Year-to-Date U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders up 4.1% Over 2011

Oct. 8, 2012
August U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $470.44 million according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT)

August U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $470.44 million according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, was up 3.4% from July but down 4.7% when compared with the total of $493.60 million reported for August 2011. With a year-to-date total of $3,606.56 million, 2012 is up 4.1% compared with 2011. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“It’s a great sign for the industry to see both month-to-month and year-over-year gains in August, historically one of the slowest months for orders,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president.  “With U.S. manufacturers still working through five months’ worth of backlogs along with what seemed to be exceptional order activity at IMTS this September, we may very well see a record year for USMTO over and above the last peak in 2011.”

The USMTO report, compiled by the trade association representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States:

Northeast Region

Manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in August totaled $49.18 million, down 23.9% from July’s $64.60 million and down 24.4% when compared with the August 2011 figure. At $490.68 million, 2012 year-to-date is down 2.0% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Southern Region

Southern Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $64.77 million in August, a 1.0% increase from the $64.11 million total for July and 11.7% more than the total for August 2011. The year-to-date total of $515.92 million is 12.0% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Midwest Region

At $152.95 million, August manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region were up 11.0% when compared with the $137.74 million total for July and up 6.6% when compared with August a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $1,158.02 million, 2012 is up 1.6% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Central Region

August manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $124.49 million, 4.8% more than July’s $118.77 million but down 30.0% when compared with the August 2011 figure. At $1,036.10 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 7.8% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Western Region

Western Region manufacturing technology orders in August stood at $79.04 million, 13.5% more than the July total of $69.65 million and 60.5% higher than the figure for August 2011.  The $405.85 million year-to-date total was 0.4% above the total for the same period in 2011.

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