Honeywell Aerospace is considering bringing more outsourced capabilities back in-house as it works through persistent supply-chain bottlenecks, with chief executive Jim Currier highlighting continuing quality and delivery problems among suppliers. The move comes as the aircraft systems maker tries to lift output across a supply base still constrained by castings, forgings and other hard-to-source parts.
Currier said Honeywell Aerospace has already reversed some outsourcing decisions made between 2010 and 2019 and is open to further vertical integration. The company has also sent skilled employees to supplier factories to help improve production, and those assisted sites have recently posted a year-on-year output increase of about 30% over the past 30 to 45 days.
Honeywell Aerospace still has about 70 suppliers failing quality and delivery targets, down from hundreds in 2022, underscoring how much of the recovery remains concentrated in a limited number of critical operations. The company is also considering bolt-on acquisitions as part of its broader effort to secure capacity and reduce reliance on weak points in the supply chain. GE Aerospace’s planned acquisition of a castings maker was cited as a parallel example of the industry’s push to secure scarce manufacturing capability.