CEMA reports 2017 shipments up nearly 16%, an increase of $1.85 billion

The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) has reported that 2017 shipments in North America were up 15.95%.

CEMA estimates that shipments totaled $14.038 billion for 2017, a record level and an increase of $1.85 billion from 2016 shipments of $12.188 billion.

CEMA estimates that new orders totaled $14.145 billion in 2017. New orders in 2017 were $1.82 billion more than 2016, representing an increase of 15.55%. Unit handling orders were up 15.6% and shipments were up 19.2%. In the bulk conveying area, orders were up 15.4% and shipments were up 7.7%.

CEMA president, Paul Ross, announced the results at the Association’s 85th annual meeting in Naples, Fla., earlier this month. CEMA tracks new orders and shipped sales volume in nine classes of unit handling equipment and four classes of bulk handling equipment.

The executives representing CEMA member companies who attended the annual meeting expressed continued optimism and forecasted shipments will increase 9.0% for 2018.

Also at the annual meeting, Ned Thompson, president and CEO, Prab, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich., was elected president of CEMA.

Other officers elected at the Association’s Annual Meeting:
Vice President – Michael Hoehn, president, Automatic Systems, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.
Secretary – Mike Nisenbaum, director of industrial distribution sales and marketing, Timken-
Carlisle, Springfield, Mo.
Treasurer – Noel Bell, vice president, conveyor divisions, Martin Sprocket & Gear, Arlington, Texas

Elected to the Board of Directors were:
Garry Abraham, GM & CEO, Screw Conveyor Corporation, Hammond, Ind.
Chris Glenn, vice president of operations, Hytrol Conveyor Co., Inc., Jonesboro, Ark.
George Huber III, president, Industrial Kinetics, Inc., Downers Grove, Ill.
Mike Stegmann, product manager, Boston Gear, Charlotte, N.C.

Carryover members are:
Andrew Felter, president & CEO, Webster Industries, Tiffin, Ohio
Chris Maines, vice president, project engineering, Honeywell-Intelligrated, Mason, Ohio
Johnny Wheat, president, 4B Components Ltd., Morton, Ill.

CEMA, the industry leader in safety and technical standards and founded in 1933, makes available to member and nonmember companies safety labels for all types of conveyor equipment as well as useful technical information, standards, and manuals.
Highlights of what is available for purchase;
● Belt Conveyors for Bulk Materials 7th Edition - “The Belt Book”
● Bucket Elevator Book Best Practices in Design
● CEMA Application Guide for Unit Handling Conveyors 2nd Edition - “The Unit Book”.

These books are authoritative technical manuals for conveyor design worldwide. Some publications available Portuguese, and Spanish in addition to English.

Click here for further information on CEMA, “The Voice of the Conveyor Industry of the Americas” or its member companies, or to order safety labels or CEMA publications.