3M, facing delivery issues, hires Honeywell supply chain boss

Four words are haunting 3M right now: on time, in full.

A troubling amount of the company’s products aren’t reaching customers or retailers, either as full shipments or at the right time.

“We’re definitely losing business,” CEO Bill Brown told analysts on an earnings call last month in reference to the supply chain struggles. “When somebody needs something right now, and we don’t have it available, that is causing them to go someplace else even though we have a better brand, sometimes a better product, at an attractive price.”

Just a month after Brown’s remarks, the company’s supply chain leader, Peter Gibbons, announced his retirement this past Friday. The same day, the Maplewood-based company named Torsten Pilz , the chief supply chain officer at rival Honeywell, as Gibbons’ successor to start in May.

“He joins 3M with proven experience leading complex, integrated global supply chains, having driven improvements in safety, plant efficiency, working capital and network design while enhancing quality and delivery,” the company said in a statement.

Pilz has been with Honeywell since 2018 and previously served as a vice president at SpaceX and Amazon. Honeywell recently announced it is splitting off its aerospace and automation divisions into separate businesses. Honeywell — once headquartered in Minneapolis but now based in Charlotte, N.C. — has several facilities around the Twin Cities, including some that are part of those split-off businesses.

Years removed from the pandemic-prompted global supply chain crisis, 3M delivered products on time in full 88% of the time last year. That was up from 85% in 2023 and 80% in 2022. But it’s still not enough to prevent lost sales and return the company to sales growth, Brown’s top priority.

“It will take a fundamental shift in our approach to raise services levels to where they need to be,” Brown said on the call.

The safety and industrial segment was faring worse last year — in the “low 80s,” Brown said — but he expects it closer to 90% this year.

“Our on-time-in-full performance out of the factories has not been that great,” Brown said to analysts. “It’s improving, but it has not been that great.”

Pilz will shoulder the task of bringing the on-time-in-full rate above 90% this year.

“We’re on it. We’re pushing on it,” Brown told analysts. “It’s certainly gotten a lot of attention inside the company, and the team is pretty laser-focused on making those improvements.”

3M is also bringing in a new chief strategy officer, Jonathan Van Wyck, currently a Minneapolis-based managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. His first day will be April 7.

“Van Wyck’s responsibilities will include all strategy and corporate development activities with a focus on building strategic planning depth both at the corporate level and within our businesses,” the company said in a statement.

Pilz and Van Wyck will both report directly to Brown as the CEO.

3M is hosting an investor day at its corporate headquarters Wednesday, where the supply chain troubles and these new hires will likely be prominent topics.