September U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $667.47 million according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Order (USMTO) program, was up 40.7% from August and up 13.4% when compared with the total of $588.80 million reported for September 2011. With a year-to-date total of $4,282.11 million, 2012 is up 5.6% 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.
“In the 17 years that this data has been collected, there is only one other month that broke $600 million," said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. "Both of those were in months that reflected sales from IMTS, showing its strength as the largest manufacturing event in the Americas. It’s possible we could average $450 million a month for all of 2012 — the largest year ever for this program. This speaks to tremendous strength in the manufacturing industry, and is proof that IMTS 2012 was the strongest show seen in years.”
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 September totaled $70.75 million, up 42.6% from August’s $49.63 million but down 37.1% when compared with the September 2011 figure. At $561.88 million, 2012 year-to-date is down 8.4% when compared with 2011 at the same time.
Southern region: Southern region manufacturing technology orders totaled $103.06 million in September, a 57.9% increase from the $65.29 million total for August and 32.1% more than the total for September 2011. The year-to-date total of $619.54 million is 15.0% more than the comparable figure for 2011.
Midwest region: At $206.83 million, September manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest region were up 34.2% when compared with the $154.11 million total for August and up 20.7% when compared with September a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $1,369.92 million, 2012 is up 4.5% when compared with 2011 at the same time.
Central region: September manufacturing technology orders in the Central region totaled $182.10 million, 43.5% more than August’s $126.94 million and up 14.8% when compared with the September 2011 figure. At $1,220.67 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 9.0% more than the comparable figure for 2011.
Western region: Western region manufacturing technology orders in September stood at $104.72 million, 33.7% more than the August total of $78.34 million and 53.4% higher than the figure for September 2011. The $510.09 million year-to-date total was 8.0% above the total for the same period in 2011.