Manufacturing technology orders for September 2016 were up 56 percent compared to August and up 52 percent over September 2015, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report from The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT).
According to the report, all major customer sectors except the auto industry saw dramatic increases in order levels in September. September 2016 manufacturing technology orders were valued at $497.25 million, compared to $319.00 million in August and $327.08 million in September 2015. Year-to-date orders for 2016 stand at $2,914.39 million, a 6.4 percent decline compared to the same point in 2015.
“Every two years in September, the impact of The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) on the industry is reflected in the USMTO report. I call it the ‘IMTS Effect’,” said AMT president Douglas K. Woods in a press release. “This year’s uptick in orders indicates manufacturers are eager to see and confident enough to invest in the latest manufacturing technology to improve their operations and products, but the momentum will slow heading into 2017.”
USMTO data is a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing companies invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.
“Overall, the year is expected to finish down about eight percent,” said Pat McGibbon, AMT vice president of Strategic Analytics, in the press release. “We won’t see the December surge we usually see when manufacturers rush to take advantage of expiring tax incentives because they were extended or made permanent in 2015.”