Global motion control shipments grow 6.2% in the first half of 2014

Global shipments for motion control products grew by 6.2% to $1.5 billion in the first half of 2014, according to new statistics released by the Motion Control Association (MCA), the industry’s trade group.

“Solid growth in the motion control market is aligned with the double digit growth we are seeing in the robotics and machine vision industries,” said Dana Whalls, MCA vice president. “Manufacturers and distributors are optimistic that we’ll see continued growth in 2014.”

“Strong increases in sales of motion controllers, motors, and actuators/mechanical systems have driven the growth in the first half of 2014,” said Alex Shikany, MCA director of market analysis. “Motion controllers have been especially hot recently. Since the beginning of 2009, the motion controller category has averaged 19% growth per quarter through the second quarter of 2014.”

Individually, the second quarter of 2014 followed a good first quarter with 8.4% growth to $764 million. The main growth categories for the second quarter were AC motors (36.9%), motion controllers (36%), and actuators/mechanical systems (12.4%).

MCA summarizes market results from suppliers and distributors in quarterly tracking reports and trend analysis reports. These reports examine orders and shipments by major product category quarterly and annually with helpful tables and graphics. Growth rates and book to bill ratios are provided for each product category. MCA also provides an economic indicator report, which enables report users to interpret quarterly statistics from the standpoint of macro-economic indicators by individual manufacturing industry, as identified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).