Manufacturing Technology Orders Up

“Manufacturing technology orders are off to their best start since 1998,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “U.S. manufacturers continue to seek increases in productivity through automation and innovative technologies to increase their global competitiveness.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (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
Northeast Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $53.14 million in February, 5.7 percent less than the $56.34 million total for January and 3.7 percent less than the total for February 2011.

Southern Region
At $53.30 million, February manufacturing technology orders in the Southern Region were up 45.2 percent when compared with the $36.71 million total for January and up 54.2 percent when compared with February a year ago.

Midwest Region
February manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region totaled $164.43 million, 14.1 percent more than January’s $144.14 million and up 46.6 percent when compared with the February 2011 figure.  

Central Region
Central Region manufacturing technology orders in February stood at $132.21 million, 1.9 percent more than the January total of $128.82 million and 32.2 percent higher than last February’s total.  

Western Region
Manufacturing technology orders in the Western Region in February totaled $41.99 million, up 4.1 percent from January’s $40.32 million and up 53.7 percent when compared with the February 2011 figure.