February Meeting: Using SharePoint In A Tech Pubs Department

Join us on Wednesday, February 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to hear first-hand from Mary Sheahan how Honeywell has incorporated SharePoint into its operations.

Mary tells us…

In 2005, Honeywell Tech Pubs in Northford, Connecticut, started using Microsoft SharePoint to maintain a reference library of user documents and data sheets. In Honeywell speak, we’re using a SharePoint “teamroom” — what the rest of the world calls a WSS site. Our writers have since begun releasing PDFs directly to this teamroom. We are using the site for electronic document review and approval, and for signing out part numbers for our data sheets. Recently, we added a library of product labels for use by Purchasing & Manufacturing departments. We have a department-only section with internal “help topics” and are experimenting with a collaborative online SOP in a department-only section.

This site has almost eliminated requests for specific documents, the exception being that Tech Support sometimes needs obsolete product materials and we post items scanned from our cabinets. Webmasters use it to check that they have the most recent copy of their PDFs. Users can sign up for automated alerts to learn when a document changes. Purchasing no longer requests replacement files when changing vendors. Our off-site writers swear by it…although sometimes we all swear at it. We have found a lot of uses for the tool, and we’ve created workarounds for some of SharePoint’s limitations. We’re also looking ahead to Honeywell’s rollout of the next (current) SharePoint edition later in the year.

Our teamrooms are used by writers and reviewers in 4 U.S. states, translators in 3 countries, and readers on 5 continents.

There is a possibility of a factory tour. If you are interested, call Mary directly at 203-484-6350 before February 8.

NOTE: Due to after-hours building security, RSVPs are needed for this event. 

DIRECTIONS
Honeywell is located at 12 Clintonville Road (Route 22) in Northford, CT 06472.  

I-91 from Hartford

1. Take I-91 South to Exit 12, Washington Ave. Exit in North Haven.
2. Take a left onto Route 5 and follow it about a mile to the intersection of Route 5 and Route 22 (Church & funeral home on the left).
3. Take a left onto Route 22 East (Clintonville Road).
4. Travel through two more traffic lights and over a set of railroad tracks. At this point, the area is mostly residential.
5. Honeywell is about a mile further on the left-hand side of Clintonville Road, near the Northford Ice Pavillion.

I-91 from New Haven

1. Take I-91 North to Exit 11. 
2. At the exit ramp, take a right onto Route 22 (Clintonville Road).
3. Stay in the right-hand lane and continue straight through the first light onto Clintonville Road.
4. Travel through two more traffic lights and over a set of railroad tracks. At this point, the area is mostly residential.
5. Honeywell is about a mile further on the left-hand side of Clintonville Road, near the Northford Ice Pavillion.

The Merritt-Wilbur Cross Parkway (SR-15) from Fairfield County

1. Take SR-15 Northbound.
2. Take Exit 63 to the traffic light at the end of the ramp and go right onto Route 22.
3. Stay in the right-hand lane and continue straight through two traffic lights onto Clintonville Road.
4. Travel through two more traffic lights and over a set of railroad tracks. At this point, the area is mostly residential.
5. Honeywell is about a mile further on the left-hand side of Clintonville Road, near the Northford Ice Pavillion.

The Merrit-Wilbur Cross Parkway (SR-15) from Meriden

1. Take SR-15 Southbound.
2. Take Exit 63 to the traffic light at the end of the ramp and go left.
3. At the very next traffic light, go left onto Route 22.
4. Stay in the right-hand lane and continue straight through two traffic lights onto Clintonville Road.
5. Travel through two more traffic lights and over a set of railroad tracks. At this point, the area is mostly residential.
6. Honeywell is about a mile further on the left-hand side of Clintonville Road, near the Northford Ice Pavillion.