After three years of reduced demand, orders of metalworking machinery had a strong rebound in 2025. New orders of metalworking machinery, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, totaled $5.74 billion in 2025, a 22.5% increase over the value of orders placed in 2024. Nearly 1,700 more machines were ordered in 2025, representing an 8.5% increase in units over 2024.

Historically, there has been a reliable correlation between the number of new machines ordered and their aggregate value. As orders were nearing their post-COVID peak in the final quarter of 2021, that correlation began to loosen. The divergence that persists to today can be explained largely by demand for automation, which tends to increase value faster than unit counts, as well as the particular mix of customer industries who are driving demand for metalworking machinery in recent years.

Interesting patterns can also appear when examining the order data by technology. Recently, orders for inspection equipment have exhibited the divergence between value and unit trends like in the overall market. Yet, at the same time, the value of inspection equipment ordered has moved in the opposite direction from the market for metalworking machinery more frequently since 2021, than at any time since the data began.

A Closer Look

From 1998 to 2021, there was a close correlation between number of new inspection systems ordered and their aggregate value. In a similar fashion to the market for machinery, the correlation between units and value broke down after 2021. While the machinery market showed a mild divergence, the correlation between units and value for inspection equipment inverted, as value continued to rise despite the falling number of units ordered. Determining what industrial sectors were driving demand for inspection equipment during this episode would be helpful to uncover some meaning behind the trend. Growing demand for inspection equipment from the aerospace sector and flat to modestly declining demand elsewhere was very likely a factor in the growing divergence between value and unit growth for inspection equipment.

Taking a wider and more recent look at the order value data, some of the similarities with the market for machinery begin to disappear. Prior to 2022, annual orders of inspection equipment would rise or fall in the same direction as machinery investments roughly 75% of the time. Contrasting the former trend to recent years, 2025 was the first year where inspection and machinery investment moved in the same direction since 2021. From 2021 to 2024 inspection equipment orders grew 10%, while machinery expenditures fell 21%. A better understanding of the reasons behind this divergence can help assess if 2025 was an anomaly or a return to earlier trends, however, that analysis would require an article unto itself.

Focusing on the Distance

If previous relationship between the value of orders for metalworking machinery and inspection equipment hold true again, we can infer the market for inspection equipment will grow nearly 1.5% in 2026 based on the latest forecast of machinery order growth. Capacity constraints among aerospace manufacturers and the sector’s growing role in demand for inspection equipment, strengthening the probability of growing demand in 2026. Further, cutting tool consumption is also expected to increase in 2026, indicating a heightened level of industrial output that could necessitate additional investment in inspection capacity in other customer segments.

Additional insight into manufacturing technology demand and the trends shaping the industrial market are most efficiently gathered at the MTForecast Conference in October 2026, however, in the meantime, the latest market updates and industry news can be delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to AMT’s twice-monthly newsletter