Tooling Improves Nationally

In the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) Summer 2005 Survey, 21 percent of respondents reported business was “excellent,” and 71 percent termed it “good” or better, the best results since 1998. Forty-nine percent of respondents expect business to improve in the next three months, while only 6 percent expect a decrease.

Quoting (27 percent), shipments (41 percent), profits (27 percent) and employment (34 percent) increased for many firms over the previous three months.

The National Tooling and Machining Association found 75 percent of respondents reporting “good” or better conditions and 55 percent expecting increased sales in the next quarter. Quoting (42 percent), shipments (48 percent), order backlog (39 percent), profits (37 percent) and employment (37 percent) increased for many firms.

The five-state North Central Region, which includes Michigan, fared better than most of the country, with more instances of increased quoting (50 percent), shipments (55 percent), order backlog (47 percent), profits (45 percent) and employment (41 percent).

Oddly, only 53 percent of respondents believed business would improve and 72 percent rated business conditions “good” or better.

According to statistics compiled jointly by the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $249.79 million in May, up 22.7 percent from 2004. With a year-to-date total of $1.2 billion, 2005 was up 17.9 percent over 2004.

In the Midwestern Region, year-to-date consumption was nearly flat at $425 million, up just 1.3 percent over 2004.