Honeywell and Phillips Petroleum completed a five-year programme to modernise and upgrade Phillips Petroleum Company's Sweeny Refinery and Petrochemical Complex.
Honeywell's industrial automation and Control business along with Phillips Petroleum Company have celebrated the completion of their joint five-year program to modernise and upgrade Phillips Petroleum Company's Sweeny Refinery and Petrochemical Complex. In June 1994, Phillips formed a business alliance with Honeywell. Working together, the companies created a master Manufacturing Automation Plan (MAP) for modernising and integrating control technology and information systems at the Sweeny site.

Honeywell served as the general automation contractor and assumed all project management responsibilities for the modernisation work, providing on-site project management, engineering and procurement services.

This approach offered Phillips single-source accountability for the project.

It also reduced Phillips' overall total cost of ownership and improved the company's ability to respond to changing business conditions.

'The results achieved by the joint Honeywell-Phillips MAP team on the largest, most comprehensive automation program completed in industry, to date, clearly demonstrate the powerful competitive advantage possible through a strategic business relationship,' said Jerry Walker, VP, Strategic Corporate Accounts for Honeywell IAC.

Honeywell and Phillips also implemented three major new products during the program: Fail Safe Controllers, Global User Stations and High Performance Process Managers.

The ability to incorporate changing technology during the course of the on-going program demonstrated a high degree of agility on the part of Phillips and Honeywell.

'We are very proud of the improved efficiencies and overall success at the Sweeny Complex,' stated John Mihm, Vice President of Technology and Project Development for Phillips.

The project was made easier and less costly by contracting with one general automation contractor instead of multiple outside engineering firms, consultants and suppliers.

Moreover, the highly integrated project team was successful in reducing labour costs, while a collaborative premising process minimised disruptions to plant operations.