After dipping nearly 3% from 2014 to 2015, motion control product shipments jumped in a big way in 2016, according to statistics released by the Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA), the industry’s trade group. Last year, total shipments reached $3,245,105, nearly 10% more than in 2015.
“New opportunities in automation for motion control and motors help drive this growth,” said Dana Whalls, Vice President of MCMA. “Automation technologies are enabling rapid growth in the manufacturing industry. We see this trend continuing through 2017.”
That's great news for a slumping industry, and nearly every category saw improved numbers.
"The manufacturing sector expanded for most of the year, and demand rose for each product category,” said Alex Shikany, MCMA Director of Market Analysis. “The top three largest segments in this market, Motors (9.6% to $1.2b), Electronic Drives (10.5% to $603.1 million), and Actuators & Mechanical Systems (19.5% to $572.1 million) increased on a year over year basis, helping drive the overall growth. The smaller AC Motors segment grew the fastest at 24.3% to $34.3 million.”
Reports are available free of charge to all MCMA members. Members providing data for the reports receive “full” versions of the reports, which are highly detailed examinations of order and shipment results. Non-participating members receive “abridged” reports, which contain shipment results. Members find the reports valuable as gauges of overall market performance and as benchmarks for assessing relative company performance. To learn more about MCMA, visit Motion Control Online.
