How Ignorance of Physics Nearly Bankrupted Honeywell

Introduction

Using the catastrophe of the DPS-88 mainframe as an example, this is the story of how a major corporation made a fatal mistake during the transition from prototyping to mass production. "On January 15, 2009, the world applauded Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson. In this 'Miracle on the Hudson,' a key role was played by the auxiliary power unit (APU), developed by Honeywell."

Seven Dwarfs Against Snow White

Since the 1960s, IBM dominated the mainframe market. Seven competitors earned the nickname "The Seven Dwarfs":

1. Honeywell
2. Univac
3. Burroughs
4. NCR
5. Control Data Corporation (CDC)
6. RCA
7. General Electric (GE)

Honeywell specialized in control and measurement instruments and had its own operating system, GCOS, but was chronically underfunded.

General Electric's Legacy

In 1970, General Electric exited the computer market. Honeywell acquired their division, gaining new customers, engineers, and the operating system GECOS (renamed to GCOS).

In the 1970s, Honeywell developed three directions:

• GE/Honeywell mainframes (H-6000 line)
• Level 6 minicomputers
• Niche developments, including the infamous Honeywell H316 kitchen computer

The Last Push Toward the Summit

Honeywell formed strategic alliances:

• France (CII-Honeywell Bull): a joint venture for the European market
• Japan (NEC): licensing VLSI technologies

Honeywell DPS-88: The Machine That Was Supposed to Beat IBM

In the early 1980s, Honeywell introduced its flagship mainframe DPS-88 (codename Orion).

DPS-88 Specifications:

• Performance four times higher than the DPS-8/70
• Use of high-speed CML (Current Mode Logic) chips
• High component packing density on ceramic substrates
• Water cooling due to heat dissipation

Cost: base model — $1.74 million; full configuration — $4.51 million.

The Fatal Mistake in Material Selection

During the transition to mass production in 1982, engineers replaced expensive gold conductors with copper ones. "Copper is not only cheaper but also has similar, even slightly better, electrical conductivity. The decision seemed logical and economically sound."

Soon after installation, the systems began failing. The failures were unpredictable but always related to open circuits or short circuits.

Electromigration: Physics Strikes Back

The cause was electromigration — the physical phenomenon of atom transport within a conductor under the action of electrons.

The mechanism in the DPS-88:

1. High current density in the circuits
2. Electrons transferred momentum to copper atoms
3. Copper atoms began migrating, forming voids and hillocks
4. When voids grew, circuit breaks occurred; when hillocks grew, short circuits resulted

"Copper, unlike gold, proved extremely susceptible to this phenomenon under the conditions of high temperature and current density in the DPS-88. What was most terrifying, the defect was delayed — it manifested not immediately, but after months of operation."

Consequences for Honeywell

The scandal became the largest failure in Honeywell's computer history:

1. Mass recall: systems had to be replaced with the new DPS-90 model
2. Financial blow: costs ran into hundreds of millions of dollars
3. Reputational oblivion: customers lost trust in Honeywell

After 1985, Honeywell acknowledged IBM's dominance and began implementing compatibility with IBM systems. By 1991, the company had completely exited the mainframe, minicomputer, and terminal markets.

Epilogue

"Honeywell's story in the computer business is a story of great ambitions, technical genius, and one fatal mistake caused by economizing on physical principles."

Most of the "Seven Dwarfs" didn't survive the 1990s. Honeywell survived by returning to aviation, aerospace, and control systems, where its products work flawlessly.