March U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $399.83 million according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 30.3% from February’s $306.96 million but down 18.7% when compared with the total of $491.73 million reported for March 2014. With a year-to-date total of $1,052.29 million, 2015 was down 12.7% when compared with 2014.

“There are many indications that our end-user customers are making significant investments in their manufacturing facilities to increase capacity, including GM’s announcement that it will invest billions in its U.S. plants,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “Overall we expect the industry to hold steady with a push-pull between strong domestic investment in manufacturing but a drag on foreign trade due to the dollar’s strength.”

PLEASE NOTE:  AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s intent is to always provide timely and accurate economic reports to our community. For this reason, in October we began making an adjustment to the USMTO report. Due to a change in survey participants the year over year comparison number for Metal Forming and Fabricating is not an accurate reflection of the data. We have adjusted the data for the past 12 months to take this change into consideration. The new chart reflects a consistent year over year comparison of the data at the current participation level.

Both Patrick McGibbon and AMT President Douglas Woods are available for further comment on USMTO and its importance as a leading economic indicator.