CEMA forecasts 7.5% growth in conveyor industry for 2017

At its 84th Annual Meeting, The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) forecast strong industry growth, with North American shipments expected to increase 7.5% in 2017 following 1.6% growth in 2016.

The 2016 shipments figure fell slightly short of CEMA’s original prediction a year ago, but still totaled $12.2 billion for 2016, a record level and a 2.2% increase of $265 million from 2015 shipments of $11.9 billion. CEMA president Garry Abraham announced the results at the Association’s 84th annual meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., earlier this month.

Dan Fannin, chair of CEMA’s statistics committee and vice president of commercial excellence at Regal Beloit America, said in a presentation during the annual meeting there were a lot of positive drivers for the unit handling segment.

“This will be a good year, and e-commerce will drive a lot of that,” he said. “2017 will be a down year for bulk, but 2018 will be a good year for bulk and should carry over into 2019. There will be more jobs coming back to the U.S., and that’s something you should be thinking about.”

He also cautioned members to be watchful for inflation.

“A lot of the inflation will be real, but but a lot will also be driven by a perception as companies wonder if they can get another nickel on price,” he Fannin said. “There will be high artificial demand while many play the game of trying to get things now before prices go up.”

CEMA estimates that new orders among its members totaled $12.324 billion in 2016, making up about a third of the estimated $36.7 billion industry. New orders for CEMA in 2016 were $1.17 billion more than 2015, representing an increase of 9.8%. Unit handling orders were up 17.0% and shipments were up 5.8%. In the bulk conveying area, orders were down 5.4% and shipments were down 7.7%. CEMA tracks new orders and shipped sales volume in nine classes of unit handling equipment and four classes of bulk handling equipment.

CEMA also elected as its president Paul Ross, president of Douglas Manufacturing Co., Inc., Pell City, Ala.

Other officers elected at the Association’s Annual Meeting:
Vice President - Ned Thompson, chairman, president & CEO, Prab, Inc., Kalamazoo, MI
Secretary – Michael Hoehn, president, Automatic Systems, Inc., Kansas City, MO
Treasurer – Mike Nisenbaum, director of industrial sales and marketing, Timken-Carlisle, Springfield, MO

Elected to the Board of Directors were:
Jerry Heathman, president, Chantland Pulley & Roller Company, Humboldt, IA
Mark Jones, vice president engineering and marketing, Nord Drivesystems, Waunakee, WI
Chris Maines, vice president, project engineering, Intelligrated, Inc., Mason, OH
Johnny Wheat, president, 4B Components Ltd., Morton, IL

Carryover members are:
Noel Bell, vice president, conveyor division, Martin Sprocket & Gear, Arlington, TX
Bob Callahan, executive director, sales-marketing-business development, Senqcia Maxco, Kennesaw, GA
Dusty Bradley, vice president, marketing, Precision Pulley and Idler Co., Pella, IA
Andrew Felter, president & CEO, Webster Industries, Tiffin, OH