Global motion control shipments grow 3.3% in first quarter 2014

Global shipments of motion control products grew 3% in the first quarter of 2014, according to new statistics released by the Motion Control Association (MCA), the industry’s trade group.

“We’re happy to see the continued growth and stability of the motion control market. This trend should continue as more companies invest in automation to stay competitive,” said Dana Whalls, MCA vice president. “Global government initiatives, like the recently announced 2.8 billion Euro SPARC investment by the European Commission and euRobotics should also contribute to industry growth.”

“The motion controllers category continued to be one of the hottest areas in terms of growth in the first quarter with orders increasing 29% over last year,” said Alex Shikany, MCA director of market analysis. “Additionally, our most recent survey of industry experts has uncovered optimism that shipments of motion controllers, AC drives, AC motors, and actuators & mechanical systems will increase in the next six months.”

MCA summarizes market results in quarterly tracking reports and trend analysis reports. These reports examine orders and shipments by major product category with tables and graphics. Growth rates and book to bill ratios are provided as well 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).

All reports are available free of charge to all MCA 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 MCA, visit Motion Control Online.