Thanks to Army, Honeywell's plans moving forward

Honeywell Safety Products

Joe Nappi worked for Delphi for 25 years, leaving the company as a lean manufacturing specialist — a job he continues today with another employer, Honeywell Safety Products.

Nappi said he’s not surprised to find himself still working with a Dayton manufacturer. Honeywell said this week it is bringing on 150 new workers to make Army cold weather gear at its Innovation Court facility, work worth $8 million a year.

“I’m a made-in-America guy,” Nappi said. “I’m sorry, but I know we can do things here in the United States.”

Honeywell is supplying U.S. Army cold weather garments to ADS Tactical, which has a contract with the Army to supply the gear.

The garments are designed to withstand temperatures as cold as -50 degrees F when worn in all its layers, said Jeff Morris, president of Honeywell’s First Responder Products and a 1985 Alter High School graduate.

The Army wanted the gear made domestically, Morris said. He recalled the August day when the company learned that it had passed the Army’s crucial FAT or “first article test” — a milestone that paved the way for the order.

“There was a lot of excitement here,” Morris said. “These people had worked hard.”

“There was a lot of pride,” said Jimmy Lewis, a Honeywell team leader.

Government representatives still visit the plant at least once a week to ensure that standards are being met, Morris said.

Leaders of Norcross Safety Products — which Honeywell acquired in May 2008 — had planned an expansion before the Honeywell acquisition, but Tony Wyman, Honeywell vice president of sales, said those plans were “stalled” until Honeywell got involved.

Having a large international company involved proved to be a “big lift” to the business, Morris said. The Norcross acquisition included the well established Dayton-based Total Fire Group and Morning Pride Manufacturing businesses.

While fire safety products remain the company’s first focus, that area isn’t growing, so there’s an effort to expand into police, military and tactical sectors, Wyman said. “There aren’t new fire departments popping up all around the country,” he said.

Honeywell is working with a Dayton vendor — Webb and Son Sewing Machine Sales — for new sewing equipment and the potential modification of existing equipment, said Honeywell spokesman Jim Green. Raw materials all come from domestic suppliers outside the region, he said.