As evidence of its conclusion, AMT reported that contract machine shops (or “job shops”) increased their order volumes in May. These shops are the largest segment of the market for orders for new manufacturing technology, but through the first five months of 2024, they have consistently underperformed the overall market.
Demand for OEM manufacturing technologies is particularly strong among electrical equipment manufacturers and power generation and transmission equipment manufacturers.
“These industries have undoubtedly benefited from government investments authorized by the CHIPS Act and the Infrastructure Act and are therefore less sensitive to interest rates than other industries,” AMT noted.
Auto manufacturing continued to be another significant source of manufacturing technology demand in May, albeit at a less than typically robust pace through 2022 and 2023.
Regional demand for manufacturing technologies was generally strong in May, particularly in the Northeast, where orders for metal-cutting machinery increased 73.3% from April to $77.08 million and up 17.4% from a year ago, but the region’s year-to-date total orders still stood at $287.9 million, 15.2% below 2023 levels.
The North Central East, South Central and North Central West regions also reported strong orders in May, and to a lesser extent in the Western region, but still strong, although year-to-date activity is still below last year’s results.
