Manufacturing technology orders soar in September
Manufacturing technology orders posted in August and September yielded the second largest two-month total in the program’s history at $1.1 billion.
The latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report from AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, showed that the September surge of $609 million yielded a 50 percent increase over September 2017 and a year-to-date 27 percent increase over the first nine months of 2017. After a record-breaking August, the 17 percent gain seen in September was larger than expected and a testament to the industry’s surge to increase capacity swiftly.
“We are seeing unprecedented demand for manufacturing technology as companies invest to drive up efficiencies and automate to backfill for skilled worker shortages. While we anticipated an overall uptick in orders due to IMTS, it was feared that a strong August meant companies would buy less at the show in September,” said AMT president Douglas K. Woods. “Clearly, that was not the case. While there have been some concerns about tariffs, market swings, and the mid-term elections, none of it is swaying focus on growing the manufacturing base as both domestic and foreign manufacturers increase their capex
investment in the United States.”
Nationally, industrial machinery represented the largest pickup in activity during September, climbing 152 percent over August. Job shops represented about a third of all orders, topping $200 million and up 65 percent from a strong August.
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