Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

Honeywell's Adamczyk Is Right for These Industrial Times

A technocrat is poised to claim the industrial crown.

December 27, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC

Corrected

January 2, 2018 at 5:59 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

1514314126_honeywell — Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg

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There's an opening for a new king (or queen) among industrial leaders, and Honeywell International Inc.'s Darius Adamczyk is as good a candidate as any to claim the title.

The titans of American manufacturing -- ushered in during a wave of CEO appointments in the early 2000s -- are coming to the end of long tenures. Some have seen their stars fade, such as General Electric Co.'s former CEO Jeff Immelt and Emerson Electric Co.'s Dave Farr, whose attempt at rewriting his legacy with a Rockwell Automation Inc. takeover was foiled this year. Dave Cote, Adamczyk's predecessor at Honeywell and still the company's chairman, is among the lucky few that will get to retire on a high note. The next generation has to pick up where these leaders left off, for better or for worse.