The picture was cloudy. The signs mixed. Even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the economy was uncertain. That uncertainty, combined with the fallout from the tragic events of Sept. 11, impacted the bottom line of Quality magazine's Second Annual Quality Spending Survey. But a month later, as the initial shock of the events began to fade, a follow-up survey showed that the mood was more wait-and-see than doom and gloom.
It is in this context that Quality magazine forecasts the quality market for 2002. Our projections show that spending next year for test, measurement and inspection equipment, software and services will total $3.4 billion at the 45,000 plants served by Quality magazine. This is a drop of 15% compared to last year's $4 billion forecast for 2001 spending.