Honeywell bundles new home offering

SYOSSET, N.Y. - Officials at Honeywell International are throwing the full weight of the industrial giant’s Automation and Controls division behind a new bundled offering designed to populate as much as possible of a new home with Honeywell branded products. Officials from Honeywell outlined their strategy to dealers in the manufacturer’s First Alert program at the annual First Alert conference held in November in Scottsdale, Ariz. The new plan was set to be unveiled at the National Builder’s Show in Las Vegas in mid-January, where a full suite of Honeywell products, from its HVAC division, security, structured wiring, as well as the company’s ANSO carpet fiber and Genetron refrigerant product lines, said Jay Schrankler, vice president of marketing for Honeywell’s automation and control products. Much of the drive for Honeywell in branding security and related offerings in the new construction market pivots off the acquisition of FutureSmart, a maker of structured wiring products that the company purchased in October. The addition of the structured wiring line will ensure that Honeywell, and its national installer base, can capture more market share in the new construction market. “First Alert dealers by default are authorized Honeywell dealers,” said Kevin O’Connor, president of First Alert. “With FutureSmart, we are setting up that infrastructure, which has to be done at the time of new construction. That will be our gateway into the home.” The company will also draw on it preexisting relationships with builders on the HVAC side, which currently deals with the top 25 builders, in form or another, Schrankler said. Through a sales team of 14 Residential Application Specialists or RAS, the gap between the HVAC contractor the homebuilder is bridged, Schrankler said. “What’s happening is now the RAS will bring one Honeywell opportunity, which includes security, structured wiring and HVAC to the builder,” he said. Through a model similar to Honeywell’s existing HVAC market, RASs will seek out interested builders on a local, regional or national level and will connect that builder with the Honeywell security sales rep. In turn, the sales rep will find an installation company in the First Alert program that is compatible with that opportunity, Schrankler said. That also includes having a presence in the builder’s showroom for the lucrative upselling opportunity, he said.