Manufacturing technology orders down in February

February U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $304.74 million according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, was down 10.6 percent from January's $341.02 million and down 14.8 percent when compared with the total of $357.86 million reported for February 2014. With a year-to-date total of $645.76 million, 2015 was down 9.8 percent compared with 2014.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“U.S. manufacturing is facing some pressure in terms of a stronger dollar and lower capital expenditures from the energy industry, but in taking the long view, we’re still in a good position overall,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “The automotive and aerospace industries continue to be strong performers, and a number of international manufacturers are making significant investments in U.S. production facilities. We project that manufacturing technology orders will gain momentum as we move through the second quarter.”

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.

NOTE: AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s intent is to always provide timely and accurate economic reports to our community. For this reason, we are making an adjustment to the USMTO report. Due to a change in survey participants the year over year comparison number for Metal Forming and Fabricating is not an accurate reflection of the data. We have adjusted the data for the past 12 months to take this change into consideration. The new chart reflects a consistent year over year comparison of the data at the current participation level.

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

North Central-East Region—North Central-East Region manufacturing technology orders in February stood at $70.80 million, down 23.2 percent from January’s $92.19 million and down 15.2 percent when compared with February 2014. At $162.99 million, year-to-date orders are 3.3 percent less than in 2014 at the same time.

North Central-West Region—With a February total of $77.07 million, North Central-West Region manufacturing technology orders were 34.5 percent more than January’s $57.33 million and 34.5 percent higher than the February 2014 total. Year-to-date orders totaled $134.40 million, up 26.5 percent from the comparable figure for 2014.