The latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report, brought to you by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has clocked in July 2023 orders for manufacturing technology at $353.9 million. While that is a dip of 12.4% from the previous month (June 2023), it's only 10.5% lower compared to July 2022.
Douglas K. Woods, the president of AMT, expanded on these numbers, saying this isn't that worrisome as July is usually a slower month for tech orders in manufacturing. The real story here is that for two months running the gap in year-to-date orders has been shrinking, even during the traditionally slow times. Job shops might be scaling back, but other industries cashing in on reshoring and government funding are helping to fill the void.
Job shops saw their lowest monthly orders since August 2020. On the flip side, metal valve makers hit it big with their third-highest monthly order value ever, last seen back in September 2018. Their orders made up nearly 5% of all orders for July 2023. Motor vehicle transmission manufacturers kept their steady machine-ordering spree. As for the aerospace industry, they're not quite hitting the high notes they hit in early 2022. However, there are some new projects that have been announced, like the government's $1.5 billion investment in communication satellites, likely helping to reverse this trend.
Woods rounded it all off by saying that manufacturing tech orders are feeling the heat from higher interest rates and some economic jitters. But there are more sales opportunities than we've seen in ages thanks to our growing domestic capacity. “That is what has kept manufacturing technology orders well above their historical levels despite the recent downward trend, and it will likely lead the industry out of any mild recession on the horizon," said Woods.
