July U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $354.63 million according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 11.5% from June and down 1.4% when compared with the total of $359.70 million reported for July 2013. With a year-to-date total of $2,711.36 million, 2014 is down 2.3% compared with 2013.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“We continue to see manufacturing as a leading player in the U.S. economy. While manufacturing technology orders were down for the month, we believe we are coming into an environment ripe for capital investment,” said Douglas K. Woods, President, AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. “With a strong PMI reading in July and a record high for U.S. exports, manufacturing shows no signs of slowing. Additionally, as capital equipment is reaching an advanced age and interest rates are continuing to stay low, we believe we will see strong order activity in the months following IMTS.”  

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 six geographic breakdowns of the United States. 
 
Northeast Region

Year-to-date manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region through July totaled $430.85 million, off 8.4% when compared with 2013 at the same time.

Southeast Region

At $245.17 million, 2014 year-to-date manufacturing technology orders in the Southeast Region were down 2.4% when compared with the total for 2013 at the same time.

North Central-East Region

July manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-East Region totaled $91.30 million, down 21.9% from June’s $116.87 million but up 10.3% when compared with the $82.79 million figure for July 2013. With a year-to-date total of $754.86 million, 2014 was 5.9% higher than the 2013 total at the same time.

South Central Region

At $65.07 million, July manufacturing technology orders in the South Central Region were up 14.9% from June’s $56.63 million and up 6.9% from the $60.85 million total for July 2013.  Year-to-date orders totaled $434.78 million, 0.3% more than the comparable figure for 2013.

To read the full July USMTO report, click here.