New orders for metal cutting, forming and fabricating machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $321.7 million in July 2024, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO).

The total was down 19.3% compared with June orders, and down 7.8% year-over-year.

Year-to-date, orders through July totaled $2.53 billion, down 10.5% from the first seven months of 2023.

“July is typically one of the slower months of the year for manufacturing technology orders. Despite that, July 2024 is 3.8% above the pre-2020 average for the month,” according to AMT’s July report released Sept. 11. “Cancellations were the highest since July 2023, and the ratio of cancellations to new orders remained above the historical average in all but two months of this year.”

Despite the mixed messages, there are signs that the industry may be at the beginning of the anticipated rebound, the report said.

“While the value of orders declined from June to July 2024, the number of units ordered in July 2024 increased by 1.9% over June 2024,” according to the USMTO.

The July USMTO report also shared the following:

• Contract machine shops — the largest customer of manufacturing technology — increased orders nearly 10% from June to July, indicating shops are beginning to expand capacity in anticipation of their customers placing additional orders for parts.
• Medical equipment manufacturers increased the value of their orders from June to July 2024 while decreasing the number of units. With a manufacturing process that requires high precision, traceability, and customization, the medical industry typically places orders for more sophisticated machinery. Some estimates predict this industry will grow by 50% between now and 2029, so this sector is poised to become a reliable customer of manufacturing technology.
• Orders for electrical generation and distribution equipment manufacturers were flat from June to July 2024. However, because July was a down month, they comprised a larger share of the total orders. This sector has pulled back orders from their peak in early 2023 but remain on an upward trend. Increased power demand from data centers as well as a larger focus on grid modernization has made this a very important sector for manufacturing technology.