experienced knowledgeable people who have left after me which has created a vacuum within all organizations.

It is easy to whinge about the Honeywell leadership and Dave Cote getting share options and bonuses but I think the main danger are the middle managers who appear to be totally ineffective, useless and protect their own jobs by treating their employees appallingly. The amount of middle management who appear untouched by headcount reductions and geographical relocations amazes me. (Aerospace's obsession with the Czech republic for example). They are masking the true impact on morale and the direct effect it has on the customers, whose opinion doesn't seem to matter anymore.

The amount of pain that Honeywell has made on it's existing and past employees should be returned in one way or another as I find it disgusting that a company this size should be allowed to get away it. HR? Don't even go there!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

That's just the sort of junk that Honeywell pulls, saying "Thank You" to everyone who participated in the 10% salary reduction. Did anyone have a choice? I certainly did not.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Last week we received an email from HR that the furlough "savings" for whole EMEA region were 20M euro, and a "thank you" to all who participated. Peanuts compared to the +28M dollar compensation package of Diamond Dave for last year.

Monday, November 23, 2009 - Re: the Nov. 21 post from Aerospace:

It sounds like the demise has been spread equally. Sensing and Control is equally deficient. Had we been run so inefficiently before the Allied takeover, we would have been out of business long ago. Fortunately, new management under Cote arrived just in time to save us.

For years we had practiced operational excellence, getting really good at what we do. Cote's "improvements" sent us into the Dark Ages. The loss of efficiency and productivity was staggering. Initially, heroic attempts were made to retain some semblance of the high standards we'd had before. But when it became obvious that upper management did not share the same standards, one by one most people decided the heck with it.

Management plays their metric games. Temporarily focus on quality, a small improvement is noted, a few managers get promoted, but cost suffers. Temporarily focus on cost, a small improvement is noted, a few managers get bonuses, but inventory goes up. Focus on inventory, a small improvement is noted, the plant manager gets a promotion, but delivery gets worse. Focus on delivery, and quality diminishes. Management keeps the cycle going, filling their pockets with every cycle, cadres of Powerpoint junkies meticulously plot each imagined microscopic gain, management touts their successes, yet there's no real net improvement. Despite managment's lofty BS, we're still in the Dark Ages compared to where we were in the 90's.

Meanwhile, production lines for highly complex products are jerked out and sent to China. It doesn't take a genius to imagine what happens there, but you'll never hear of those lines again. Those problems and performance issues are well hidden. Cote claims the gains on paper of such moves, and then buys a new company to do it all over again. He's turned Honeywell into a private piggy bank for himself and his upper echelon cohorts, while 0% and more layoffs are the standards for the workers.

You're absolutely right: Polish the resume, and then get out of this sinking ship with your dignity intact. Then spread the word to help others avoid this quagmire of futility.

Monday, November 23, 2009

I'm free! Alright, long time reader, 1st time poster, so I might as well say a few things. I was not a senior manager but was at a leadership position at a site level, so I know a lot about how corporate thinks, since I was involved in implementing the AOP for the site.

Honeywell is obsessed with headcount. It's always about headcount. I've been in so many meetings where corporate tries to "trick" you out of headcount by saying you should be at a certain level, even though they told you to hire a few more people for special programs (not just HOS). You have to absorb all those unnecessary people you were told to hire. You get worn down when they try to chip at your headcount at every single meeting.

It's never explicitly stated, but it's clear that Honeywell regards employees as it's biggest liability. You have to do everything to get rid of them. The longer they stay, the more benefits they earn and severance costs will only increase. You must get rid of employees as much as possible. Honeywell thinks and treats it's employees like parasites that must be removed at all costs. And who cares about customers, Honeywell fires salespeople and changes sales incentive mid year all the time! Just get your headcount down.

I'm glad I got out of that crazy world!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

That style of management is not exclusive to Aerospace. ACS and the other divisions have it too.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Honeywell Aerospace Senior Management views on a few things:

• Raises: Poor performers get 0%, top performers 0%, CEO gets 50%. But “differentiation” is important, so don’t forget that.
• Decisions: As many decisions affecting the factories as possible should be made by comittees in Phoenix, they know best. Important matters like whether a temporary employee can be hired in a plant should be flown up to the CEO so someone better than the front line supervisor or manager can make the call.
• Customer Service: Do not worry about customers, there are plenty of good folks in Mexico and India who can take care of them, whether they like it or not. Just worry about your internal ISC metrics, and if all your spreadsheets are green, then you are golden. No matter if they are completely disconnected from the customer's perception. Managers who fudge OTTR and quality will get recognition and praise.
• Census: It does not matter how expensive it is to get the job done, the only thing that matters is how many Americans are on your headcount. The fewer the better. Other companies are concerned with things like profitability and quality, not really knowing that the number of people working is all that really matters.
• Performance Management: Poor managers should be managed out of the company, the reward for the manager strong enough to uphold standards is that the headcount will not be backfilled and he or she will have to absorb the additional work himself.
• Social Responsibility: Aerospace HQ in Phoenix is one of Arizona’s greatest job creation projects. Clueless lackeys are taught basic excel and outlook skills and go on to earn thousands in jobs like “Operational Excellence” and HOS. Managers fail and are given staff jobs harass and question field managers on things they themselves never understood in the first place. Every year headcount grows 5% at HQ or more while US manufacturing jobs are cut wherever possible.
• Motivation: Tell employees they are lucky to have jobs in the first place. Hold front line managers responsible for employee morale up to the level of plant manager and no higher. Disregard the fact that most manufacturing employees are completely disgusted with our Phoenix leadership team by hiding from them and never visiting sites and not giving them any outlet to ask questions or express concern.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

How many people does it take to run a good company like Honeywell into the ground? Less and less every year.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

I just erased a long ramble about the management mistakes Honeywell has made in just the last few weeks. But I thought better. I can just thow out a few actions and let them speak for themselves:

1. Honeywell AERO got rid of the on Site Customer Service Rep (CSRs), now units, that the "customers" have sent in, we repaired and tested, sit in shipping.
2. Furlough, INFO: 8 hours of furlough costs 12 hours of overtime either before as prep or after as recovery.
3. HOS, good when done correctly, easy to abuse. Has not been monitored.

Friday, November 20, 2009

I want to thank all the contributors who have written here. It does helps some cope with the overwhelming weight of working for Honeywell. In fact it's apparent that Honeywell is not the only company, as evidenced by the other blogs here and all over the net. We see CEOs getting 55% pay increases and, as reported on the news just this week, an ever evident and disturbing trend developing where now the pension funds are now grossly under funded as the board members retire and receive $3-5 Million in retirement benefits, yearly. Yes yearly.

This has now been identified as a trend, which means that more companies will be reported - thanks to the folks in Washington who are supposed to be watching the required pension minimums. Seems even the pensions are being ignored by Washington. This may be the next big bomb to drop on the economy.

All this, while your job is moved off shore. This has happened because they make off with the money and leave the US workers with the bill. This now is much bigger than just losing your job. The greed in this country has been allowed to do what they want and now they want it all, even during retirement. Currently 2% of the population controls 98% of the money. How much more do they need? This is much bigger than anyone alone. We need to act now without delay. There is no way they can get away with if we can form a group to protect us and our children. There will be more on this in the very near future here and on Yahoo. This is very disturbing trend and who knows how deep this will go. Those of you who have jobs right now, that does not mean your retirement will be there, or your job. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there's nothing we can do. But, if we stop this now, maybe we can save some.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Frankly, I was stunned by the comments concerning Honeywell on this Weblog. (Repressive communication practices forbid the utterance of such comments out loud.) Yes, there is something very wrong with this company. I too wonder how Dave Cote and his immediate staff can sleep at night.

Yesterday evening, (November 19th), well after most of the U.S. employees had gone home, a smiling bodiless CEO level film clip was e-mailed across Honeywell Aerospace announcing a mandatory unpaid furlough for thousands of Honeywell employees the first week of January. The senior Aerospace workforce (many of whom had already experienced a mid-year 10% wage reduction)had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and this was it.

Furloughs and pay reductions were utilized in 2009 to "save jobs and cut cost across Aerospace". Bonuses and awards have been flowing into the pockets of the corporate executives for the cost savings initiatives since these initiative went into affect in late Q2. While the working level of the company struggles to make financial ends meet, the perts and bonuses at the executive level are presented to the finanicial news media as evidence of a strong and vibrant company. (One executive is flown home every Friday from the Aerospace Corporate offices in Phoenix to his home in California. The Gulfstream jet and crew reflect a $40k a week contractual obligation to the company. Let's consider that cost in light of the average yearly pay of an Aerospace production employee now faced with a loss of 6% of their wages going into the new year.)

Aerospace Management is fixated with metrics. They have invested a ton of money developing tools to extract metrics from a business enterprise system purchased for millions of dollars which is unable to provide basic reporting functions. There are dozens of tools costing more millions of dollars now feeding and extracting data in an non-integrated fashion from the enterprise business system. Tons of metrics, reams of data, but little information that provides for an understanding of what is really happening in the business.

From a production standpoint, the enterprise system has effectively brought multiple Aerospace sites to their knees. Factory production rates are down. Build and ship operating plans are based on targets set much lower than those which were achieved five years ago -- oh, but yes, the metrics say we are hitting our current production build and revenue targets. Hence, the enterprise system and organization structure are functioning as advertised.

Overhead rates are staggering. This reflects a top-heavy management structure that has become completely disconnected from the day to day workings of the company. Culture of fear? You bet. A recent survey from Human Resources requested opinions regarding management -- however, the survey pointed out that corporate executives were "outside" the scope of the survey and one could only discuss one's immediate supervisor.

It is not unusual to hear directors inform program managers that "they don't take action items". A company which was an industry leader in "teaming across all levels" has effectively disengaged upper management from managing projects. If there's a problem, it is the responsibility of the Program Managers at the project level to resolve it before it can affect the bottom line of the business.

The organizational model lends itself to chaos. The divisions between operating functions is counterproductive. Program managers have no authority to direct resources. Resources are managed by unique operational units with the production and engineering functions on unique ends of the spectrum. Program management is responsible for engineering revenue and cost but has no control of the resources required to perform contractual work. Program management is responsible for maintaining production delivery schedules, but has no voice with regard to materials management, production flows, or hardware test schedules

The military sector of Aerospace is a particular concern. It would behoove the government to "should cost" every cost type contract currently in progress within Honeywell Aerospace. It would also behoove the government to review aircraft hardware and software safety and reliability given the massive outsourcing to foreign countries of hardware design software engineering jobs within the company. There is plenty of low-hanging fruit to get government auditors engaged. The business enterprise labor charging system is suspect and would provide a good starting place for government review.

Yes, the phrase "World Class" is a matter of perspective.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Well, the management and board pay no attention to the employees; hopefully they will pay attention to the markets. However, I doubt if they will, they are all on some massive ego trip.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

If you had asked me 10 years ago if it was possible for a single person to gut the vitality out of a company the size of Honeywell, without hesitation I would have said: of course not. I thought there were enough checks and balances to prevent it. Likewise, 10 years ago, if a community announced a Honeywell facility was coming to their area, they had reason to celebrate because of the jobs it would bring.

Reality turned out a lot different. Now, after 10 years of endless cuts in order to meet the numbers Cote promised Wall Street, the vitality is gone. Esprit de corps left a long time ago. And instead of looking forward to Honeywell's presence in a community, the reality is that, when Honeywell arrives it means that another company has been bought out and jobs (and tax revenues) will leave.

I don't have an accounting background, but it looks to me like Cote turned the vitality of the company into bonuses for him and low paying jobs for inexperienced people in China.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Thank you bloggers, you're helping me make it day-to-day, because I realize the problems are everywhere, not just at UOP. Pretty atrocious, isn't it? What we see is the "life" being sucked out of work. Fear is everywhere and the furloughs and benefit cuts are making it pretty near impossible to stay productive. The only thing that keeps me going is that as a relatively experienced workforce (WAY too well-educated and experienced for HON), there are still some brilliant and dedicated people here in our division. Not for long, I'm afraid.

I notice that some of the financial sites are starting to pick up on the 100 % negative nature of this blog. For any of the management or board of HON - hey, wake up - how about that stock price? Do you think the culture has anything to do with that?

Sunday, November 15, 2009

We received an email saying that the furloughs for our division are over. Unfortunately they said that they will continue to evaluate the need for furloughs in the future as sales have not improved.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

I read the various company blogs on this site. The interesting pattern across companies is that, with the exception of Siemens, and especially Honeywell, most discussions are rather positive or at least competitive in discussing various technical virtues of their products. These are rather healthy discussions.

Honeywell blogs, in particular, are laser focused on the company's persistant negative management style, the micro-management, Cote's culture of FEAR, weak Board of Directors, the constant closure of North American sites in favor of Asia, cuts in benefits and working hours - along with plunging employee morale. The complaint is the same across multiple Honeywell businesses.

Wow, you people at Honeywell must have a real hard time getting up in the morning to go work in this environment. Your days must be full of stress and you must be afraid to leave work at the end of the day. Proof is that there have been ZERO positive blogs on Honeywell. So, as the expression goes, "where ther is smoke, there is fire" - must be true.

Bless you all for your heroic efforts - inspite of your jobs being always under threat by your managers, that you are told that you are lucky to have a job, and that you have to work half the evening and not have time for your wife and kids..... This Thanksgiving and Christmas, pray for your Managers so that they will see the light. Pray that they will have a conversion. Then go home and hug your kids and be thankful that you still have a job... Because next year WILL be different!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Welcome to Dave Cote's Culture of Fear. You can do all that, and do it well, but there will be no raise, no promotion, no job security. Your job will still be offshored. The only thing you've done is incrementally helped make Dave successful. Once you're gone, someone else will be there to Lay-It-On-The-Line for Dave until they, too, are gone. The only person who comes out ahead is good old Dave. What a racket.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Management has short term vision. Employees are expected to be on the job at all days & hours of the week. Vacation time you are expected to be available to emails, conference calls or to even cut short and come back to work! The culture demands you be a workalholic. No personal life ever! No fun on the job, no perks, no frills. Critism is all they give to employees. Never, a word of encouragement or appreciation.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

As a former Honeywell employee, watching the evening news tonight it was said that the banks are up to it again. Not one credit-card company to date has put in place the new laws. Before the new laws come into effect Feb 2010, they are increasing interest rates on their best customers and demanding higher FICA scores for new applicants. I saw a video where a bank CEO was filmed at a party saying, "they just take it when we raise rates."

Honeywell is not much better then the banks or any other large company. Nobody really owns the company and it's just a money tree for those in power. Watching Executive Vision on CNBC, (yes I have been watching a lot of TV) it became even more obvious that they are just people with no better education, vision and very little leadership skills. When asked, "What are you doing in your business, what strategy are you using to be more profitable for this tough market condition?", they all replied, "We needed to restructure, we needed to get waste out of our business, we negotiate our prices with our supplier and we want to retain our brand name (what ever that means)." So up to this point each CEO has been running inefficient businesses and never before talked with their supplier? Show me how smart you are and do it without cutting jobs and increase profits in this tough market. Earn your keep. It takes no brains to run a company when times are good.

They just keep taking away the benefits our parents got. It seems our parents fought to get those benefits and we are letting the CEO take them away one at a time. How stupid do we need to be to take this? Enough is enough.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Major player in the 'green industry' my foot. It's another gimmick to ensure Diamond Dave's bank account gets greener while he continues to offshore even more jobs.

If anyone write letters to their politicians, they should protest the continued enrichment of CEO's at the expense of American jobs. These traitors need to be held accountable, and legislation is the only way. Sadly, personal responsibility and integrity aren't enough to do the job.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - To the November 09, 2009 post:

Last year Diamond Dave begged all of us in a corporate-wide email to write our congressmen asking them to pass the stimulus and bailout packages. Some of the people I worked with did end up writing to congress asking them to release the money for fear there might be another economic depression. Now I understand Honeywell is positioning itself to be a "major player" in the new green industry. Hmmmm, guess where the dollars for green industry will be coming from? By the way most of the people that I worked with, including the ones that wrote their congressmen, were recently laid off.

When I was younger I remember someone telling me that a Recession is when your neighbor or coworker gets laid off - a Depression is when YOU get laid off. Seems rather poetic in a sick way.

Monday, November 09, 2009

I remember early in Cote's tenure as CEO he had one major task on his plate: Resolve Honeywell's asbestos litigation problem. This was one of the many problems that came along with the Allied merger. He failed miserably, and ultimately came with his hat in his hands to the Honeywell employees begging them to write their politicians to pass legislation favorable to Honeywell.

After Diamond Dave's reign of terror, I wonder how many of those letter-writing employees are left, and how many were terminated as a thank-you? Of the ones left, I wonder how many of them would write a similar letter for Dave today. For that matter, I wonder if any of today's employees would write letters for Dave. Or if he's smart enough to not even bother to ask.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

I heard an interesting expression recently. It's "misbehaving MBAs". And herein is the problem. Just as in any endeavor, you have MBAs using their education for evil rather than good - in the same way as bombs are used constructively for contruction and roads; and destructively for IEDs. However, there is no one to take these misbehaving MBA's child-like mouth sucker away, or give them a time out like you would with a two year old having a fit, or an ocassional spanking.

MBAs have no true professional association. They are not legally licensed for their conduct. There is no real professional body that governs their code of conduct and can regulate their behavor. They are freelance mercenaries of the business world with allegiance only to the almighty dollar - that is hired guns. The money makes them soulless and hollow!

To the blogger that asked to stop bashing MBAs and go after titles: I'd say that if you are so proud of being an MBA, put it in your will to have MBA stamped after you name on your tombstone. Pre-write your obituary to show how many jobs you eliminated or outsourced. You are too much of a coward to do this. I've been to far too many funerals to know that these behavors don't have any impact on real people, and you will be forgotten very quickly. What matters is those that had a sense of true community and made a true contribution to their community - not because of money contributions, but because of the human heart.

Friday, November 6, 2009

You are right about there being "different kinds of smart". There are $60,000 per year smart and $20,000 per year smart. Dave Cote is firing the $60,000 per year smart people and hiring the $20,000 per year smart people who are all overseas.

There's a bunch of us engineers who are going to walk away once we find another position at another company. We are all actively looking for work elsewhere and swapping job leads. Once the economy picks up you will see an exodus of talent from Honeywell.

Dave and his bunch are making decisions that mean more money now but will cripple the company in the future. He and his cronies will then leave the company and declare victory (Mission Accomplished) and leave the next poor CEO to try and pick up the pieces. I predict a long period of financial trouble starting while Dave is still CEO as he extracts the last dime from the dried up husk of the once proud company.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Unfortunately, for US employees the longer this farce continues the more the question comes down to: Am I going to help Diamond Dave bank a bigger bonus this year, or am I going to act as a loyal American and walk away from this mess?

Dave and his crew of micromanagers only have one game plan, and that is to offshore jobs to Bangalore and Nanjing as quickly as possible. Hand over your jobs to overseas locations, and then further waste US resources by providing endless support to help them be successful.

It is incredible that this has been allowed to happen. But the politicians have bought the lie from the CEOs that companies must do this because: 1. They need to remain competitive, and 2. Overseas employees are better educated. The fact that CEOs, including Diamond Dave, also contribute heavily to political campaigns is not a coincidence. Remember Diamond Dave standing next to Beaming Barack earlier this year?

But if Nanjing and Bangalore are such hotbeds of excellence, then why do projects undertaken by these groups require so much hand-holding from the US? Could it be because there are different kinds of smart?

Cote goes to bed at night with dreams of fattening his paycheck by sending more jobs overseas. The worse he makes American employees look, the more justification he has, the faster the jobs leave, the richer he becomes. He gets to live large at our expense; layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts, reduced benefits, reduction or elimination of severance, etc. and the damage to communities that results.

Cote and the board are managing the company for the benefit of a few at the expense of many. Institutional shareholders apparently give little thought, and typically vote their shares to support management. Employees are powerless - with the exception that we can just say -- NO MORE. And walk away.

This has to stop.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Well I just looked at my "furlough" paycheck and it raises a question for Dave and his lackeys, ... How the hell do you sleep at night? As an employee and, more importantly in this case, a stock holder, I have to say that Dave and the Board have got to go. Fire the bastards.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

I agree in principle with those who object to painting all MBAs with a broad brush. However.....

I've had experience with these whiz-kids also. The usual scenario is that they show up out of nowhere to help "fix" so-called financially troubled product lines or locations. Typically they've been given God-like authority, and begin to order changes without bothering to learn the facts surrounding the existing situation. Trying to apply common sense and reason with them is futile. Apparently their assignment is to shake things up, and this they do with great gusto.

And then they leave, apparently successful -- with a notch on their calculators -- headed to "fix" something else. Except the fix wasn't real, or it wasn't permanent. For example, they'll focus on lowest possible part cost, and indeed, will find lower cost parts. Great cost savings. Except quality and delivery go to hell. But they notch a 'job well done' while those left behind try to clean up the mess they left.

Frankly, my impression of a lot of these folks is that they are technical wannabees who couldn't cut it in the technical world.

I'm trying to keep an open mind. I hope somewhere there are MBA's that have their acts together, and someday I'd like to work with them on a job, just to see the difference.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

People keep referring to MBAs as though "MBA" was the job title. Stop it. Focus your angst at the position, not the pedigree.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Here is the problem with MBAs at Honeywell. I know that there is a "boiler room" type of these in Phoenix, trying to figure out strategies on how to squeeze & close sites. The problem is that it is a "boiler room". They are of like mind and like purpose, where dissension is probably questioned. Because of the high centralization in Honeywell (like in the Aerospace Group), these individuals never personally feel the consequences of their recommendations.

There is a new regulatory wave coming over America on executive compensation. There should also be a new wave for MBAs. Their employment contract should also bind them that after they implement their decisions, they should be knocked down two levels for 3 years to experience the consequences of their decisions.

This is the main problem. MBAs never personally feel (in their families) the consequences of their decisions. I know this to be true because I've been on many Honeywell strategic planning groups. In these sessions, what happens to individual employees is never discussed. When the topic comes up, it's always deferred to HR an a nuisance detail for them to take care of - and we move on!

I agree that Honeywell is a large company and can be hard to manage. All the more reason to bust up the company into smaller pieces. It will create far more innovation that Diamond Cote can muster up in in his Town Hall meetings and award programs - which few people attend at the site level. The proof that Cote is ineffective in this is the poor stock price.

There are too many centralized Corporate layers that really reduces effective decision making and productivity - like spending half of your day preparing metrics and the other half day explaining them - (personal experience).

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Honeywell is a Jekyll-and-Hyde company. For most of us, our work is about products and services. We assume Dave Cote's should be, also. Guess again. His work is offshoring *our* jobs. What the hell kind of a business is that? And by making us look inefficient (think of the time wasted on HOS, Six Sigma, etc.) the more justification he has. What a racket.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

We will stop bashing MBA's when they stop bashing us. Having a degree of higher learning is not a bad thing; it is when this piece of paper is used as a spring board to total hell that we have a problem.

If, as you say, it helps with "better understand the basis for the decisions that are being made" then why has it not helped people like Dave Cote? Everyone I know that has a position of upper management in the world of Wall Street, carries and flaunts their MBA. And yet, the American economy is spinning down the vortex to hell.

I know a lot of MBAs who are actually smart, but they use this for the betterment of mankind. As soon as you're given a position of money, you tend to lose the information you have learnt and proceed to act on greed. Greed has never been known to produce a design of longevity.

When you look at the CEOs who have MBAs, and the fall of stock shares linked to these CEOs, you can only come to one conclusion. Diamond Dave and friends need to learn that history has a bad habit of repeating itself and this is our Roman Empire.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I agree on the MBA bashing thing, if anything an MBA education allows me to see MORE poor decisions being made in even MORE areas of the business and makes me angrier as our upper management in AERO ignores fundamentals of keeping a company healthy long term- things like talent management, R&D, customer relationships, and developing manufacturing capability using labor cost as one criteria, not the only criteria.

The managers playing musical chairs in Phoenix are completely detached from the reality that our customers and our plants see and should get involved before our already hollow brand name becomes worthless.

And by the way, there were greedy self serving idiots in business school, so there are plenty of those running around with MBA's to be sure, we just need to make sure we all understand how badly some of them are hurting our future at Honeywell.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

How about we stop the silly MBA bashing. They are not all like Diamond Dave. I am a technical employee, but have 2 business grad degrees (including the MBA). I pursued these degrees so that I could better understand the basis for the decisions that are being made. I felt like stupid decisions were being made with little knowledge or skill, and I wanted to know why and maybe jump in the mix to do something about it.

There are a lot of great classes to help you understand the mechanics of business and strategy. I suggest those who bash the MBA and claim victim-status while decrying *anyone* who pursues advanced business degrees, try it for themselves and stop the incessant victim-whining. Add some skills and take over some of the management jobs if you really think you can stomach it. MBA!=The devil's seed.

With all that said - I have to completely agree that the leadership has to go! They are sacrificing an entire company for next quarter's results. And since the company is so large and covers so many communities, they are wrecking communities and families all for the SHORT TERM QUARTERLY RESULTS! Honeywell is not much different from other companies that go whoring for the Wall Street analysts fickle and uneducated approval.

Honeywell touts the Hometown Solutions as part of it's community improvement initiatives.... screw that. How about you look down the road and beyond your golden parachute and figure out how to bring innovation back while giving a rat's ass about the American worker... or the country for that matter! Honeywell is traitorous in how it sends high-tech (and high-tech knowlege/jobs) to countries who HATE the US. Cote should be tried as a spy.

Cut the BS (i.e. HOS and watered down Six Sigma). TREMENDOUS (I can not emphasize the magnitude of this) amounts of waste are found there - chop heads within upper and middle management. Now. For crap's sake, Aerospace spends most of its time reorganizing the same idiots into different formations - my opinion is that's how management hides from the axe. It pisses off the customers and messes with productivity.

Set a target ratio of direct:indirect labor and cut your indirect, starting at the top. Learn to communicate outside of PowerPoint and funny words that make you sound smart and sophisticated. You sound like a jackass to this MBA.

Monday, November 2, 2009

I'm looking here and other places on the web. Common theme on Honeywell is Cote's excessive compensation package relative to poor stock performance. Cote is looking so greedy. The greed is looking so overwhelming that, even if he launches any altuistic initiative, there will be questions as to his motives. From what I see, when the Devil hands out hus Continuous Improvement Greed Awards, Cote will be sure to win - right behind Madoff, and others.

During Cote's many years, the stock price has gone down year after year and it has underperformed the S&P 500 since 2002. So, why are the Board of LapDog Directors keeping this weak performer? Honeywell adopted the GE policy of firing the bottom 10% of performers. Why is Cote still there?

Monday, November 2, 2009

Common sense doesn't play a part in Dave Cote's world, the only thing that matters is Dave Cote. He doesn't care how many people he puts out of work as long as his total compensation package keeps going up. This is where the board of directors is as much to blame as Dave. The board could hold him accountable but they don't; they could replace him but they don't; they could reduce his compensation but they don't. Have you ever wondered why they don't do those things? Maybe there's a connection between all of them?

Monday, November 2, 2009

It just goes to show that people like Dave have turned an MBA into a worthless piece of paper. I have no idea what BS is taught in MBA class, but common sense and logic is not on the agenda. I will explain simple logic so that even an MBA will understand:

1. Remove the work = remove the money
2. Remove the money = remove the life style
3. No life style = no new toys
4. People making new toys not sell toys
5. Stop sell toys = stop paying people
6. All hell breaks loose
7. Repeat from step 1

1. The people buying all the junk made in chine are paid employees of other countries mainly USA and Canda.
2. If you fire all these people in USA and Canada you basically remove the money to purchase junk.
3. The people making the stuff we buy cannot sell the stuff because we can't afford it.
4. For every one American out of a job 6 - 8 Chinese people become unemployed.

But like I said, Dave Cote would not know common sense if it smacked him on the head. And if you are making notes, MBA classes are packed with lots of Daves.

Monday, November 2, 2009

So how do we, the people, stop these global corporations from eventually assimilating and offshoring every manufacturing job in the US? It seems that as soon as a small company develops a unique or exceptional product, they eventually get assimilated by the Borg. Then manufacturing is sent to China, more people end up without jobs, and the CEO's get richer. Where does it stop? Why is this OK?

Monday, November 2, 2009

Great article on the activities of the former AERO CEO, who cut all our pay before leaving to go pillage another company. Guy fails Dave Cote's acid test (probably hung on to too many American manufacturing employees), so he gets run out along with the CFO this summer, but no worries, he is back to his old tricks at First Solar.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Honestly, in reading all the blogs, you have to believe that Cote is the top "Hitler of Honeywell"... in that Cote is the top "Killer of USA jobs". So there are no apologies here. You look at Aerospace and S&C - and you see a cosistant pattern. There is a phrase: "If you live by the sword, you die by the sword".

The stock price is the ultimate vote. Honeywell's stock has been doing crap. I'll bet that is Cote resigns, the stock price will go up. Time for the old tired horse to leave for some fresh new and visonary blood. tried of the same old business garbage from Cote that no young peoson believes.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

NW Illinois loses presssure transducer jobs to China - not because China has demonstrated any particular ability to build this complex product, but only because Cote perceives he can save a penny. Technology and processes developed by years of effort by western engineers is again handed to the Chinese on a silver platter. But after all the moving and support costs are considered long-term, will it truly be cheaper? Oh, that's right: By the time the true cost is known, Cote will be gone.

In the local newspaper the Honeywell mouthpiece talks about how much Honeywell values its employees. Apparently only if the employees happen to be Chinese or possibly Indian. Actions speak louder than words -- Honeywell's US employess are nothing but an expendable asset to be sacrificed in Cote's relentless pursuit of glory.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

The Los Angeles times has an interesting article on how upset the Army is with Honeywell over its "saving energy building retrofit" contract. Along with the story about Quincy this does not look good for Honeywell. How many times do you have to mess the government around before you are taken off their vendors list?

Saturday, October 31, 2009

NWIL More jobs being outsourced to Communist China. The Honeywell S&C idiocy continues....

Sunday, October 25, 2009

When I saw the post about the source code my first thought was "What can I do about it?". I figured out that I had 3 options. The first option is to tell my boss who would say "That's nice but we cannot do anything about it". The second option is to find who deals with the control software and tell them but then I would get chewed out for not going through the chain of command. The third option was to ignore it and go back to playing games, surfing the internet or looking for another job while Honeywell pays me. I chose the third option because, in the end, nothing I do will change the way Honeywell management operates. It's sort of like re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic, nothing I do can alter the course of the ship or do anything to raise my salary.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Source code leaking? This should surprise no one. We repeatedly stressed to management our concerns about the security of proprietary code if projects were outsourced to India and China. Their response: It will be OK, trust us. Then the next round of layoffs eliminated more stateside programmers. When management is unconcerned, why should anyone else care? It does absolutely no good.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Honeywell you have a problem - your software source code is leaking. Until recently I was working for a small engineering consultancy, they were outsourcing software development to a small "specialist" company in Bangalore. The last batch of (C) source code I saw (PID control module and OPC server) still contained the Honeywell comments and change log.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Unfortunately, Dave Cote is hiding behind the grading curve. In an economy where used car salesmen with Ivy League degrees can gamble other peoples money, lose it and expect everyone else to pay it back, and then expect and receive a lottery scale bonus, Dave in contrast, looks like a decent hard working CEO who is just trying run an honest business. Honeywell execs are acutely aware of this, and they will push it as far as they possibly can. When, or should I say if, they ever garner the attention they so richly deserve, they will rationalize it in yet another eloquently worded press release. Something to the effect of "at least we weren't as bad as those guys".

Thursday, October 22, 2009 - To the Oct. 20 poster:

Yes, it is amazing. It's as if someone told the CEO's that outsourcing was THE ANSWER. And from then on they approached outsourcing as if it were a free lunch, not smart enough to realize that nothing is free. All they did is replace a condition of known issues with one of unknown issues. I would estimate that 3/4 of the technical experience at Honeywell is gone, not to mention the talent pool at other positions. Absolutely nothing functions as well as it used to. Individual empowerment is non-existent. Micromanagement is extreme, and fear and paranoia are rampant.

Just when you begin to think that everything possible in the way of employee "satisfiers" have been removed, management comes up with something else. Every day is slightly worse than the day before. Upper managment seems to be the only segment of Honeywell (at least in the US) that is prospering, and the disparity between then and the rank and file employee is growing rapidly. It is patently obvious that they have gorged at the company trough only to enrich themselves at the expense of the vitality of the company. I hope that one day there will be an accounting, but I'm not holding my breath.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

It is amazing the similarities that I see from this discussion and the discussion we had at Hewlett-Packard in 2000. A history major (Carly Fiorina) was running HP, the gem of the Silicon Valley. She was being talked about in the same fashion as David Cote. I had nearly 20 years at HP at the time.

Fiorina started outsourcing, and trying to buy her way out of bad decisions to the tune of $19B in two or three different deals. The discussions were almost identical to these about Cote. Fiorina cooked the books, and within 18 months after she took the job the street was saying her bloom was off the rose.

Then she laid off the first 6000, saying there were 6000 new hires when there was a hiring freeze on. Guess what? The 6000 laid off were 76% long time employees with more than 15 years service, over 40, making over $75k/year, not the 6000 new hires. This was the first layoff in the company's 60 year history. I was in the first 6000.

Then she spent $19B for Compaq, a company in so much trouble that they were actually only weeks away from going under. That was one week after she cut the 6000. 9 months later another 15000 were cut, then 6 months later another 8000. All told, there were nearly 56,000 cut from both companies. The true value of the deal was a little over $2B, not the $19B she spent to buy it.

It took 5 years, but she was fired in disgrace and has not worked since. Sometimes it takes a while, and it is painful for everyone involved, but they do get it in the end. I remember I was driving down the road, when a report aired on NPR, saying Fiorina had been fired. I was so overwhelmed, the only thing I could do was scream at the top of my lungs, and shake my fists in the air. I had to stop the car because I began to cry uncontrollably. After that it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from me.

But this conversation sounds a lot like those times. Just remember, life is not lived at a job. You are, even though you aren't Honeywell.

Monday, October 19, 2009

It seems that even NASA is fed up with Honeywell. They received a 70% award fee for the last 9 months on the NENS contract.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Do a Google search for "Quincy" and "Honeywell" to see a very interesting news report. This is the face of Honeywell today.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

If everything goes the way Dave Cote/Allied would like it to, there will only be a few locations left open in the United States, a few multi-office suites. Some offices serving as design and engineering houses and the rest will be inhabited by executive types like Dave and their paper-pushing lackeys (Six Sigma Loyalists) whose job it will be to watch over remote operations from afar. As the academic infrastructures of various LCRs throughout the world develop, eventually they will be able to produce their own engineering and design talent. Provided they will be willing to work for a fraction of their U.S. competitors salary (and they will be), Allied will likely outsource the remaining US engineering segment to them as well. At that point the process will be complete, Honeywell will exist in the U.S. on paper only - that is as long as there is still an advantage to be had for a corporation having U.S. citizenship. No one says Dave Cote/Allied will necessarily get this far, but this is likely what they have in mind.

Friday, October 16, 2009

I agree with the Oct. 15 blogger. Allied was a company with serious legal and environmental problems that seriously needed to clean up its act. Muddying old Honeywell's reputation with Allied was, in my opinion, a mistake, and nothing but a transparent attempt to leave the "Allied" stigma behind in favor of a name with a better image.

Dave Cote is nothing but a one-act play, repeated endlessly. He's never produced anything original; just warmed-over Jack Welch BS. When there are so many enlightened CEO's out there who truly earn their money, it is puzzling to me why the board of directors continues to settle for Cote's stunning mediocrity. Unfortunately, if/when they finally wake up, you can be sure Cote will receive the mother of all golden parachutes. You have to wonder how many more people will lose their jobs to pay for it.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Whoa! Wait a minute - Allied Signal took over Honeywell and everything moved to Morristown. They just kept the Honeywell name because it was well known. That Allied Signal culture was bad fromn day 1. Honeywell was a really good company to work for until the takeover.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cote has to go. He's done nothing for the stock price, and blaming others for the poor stock performance is really unbecoming of a CEO. You would expect this excuse-giving at the lower ranks. Cote has also hollowed out American facilities with all the outsourcing - something that he is directly responsible for. When I see the folks around Cote, all I see is smiling and nodding heads - there can't be any opposition at the Board of Directors level. A lot of companies are going through a leadership clean-sweep during this economic crisis. I would feel more comfortable if Honeywell did a clean sweep also. Cote has been in place and responsible for the stock-price falling from $60 to $30. He has little or no responsibility for any upside. Even the dividend payments are relatively poor. You can actually do much better in dividends and growth potential elsewhere.

Also, Cote has never done an independently-conducted employee satisfaction survey. That left with Bosidy. These little thing reflect on the poor opinion/value he has of employeees. This poor opinion of employees especially permeates throughout Aerospace leadership.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

It's sad but true; Dave Cote and his cohorts are raising profit margins in the short-term, but sacrificing the long term future of the company to do it. Dave will bail out as the tide turns, and it will be left to a real leader to pick up the pieces.

It is painfully obvious, now that Dave Cote rode the coat-tails of the economic boom in the last decade. Now that times are tough and we need real leadership, we find that he is an empty shell, spouting the same worn out phrases he has been using for a decade.

Now he stands up at the all employee meetings and talks to empty rooms, giving phrases full of hot air that are no longer relevant, desirable or useful. He is hanging on and waiting for the stock price to go up so that he can say what a wonderful leader he is. He has blamed the stock-price going from 60 to 30 as being a function of the general economic downturn. When the stock price goes up by 5 cents he will say to the world "Look what I did".

As an industrial leader Dave Cote is a failure, I would not trust him to run a lemonade stand. The rest of his "leadership team" are just as bad too; no new ideas, nothing but spouting the same corporate phrases that Dave does. They are all sucking the company dry with their massive compensation packages. The 10% or more cut in pay we all took this year did not affect Dave or his lackeys. In fact, he kept his 55% raise.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Well, at UOP, I can only reiterate that our company has changed MUCH for the worse. Even the CEO, Carlos Cabrera decided to call it quits earlier this year. No need to repeat the details of numerous other blogs.

However, there is one curious item, and probably the only good thing as far as I am concerned: Honeywell loves patents and instituted a relatively good monetary incentive program (UOP basically for years gave nothing, then decided to have a nice dinner for 1, 5, 10 patents, etc.) It is probably kind of token, once taxes etc. are taken out. This bonus doesn't start to compensate for the loss of pay in terms of furloughs, cut in 401K match, loss of retiree medical insurance. That being said, I tend to agree with the earlier comment that when it comes time to sell your division off, the IP gets assigned some value. And you're quite right, that is where this management style seems to lead in the end.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

As a Jack Welch fan, Dave Cote and the 10 or 25 people working just under him are committed to outsourcing. Hiding behind code phrases like "competing in global markets" and "doing what is best for the stockholder" have allowed people like Cote to create profit margins and bonuses without having to understand, participate, or contribute to the workings of these types of organizations.

Dave Cote, and the legions of MBAs that hope to be like him someday, don't even have an intellectual curiosity about what science and engineering can do. To them it is a daily obstacle, and they resent having to interface with technical types. Why bother trying to understand the "widget" or much less, trying to imagine what the nextgen widget will be, when you can just cannibalize the process and the people who created the widget?

I believe that Cote will continue to outsource Honeywell. If these divisions fail to perform, Cote will opt to sell them for their IP. There are plenty of organizations that would like to buy Honeywell patents for cheap. Eventually he will hit the eject button, leaving behind a has-been brand name.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I blogged earlier, and should have added: The old AlliedSignal lost a hold on the way we did business. At that point, Honeywell took over and ruined the way we did business. Not sure exactly who or where they came from. I am from the United days, all the way to the Honeywell days. Honeywell has been a real dissapointment to almost all of its employees, except for maybe a few new to Honeywell. It is felt not as the new way, but a company to be proud to work for. Before we became Honeywell, we were happy. This was a dramatic change that was not part of the way we had been used to for so many years.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I worked for Sundstrand, AlliedSignal, and right before that Honeywell when AlliedSignal took over. This whole take over is not what any of the previous-to-becoming Honeywell ever was. Anyone I talk to abosolutely has seen changes that we never had before. All the way up to the Founder, and the ground Prox Product VP. Since Honeywell, everyone thinks Honeywell has been the problem as EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR THE WORSE. We have seen 90% or more change for the absolute worse. It used to be a company AlliedSignal people really liked. Now it is like micro-management all the way, with NO ONE liking it. We are like robots, just doing our jobs to get paid, with no enjoyment or feeling of satisfaction on how well we do. Like working at a Library. Everything changed so much in every way shape and form. Everyone that has been here for years has never seen such a sad place to work. Since Honeywell, it has truly not been a place where people are happy. We only just do our jobs, and are not at all proud to be Honeywell. Most everyone feels this way; 100% do not like it. Especially, the ones who have been here for a long time. The leaders we had, are not the ones we have now; that changed shortly after we became Honeywell.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Gee, the shareholders must be out for Cote's gut. With all the trouble that GE has been through, GE shares have outperformed Honeywell on a percentage comparison basis. Honeywell shares have basically been stuck in the $30-$40 range for the majority of Cote's reign. Also, almost a decade for a CEO is an awful long time - too long for things to smell under the covers. I like it when CEO's are wacked every 3-4 years. It keeps the dung pile fresh!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Interesting news from JimPinto's eNews No. 273 - 12 October 2009

For sale:

• Rockwell - whether they like it or not.
• Invensys - whether they like it or not. Their pension planwas under funded, and was a poison-pill for potential buyers.
• Honeywell - the Process Systems Division is likely to be divested by a hungry-for-growth-and-glory CEO Dave Cote.

• ABB - Joe Hogan (ex-GE) would find GE's Automation businesstoo small. He is more likely to be focused on Rockwell. ABB has the cash, and Joe Hogan needs to make a move. A bigger ABB would create a global alternative to Siemens.
• Siemens, the largest industrial company, has never been ableto make a successful acquisition. They'll be in the bidding.
• Schneider - one of the winners during this decade. They couldwant GE's software business to add to Citect. They may also bein the market for DCS player. Invensys would be a good fit and make Schneider a world player in software and Process Control.

(Click)- GE will emerge as next big automation player

Monday, October 12, 2009

It is apparent that the commitment to excellence that was part of the old Honeywell culture no longer exists within the new Honeywell. Old Honeywell emphasized customer satisfaction, quality products, quality processes, and retention of quality employees. New Honeywell emphasizes acquisition of new companies ->offshoring production-> slash and burn headcount reduction -> and minimal attention to customer satisfaction and product quality. Sure customers complain. Sure they take their business elsewhere. But by then Honeywell has harvested the low-hanging fruit and moved on. Note that employee satisfaction isn't even a blip on the radar.

Repeat the above cycle with more acquisitions as necessary to 'make the numbers'. As long as a supply of candidates for takeovers continues to exist, Honeywell will continue to rape and pillage its way through formerly high quality companies. Employees are nothing but cannon fodder to be swept aside on Dave's march to the bank.

The only thing that will interrupt this cycle is when the employees of newly acquired companies immediately walk out the door in protest, before they are coerced into participating in the offshoring process, thereby causing a financial setback. Nothing else will get either Cote's or the BOD's attention. Unfortunately, such action runs counter to human nature, a fact which Cote exploits to the extreme.

Monday, October 12, 2009

I worked for Honeywell IAC in service for over 33 years and am now retired. Wow,was it a great company when I started. I can't count the additional hours I worked off the clock, to get my customers back on line. And the rest of the techs in my area did the same. Right around the 20-year mark (Bonsignore ) things started changing. It became more difficult to give my customers the service time they deserved. After the Allied Signal takeover, everything really went to hell. We would have all these meetings about customer satisfaction, and then the wheels would stifle you in their quest for that monthly P&L quota they had to meet. It really became a joke after awhile. I finally had enough and retired. I now work part-time for a small automation service company, and have 90% of my old contracts. My customers love it because now I'm there for them any time they want and I don't have to deal with all the BS from the bosses. If I'd known things could have been this good, I would have have retired 10 years earlier.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

I think that the HR VP in Aerospace who told us all on a conference call that people were 20:1 in favor of our 10% pay cut, should be drug tested.

Friday, October 9, 2009

HOS (honeywell operating system) is a total waste of resources and time. They say it is intended to provide accountability to the process, but all it really doing is bogging down the employee with check lists upon check list upon check list. HOS is nothing but micro management to the hilt. It sucks from an hourly employee's point of view.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Yes to the last entry! When Honeywell (Allied) took over our pulp and paper products (CD actuators) they destroyed our good name, our sales plummeted, and our employee headcount is half what it was.

Friday, October 9, 2009

I used to consider that Honeywell was a good reliable brand name - for heating controls, refinery control systems etc. However, my company was taken over by them about 2 years ago, and I now have a completely different view of the brand. One to be actively avoided. I now have the view that most products are probably made by low paid third world staff, fronted by disillusioned staff in the West.

Do old Honeywell staff (ie people in Honeywell before the take over by Allied Signal) feel the same? Did Allied Signal steal the good name?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Everyone should take a look at the websites of our competitors- note that many other Aerospace firms are hiring instead of working to idiotic "census" targets and telling people they are "lucky to even be here"- things that do nothing for profitability or morale and only protect poor performers from their managers becuase they know they will not get a replacement if someone is managed out of the company.

All employees get email messages every week about new directors and VP's at AERO headquarters, so maybe the headcount restrictions are only OUTSIDE Phoenix and these big cheeses are not counted in the "census". Regardless, given the fact that some of our competitors are hiring again, the good employees can leave, but the poor performers can stay becuase their managers know if they are fired there will be no replacement. Funny thing though, our Aerospace CEO left the company after cutting all our pay, but they backfilled that job right away. Not what I would have thought in a company that has more Vice Presidents and Directors than machinists and welders but hey, what do I know after 10 years with the company?

Plus the "incentives" for early retirement chased out a lot of our legacy knowledge and experience. And to top it off with pay reductions and cuts in our 401K that senior management does not share while our CEO Dave Cote rakes in millions of dollars! Wow, we are just getting better over time with this strategy and really building our talent pool now! Or GE's talent pool I should say. But I guess it does not matter because the people whose jobs are actually part of Honeywell's future plans probably blog only in Hindi, Bengali, Spanish, or Chinese.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

What Honeywell wants is cheap, expendable labor. Yes they do... It is called outsourcing: Mexicali, Indonesia Malaysia, Tianjin, India and many more in the works. Just think how much money they are saving, so Dave Cote's bonus will be more than last year ($19 million). I can't wait to see what Santa brings him this year.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

I agree with several blogs here. I have worked for several different companies during my career, big and small, and I have to say that Honeywell is the worst. We are a Fortune-100 company that spends less on its employees than most cash-strapped startups. I have never been so badly treated by my employer than I have with Honeywell. Talk about bait-and-switch; the HR department are masters of promising one thing and delivering another. The management here are clueless and pathetic, sucking up to their bosses because they know they will be fired if they say something that is not part of the company line. The pay raises are a joke - somewhere between 0% and 3% and there are no bonuses for the workers.

Honeywell lies to its employees, takes away what they promised to give and then expects the employees to believe all of the junk that management spews out at the quarterly meetings.

I do not have a career at Honeywell, I have a job. I will be moving on the moment I can find a position at another company. Honeywell doesn't want talented people, they cost too much and the leadership team (who couldn't lead their way to the bathroom) might have to sacrifice something in order to keep them. What Honeywell wants is cheap, expendable labor.

There is no planning for the future. Nothing is done that does not show a profit within the same quarter. Right now the company is living off its reputation and its existing products. It is also living off the employees 10% cut in pay to show an artificial amount of spare cash for the investors. Once they run out, the death spiral will begin, the top execs will take their millions and leave, and everybody else will be hoping that we can get someone who knows how to run a company instead of someone who only knows how to suck a company dry.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Honeywell is a ROTTEN company to work for anymore. I feel sorry for the employees, and even more for their customers. Management could care less for the customers. If Honeywell folds tomorrow, management is set with their pensions, stock options, 401k’s, etc.

Every month we have dissatisfied customers come to our facility to see why we are not performing and living up to our commitment. Our site managers will have meetings to come up with an action plan, and tell them whatever, while they are here. When the customer leaves, management goes back to their spreadsheet and reports to justify why they are the best thing that ever happened to this company. Then they prepare for the next customer to call and complain. Like Dave Cote, they blame a downturn in the economy to justify why they do what they do!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - To the "I spent a year training technicians to take our aerospace jobs":

I'll bet the reality as to why you and your colleagues stayed has more to do with being outright threatened with a loss of your severence pay and benefits if you did not cooperate. So, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. But it is crafted by Honeywell lawyers. The shocker is that the HR folks are very open on these threats. Honeywell calls this "management" - a form of making you do what you really do not want to do in the first place.

Monday, September 28, 2009

My colleagues and I spent a year training technicians to take our aerospace jobs to Asia. It was very hard to do, but we many of us couldn't see leaving Honeywell at the time. We were all laid off in June. The few that kept their jobs were the game players: Those who spent their entire day emailing colorful excel spread-sheets to the bosses describing everything they did to support the company while doing nothing to contribute to the project that paid the bills; those that played fellow employees against each other in order to create chaos and mistrust; and those that managed to make friends with the person that drew up the "let-go-list" - most likely the boss.

It seems that if you work hard in America these days, you get screwed in return. At my next job, if I hear the word transition, I'm heading for the door.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I am an engineer by training. I used to work as an engineer. Today, Honeywell treats me like an errand boy. The way things used to work, there was trust between engineering and management. Management would outline project goals -- cost, quality, and schedule -- and ask engineering to review. Engineering would adjust the variables if needed, and re-run it by management. Iterate again if needed, then proceed. 99% of the time this produced results that met or exceeded the goals.

Not today. Today, there is no trust, only micromanagement. Management establishes the project goals mostly without input from engineering, and especially as regards costs. Engineering is given a budget with no opportunity for input. Without exception, the budget has been insufficient to support the quality and schedule requirements, but there is no negotiation. This approach has resulted in a continuous string of project failures. Rather than adequately fund the project in the beginning, management prefers to underfund, believe the illusion, and then pour resources towards the job once it becomes a crisis. This has led to missed schedules, missed quality objectives, missed revenue streams, and ultimately a blown budget and employee layoffs.

Had but a single failure like this occured on my watch in the past, it would be mentioned in my review. If I racked up a consistent record of failures, I would have been asked to leave. But the Honeywell management of today apparently either doesn't understand or doesn't care that these failures could have been avoided. Instead, those who caused them get promoted.

I have never seen anything like it. If this is indicative of the way all large corporations are being run, it's no wonder the economy has tanked.

Monday, September 21, 2009 - Re: The September 21, 2009, blog:

I agree 100% with this commentary. I've experienced it myself. I had an opportunity to leave but I chose to stick around for the benefit of helping out my co-workers in a closure. In retrospect, big mistake. Ali Cote and his gang of forty thieves gutted the place brutally and continue to do so elsewhere. Have no love for Honeywell and have no love for your coworkers. If you have an opportunity, take it! A year from now you won't regret it.

Monday, September 21, 2009

If you work for a company that is purchased by Honeywell, my advice to you is to leave immediately. Regardless of the promises made and the depictions of a rosy future, conditions will never again be as good as what you presently enjoy.

Leaving is difficult. But it's also difficult watching your company be slowly dismantled and shipped to China. It's difficult seeing efficient operations trashed in favor of bureaucratic red tape; your competitiveness ruined by imposed inefficiency. It's also difficult to be assigned to help move lines to China, and be coerced into doing so by promises of a better severance package if you stay and help instead of giving 2 weeks notice and leaving.

Do you aid and abet Diamond Dave and his gang of thieves by helping send more jobs overseas, all for a few extra dollars? Or do you leave before you're put in that situation?

When we were taken over, I bought into the propaganda, and only too late realized the truth. My bad. If I had it to do over, I would leave before the ink was dry.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Honeywell is just a name front these days. The caring and quality have long since been abolished, like most of the quality employees. The more smoke you blow, the higher you rise in the Allied Honeywell organization. Thge new motto is : The Bottom Line, whatever it takes. Show Profit any way you can. Cote will drive this company into the ground, quality wise, to get his ego trip (bonus). AFter many years Engineering for Honeywell, I hate to see what is going on now.

Then there are the HR folks that don't have a cluie about morale. They just cover all their actions with lies and PIPs on folks over 50. I feel for the employees that are stuck in this mess. I hear all the time, "This is not your father's HOneywell." What a pity that the Honeywell reputation has come to the current ruthless agenda. Thank God for the US companies that still support the US workers!

Thursday, September 17, 2009 - On the "'disgruntled' point":

Ah! Looks like we have a classic Honeywell Blue (AlliedSignal) VERSUS Honeywell Red. Blues were all by the numbers and metrics - no matter what. Reds was more customer oriented. But I do remember a foul air around the Blues - one of a drive to assimilate the Reds and hence the start of a lot of transitions. The terminology became so extensive that an order came down to no longer use Blue or Red in any communication. Out of this was born The Power of 'one" in the word Honeywell.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - From 'former Honeywell engineer':

Maybe I missed the original 'disgruntled' point. I still think it's funny to respond to the no-sympathy poster by calling them a Cote.

I didn't start with Honeywell, but I did spend most of my career at the company that was bought. You can split hairs on who has more 'longevity' and I promise this is my last post so you get the last word. My point is whatever company you were at, including classic Honeywell, is not really the same company anymore (in my opinion, such as it is).

Is anyone who stays at a place sending out it's current jobs and expanding outside helping their coworkers? I'm not so sure. I recognize the need for 'food on the table', and accordingly I commented about those who had other options. If it's clear that there is to be no growth, why help them stay in business and watch your coworkers get axed. I chose not to, I saw this forum where opinions were being expressed, and I shared this apparently unpopular opinion. But I think it's a point of view worth expressing and I wish I could do it more elegantly.

All the last word posts to various sub-themes here seem to be from Honeywell-proper folks, so I'll stop.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - To "former Honeywell engineer":

You are "amused" by the positions of the remaining Honeywell employees and the statements of the blogger in response to "disgruntled" because you are not an ex-Honeywell engineer. You are an ex-taken-over-by-Honeywell engineer. Consequently, you have no real longevity with Honeywell which has led you to completely miss the point of the response to "disgruntled."

You further disparage one employee who had the audacity to "...work even harder because, unless he did that, he felt that he would be letting people down." You mean his co-workers?

Another: you took issue with was one who "...helped to set up the production lines in China, whose work replaced many, many employees... I wonder if either of them considered their decisions on a larger scope." Consider - you mean like food on the table, a lifestyle for their families, the realization that Honeywell is really not playing by any different rules than any other similarly sized corporation?

I can appreciate your disappointment with how things have turned out for your company once absorbed by Honeywell. It rarely goes well, and God knows I’m not defending Honeywell’s practices. But you really should steer clear of commenting on what or why a long-time Honeywell employee thinks or acts the way they do, because you are speaking from within a context you really know nothing of.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The message system for this weblog is now operating correctly.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

I'm a former Honeywell engineer, having come to Honeywell when they bought my company. It was hard to imagine a better career than what I had, but eventually it was harder to imagine contributing to Honeywell and watching what they do with it. It hurt to leave, and I was as close to it's core as one could want to be, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

I'm amused by those who continue to stay with Honeywell, who by their continued loyalty are helping to fund the loss of American jobs and ensuring that Cote et al will never want in their futures. I share the general sentiment of the 'no sympathy' poster, but I find I still have some sympathy. It's the sympathy you have for a prison convict who's spent so much time on the inside that upon fair release they can't cope with the world, or the sympathy one has for an insect who can't resist the blue light of a bug zapper. Both of those descriptions are how I see my ex-coworkers. I wish I knew how to help them.

At my company I saw good people do a job search, and in the already tough local pre-recession economy they had great offers in hand. And like good institutionalized folks they decided instead to stay and try to make it work. One of them said that he'll work even harder because unless he did that he felt that he would be letting people down. Another even helped to set up the production lines in China, whose work replaced many, many employees. That's just two examples. I wonder if either of them considered their decisions on a larger scope.

I think the unhappy Honeywell folks, particularly the ones whose good companies were bought out, should consider that their old company is gone. Yeah, the customers, products, and cubicles are largely the same, but it is not the same company. I won't go as far as saying quit (though that's the advice I would give my ex-coworkers), but consider where your contributions are going now and how they're being used. Consider what Honeywell does to its employees and customers. Consider what they'll do after you successfully retire. There's no legacy that will be continued.

To the Wed. 9/2/09 poster: Maybe you're misunderstanding the post to which you so strongly responded. At Honeywell, people at our level calling someone an MBA flunky is akin to loudly calling someone m*****f****r anywhere else. Perhaps your strong reaction suggests a part of that 'no sympathy' comment landed close to home.

Or not. I'm just another blogger, just as right or wrong as any of the others.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Diamond Dave! I love that association. It gives me a vision of Dave smiling at you, squinting at you out of one eye and then, suddenly, you see a star-burst flash of light from his eye-tooth - just like in cartoons. Paint the picture next time you see him on a Town Hall telecast.

It as good as Neutron Jack. By the way, these days I actually hear stock analysts starting to put blame on Neutron Jack in the way he used GE Financial - which ultimately destroyed GE's stock value and forced a dividend cut. I guess that "Straight From the Gut" will flow into "To the Colon" and "Straight out the Rectum" once historians finish their work. \

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - To the poster of the 'disgruntled employee' comment:

You either are Dave Cote, or an MBA stooge trying to sound like Dave. In either case, I'll type slow; please try to follow:

Many, if not all, of the posters are those who have given their all to the company. Some are longtime "red" Honeywell employees who have the perspective of what the company used to be prior to the Allied Signal takeover. Others are from smaller companies who have had the misfortune of of being bought out since the Allied takeover, and who have no knowledge of prior Honeywell culture.

In either case, many of us have, or had, satisfying careers in which we were dedicated, creative, responsible, reliable, stable, employees, often for fairly long periods of time. We are the ones who "know", who have the real knowledge, what it takes to run a factory, what it takes to truly delight customers, how to build quality products, how to value employees. We know it, because we've lived it and done it. We know the stuff you MBA types will never know, because you simply don't get it. We are are also embedded in our communities, have kids in schools, serve in our churches, volunteer in the community, have relatives in the area, etc.

These are exactly the things a wet-behind-the-ears MBA stooge fresh out of school knows nothing about. So when you come along spouting off about being disgruntled and that we should just move along and take what's left of our careers elsewhere, you show what a truly stupid, vapid, insipid management-quality idiot you are. We're all of us watching companies that we care about, and have poured heart and soul into, being dismantled and disintegrated in front of our very eyes. We see firsthand the hours of waste, the lack of individual empowerment, and the management double-speak, if not outright lies. On a daily basis we see our company become a little bit less than it was the day before. And it tears our hearts out. Most of us come from companies that were far better run and more productive than the farce that is Honeywell today. We came from companies that truly cared about employees, that gave genuine reviews instead of the fill-in-the-box joke that constitutes a review today. We're from companies where individual input and feedback were actively solicited and acted upon. The only empowerment that exists today is that we're empowered to do *exactly* as management dictates. Otherwise, it's FIFO. Were you taught that acronym in MBA class?

Mr. Poster, my suspicion is that your comments here will be given all the respect they deserve. And that'll probably be similar to the respect Cote's mandatory-attendance quarterly video conferences receive.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - To the "out of sympathy for you" guy:

As you live by the sword, you die by the sword. This is justice. You are obviously well into the Honeywell culture - as I was at one time. I'm no longer with Honeywell. Let me tell you, it's like a breath of fresh air after leaving. I have seen too many good co-workers happy in their early days, who come out like wet-noodles by the time they left - and have now recovered elsewhere.

For all the jargon, that Honeywell cares about its talent, is a load of donkey-dung. You are used, until you are spit out. It's not that these people were not valued at the site level. The site knew the truth because they were there every day. The problem with Honeywell is that it is so centrally controlled, that you dare not have any original ideas or try some innovation at the site. These "wild" ideas disrupt all the functional-metric reporting, and play havoc on the weekly conference calls. No one has the courage on these conference calls to suggest a novel idea. The conversation have a boss-subordinate tone - dressed up as business accumen. If you don't play the good subordinate role, there will be a private call placed from VP to Site Lead and you will be talked to...

One of the other problems with Honeywell is that the company really does not do a good job of vertical integration, wherein you can really add value to the customer and also enjoy expanding gross margin in delighting the customer. Instead Honeywell chooses to compete at an operational level, even within its own businesses. The result is that the product is moved from North America to Asia. Great operationally, but customer focus is lost. We know of some cases where the customer refuses to deal with these long distance affairs and insists on local representation.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

As a long time UOP employee, I take issue with the idea that we are "whiners". This used to be a great job - no I mean a great career - but since Honeywell has taken the reins, morale has fallen through the basement.

The problem with the opinion of the writer of the "love it or leave it" blog post is that he fails to acknowledge the fact that many of the employees have been here for 15 to 20 years and have gotten locked into the job because of decent wages and a bad economy.

As I prepare to work my last few years before retirement, I do so with a heavy heart because I fear I am seeing Honeywell rape, pillage and plunder a once great and noble company. I also kind of figure that that weblog post was written by a management yahoo tyrant just trying to keep all the lackeys in line. Hey, give me a break!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Well, you see - a blog is exactly that, a blog. In this instance, it's about Honeywell. If we are upsetting you, then you should stay away and not get involved with something beyond your comprehension. Most of the people blogging here actually work for the company, and are true Honeywellers who are so sick of how the company is slowly disintegrating, especially after putting so much of there lives into it.

Monday, August 31, 2009

To All disgruntled Honeywell employees who whine endlessly on this weblog -

If you cannot put up with your employer, quit working for him and get yourself a new job. Failing which keep your grievances to yourself and give us readers a break. Please note that we have run out of Kleenex and sympathy for you.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

I think that if I am prepaired to enter in to the share scheme, and commit my mony to buying shares at my risk, the least Honeywell can do is to back me up, instead of cheap-skating out of it. You talk the talk, but you do not walk the walk.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

It's too bad we can't post audio & video on this site, like YouTube. I'm certain that there would be some juicy management material. It would be far more powerful than just the words. We've seen YouTube videos make main stream TV headlines. It will elevate the activism on your site.

In a democracy, all views need to be posted out there for scrutiny. Let's stop hiding it behind Corporate doors! There are no longer any closed doors.

Jim Pinto Note: Youtube videos are typically 3-10 minutes, 30-100 MBytes file size, and are uploaded on the Youtube website. I'll be happy to post weblinkls to any videos, Youtube or other, submitted via these weblogs.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Does anyone hear about rumors that Siemens is buying Honeywell? I heard from the customer....

Thursday, August 27, 2009

I would just like to say to Mark R Jones, SVP Human Resources that instead of addressing me as "Dear Colleague" when explaining how the company is going to assist Dave Cote to get his yearly bonus by reducing the number of matched shares in the options scheme, he should have started the letter off with "Dear Putz".

Thursday, August 27, 2009

"Ducks on a pond" pretty well sums up the entire Honeywell situation, doesn't it? A pretty appearance for topsiders, while beneath the surface morale is nonexistent, rampant inefficiency is everywhere, and management types with their polished MBA's flounder aimlessly.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

You must realize that the code of conduct is implemented by the management to blow smoke for officialdom. It is not implemented to help the rank and file employee. It is there to make the senior management look good to the prying eyes of the outsider. Imagine a mirror-like pond with a duck swimming across it; to the outsider it looks serene, but under the water there is one hell of a lot of movement going on to keep the ducks head above water. Unfortunately the duck is in serious need of a life preserver.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I would like to address the issue of Code of Conduct. Honeywell is very serious about this. Annually, everyone is required to go through an online refresher and quiz in order to gain certification. And yet, we have excutives that behave poorly on telecoms and feel justified to cus and swear for everyone to hear - across all borders. We know that they are in a position of power and recognize that their requests are important. But, it really takes away from their credibility when they resourt to foul language on the phone. It's demeaning and a form of bullying.

VP Integrated Supply Chain - we know that you are in a significant position of power, but you really degrade your influence and supposed intellect with a mouth that my mother would wash out with soap. It's degrading. I'm sorry to have to report this. It's not my nature. But the justice is that, today, these type of people can no longer hide in positions of power as a result of the internet. There is a peotic justice here.

If anyone disagrees, they can post their opposition here.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - To the Contractor ...should you go with Honeywell...

Yes it is true that the rank & file Honeywell employees will go to the ends of the earth to help the Customer - but not at all sites. This is done inspite of Honeywell Management, not because of Honeywell management. Here's why. Contract management will argue with you on the terms & conditions forever. Materiel & Purchasing Manager will nickel & dime you, ask you to hold the inventory and then cancel your deliverables by more than half - leaving you with the cost of inventory. Finance Manager will then promise you 60-day payment, but actually pay in 120 days - or COD, if you really get tough and are important enough. It got so bad at our site that the guys that supplied us with 2"x4" lumber for shipping and crating would put us on COD.

Also, there are so many programs that are shoved down the rank & file employees. Many do not even make sense when pushed down that far. Doing high level math in a Design for Six Sigma program makes no sense at the assembly technicians level. But middle managers (like puppets) don't have the courage, or have extreme fear, in telling the upper levels to STOP. This is because there is a metric on completion of the program that is of a higher calling to Cote - and no one wants to stay in the way of the golden metric. If you do, you get calls from the site leaders, functional leaders, six sigma leaders, etc... as to why you are not complying. So why stand in the way? I've experienced this personally.

All the rank & file guys & gals want is the tools to do their job properly. Many times they do not get them because of cost contrls made by Managers that are responsibile for productivity - but have zero hands-on shop floor experience - that is: paper pushers.

SAP is another issue. Honeywell has been trying to implement it across all sites since 1998. You can fill a mining grade dump truck with the amount of PowerPoint presentations that have been made on this. A delay excuse is always found.

Let me tell you, though, that SAP will make a site leader's life really difficult. You will lose independence and flexibility because there will be a hornet's nest of Corporate MBAs watching your activity from thousands of miles away. There will be no hidding! SAP should normally be considered a positive productivity tool. But because of the military mentality at Honeywell, you will be accused first and asked questions after!

Monday, August 24, 2009

If you really are a customer with this concern, raise it to the executive level of Honeywell management. They have long since proven they don't listen to the employees. But they do listen to customers. Especially when it involves possibly losing revenue. You might just help us both.

By the way, should you go with Honeywell, I know the employees will work themselves to death trying to make sure you get what was promised. As a workforce, and God knows why this is, all things considered, you won't find a more dedicated-to-the-customer group.

Monday, August 24, 2009

I am a customer, and am in a process of starting a big FEED with Honeywell, UK in few weeks time. I am shocked to see all these comments about Honeywell, that the morale within employees is low in the UK. I am now thinking a lot about this, and I am worried about the quality of work that my company will get. But, it's too late to cancel the PO.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Do you not think that the whole financial blueprint that is used to run a business has been proved a failure. With the collapse of the banking and financial systems you do not need much more proof. The only problem is that no one knows what to do to fix it. All they can do is push through all of the outdated concepts while they have the chance, using recession as a smoke screen.

Cote certainly does not have the kahunas to steer us through the choppy water. The rest of the management can barely check their change at the checkout. This problem runs through all businesses that use the "MBA" management structure, it is time to throw away the manuals and start again. Let us dump all the systems and theories that throw a spanner in the works. Let us start with:

1. Six Sigma
2. SAP
3. Globalization
4. MBA theology

Friday, August 21, 2009

Honeywell is like a blood donor who was paid to donate his blood. He liked having cash on hand to impress his friends, so he kept donating blood and flashing the cash, right up to the day he fell over dead from lack of blood.

Honeywell management has sacrificed the vitality of the company in order to appease Wall Street. In reality, the company is withering. First and foremost, a factory needs to produce and sell quality products at a profit. The boys in suits calling the shots have overlooked this small detail. They've got a lot of tricks to make money; too bad they forgot (or never learned) how to operate a factory.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Honeywell has this bad business model, where they spend half the day generating and processing reports - one report in i in different outputs. If one report records that you lost $50, and the other report records you lost $50, a third report will also report you lost $50. Now, if you are so stupid, the 4th report should record that you lost a $100 because you have just wasted $50 printing and reviewing the last 2 reports.

But alas, this is not so bad. Because what you do for the other half of the day is just as stupid. When an order comes in (one a week if we lucky; if you don't have sales people, don't expect the customer to come knocking) it undergoes heart surgery. Every planner wants to put his finger in it. Well, that's the okay bit; it's how they do it that just baffles the mind.

Let me give you a typical order being processed:

A sales order clerk somewhere enters an order into some central system. It is then allocated to the correct manufacturing centre, which is the right thing to do. But, at this point a report is sent out the the factory order person, who will enter this into the factory system. At this point we have done the job twice. The factory computer will blow out a bill of materials to get said job done. Hang on to your seat, I might lose you at this point.

A master scheduler will now generate many reports for people who don't exist, and then bitch and complain because no one is responding to the emails. Then they will schedule a job (that at best has a 60 day lead-time on parts) into the quarter, regardless of how many days are left in that quarter.

This job is then passed onto the planners and buyers, who will generate more reports. And then it starts getting weird; each person at this point will fill in a speadsheet, justifying why they ordering the part, and add the lead time to the report. A meeting then happens, where all the planners and all the buyers (even those who have nothing to do with the job) discuss fancy charts that have zero value.

Usually at this point, someone has to state that they may have to work overtime to get the product out the door. It now becomes the job of one of the planners to hide the extra cost until someone can be found to accept the blame. Remember, up to this point, no actual work has been done to get the job started.

The first thing they have to do is to pay the vendor for the last load of parts, because the vendors are just a little sick of waiting 90 days for payment. The parts have to be flown in, at a much higher cost than recorded, just to make the deadline.

At this point, more justification has to be added to the spreadsheet. Color coding is put on the spreadsheet, so that each person is on the same page. Too bad that each one has a different meaning for the colors. So another meeting is called.

At some point in this process, they have to start saving. So then they spend a couple-thousand dollars, looking at how to save 10 cents, and more reports are created.

Once the engineers get involved, they just open another can of worms. And then the planners are back, updating their spreadsheets.

After all is said, and not done, we have basically given the product away. We are in the red - but hey, we did a good job, it went out on time. Too bad it's such crappy quality. It is going to cost us in warranty costs to go out and fix it.

Now this is the kicker: Our systems are designed to take an order and explode it to all its required functions. All they have to do is follow whatever the computer churns out. There will be no overtime; the job will be done right; time will be allocated correctly for testing and we will save money.

But the again, what the hell do I know about business. I'm only an analyst. I don't have an MBA, and if I had to justify my existence, maybe I would be that stupid.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cote's back at the easy-trough with Q4 pay reductions at SM even when things are looking up in Q3. Any analysts out there listening? Tell him enough is enough. He's going to kill us with his need to please you bunch of magic 8-ballers.