U.S. Manufacturing Technology Industry Generally Optimistic About 2020 Despite Decrease in November Orders
U.S. manufacturing technology orders fell 15 percent in November from the previous month to $320 million, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. For the first 11 months in 2019, manufacturing technology orders were $4.1 billion, down 19 percent from $5 billion in 2018 which was an especially strong year.
“This figure is in line with expectations we’ve had since January that 2019 spending would be about 20 percent lower than in 2018,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “Given how strong a year 2018 was, current dollar volumes are still healthy compared to the average over the past ten years.” He continued: “November’s drop in the dollar value of orders by 15 percent while units fell by only 3 percent reflects an aggressive move by sellers to reduce inventory before the end of year. The dollar volume would have been lower if not for the growth in orders for complex machines as larger manufacturers returned to the marketplace.