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Posted October 9, 2017

Manufacturing technology orders up in August

The expansion of manufacturing technology orders slowed in August, but continued to push recovery into its third quarter according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report.


August orders were up 16 percent from July and 14 percent from August 2016.

As industry leaders and analysts gather in Atlanta this week at AMT’s Global Forecasting and Marketing Conference (GFMC) to share insights into the future of the manufacturing technology market, the signs are for a rocky but continuing climb in orders into 2018.

“The 16 percent growth in orders in August was surprising as orders tend to slow during the summer months,” said AMT president Doug Woods. “Meetings with our industry’s top executives at the European manufacturing technology show in Hannover – EMO – were peppered with optimism for continued growth through the rest of 2017 and into 2018. Still, Washington can shore up that optimism if they can find the will to collaborate on tax reform to build an even stronger basis on which to invest in U.S. manufacturing capacity. “

“The conclusion I draw from the USMTO data is that the U.S. market for manufacturing technology is in the midst of a significant recovery, and our leading indicators support that statement,” said AMT VP – Strategic Analytics Pat McGibbon. “The U.S. isn’t alone in this recovery, as nine out of 10 of our peers from the top 10 manufacturing technology producing nations recently said that their nations’ production levels will rise in 2018.”

Conversations with AMT members pointed to a concern about the sudden slowdown in orders from the automotive industry during August, which fell by nearly 30 percent from July. August orders continued to expand in the face of that deficit, though, thanks to significant growth in orders placed by the job shop industry, power generation and several significant aerospace projects. Though the northeast typically benefits from growth in aerospace investments, the region still recorded a 4 percent decline in orders relative to July. Every other USMTO region posted double-digit increases and the southeast region posted a near doubling of orders in August.

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