Despite this decline, Douglas K. Woods, the president of AMT, stated that the drop in orders was expected and that January's orders are almost 17% higher than a typical January. This mild slowdown could help reduce the backlog and enable the manufacturing technology industry to deliver machinery with shorter lead times when economic activity picks up later in the year.
The U.S. Census Bureau compiled data that showed that from January 2021 to the present, new orders for metalworking machinery exceeded shipments by over $750 million. In contrast, in 2019, shipments were over $1.2 billion higher than new orders.
Although there has been a slight decline in orders, Woods noted that distributors with machinery in stock or builders with shorter lead times still have several opportunities.
One area of interest is the shift in popular technologies for contract machine shops, with a significant increase in orders for machining centers with simultaneous 5-axis capability indicating the need for additional capacity to produce more complex parts domestically. Another area of interest is the construction and mining machinery manufacturing sectors, which are likely to experience an uptick in manufacturing technology orders due to new pipeline infrastructure coming online in the Permian Basin and plans to develop domestic sources of lithium.
Overall, with these developments in mind, the manufacturing technology industry is poised for continued growth in the coming year.
