Global motion-control shipments increase 5% in the first nine months of 2016

Dec. 1, 2016
Statistics are from the Motion Control & Motor Association, the industry's trade group.
Aerotech's FiberMaxHP photonics alignment platform provides 2 nm linear and 0.05 μrad rotary minimum incremental motion for optical fiber alignment. Aerotech is a member of the motion-control industry's trade group, MCMA. (Image: Aerotech from http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2016/07/aerotech-photonics-alignment-platform-provides-2-nm-linear-minimum-incremental-motion.html)


Global shipments for motion-control products increased by five percent to $2.4 billion in the first nine months of 2016, according to statistics released by the Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA; Ann Arbor, MI), the industry's trade group.

"After a contraction in 2015, it is encouraging to see a return to growth for the motion-control market in 2016," says Alex Shikany, MCMA's director of market analysis. "The year-to-date growth has been driven primarily by strong increases in actuators/mechanical systems (14% to $423m), electronic drives (12% to $451m), and motion controllers (6% to $119m). Individually, the third quarter of 2016 saw shipments increase by 10% to $828 million over the same period last year."

MCMA sees the market's strong performance reflected in the growth of its membership and networking events. In October, MCMA reached a new membership milestone with 222 member companies from around the world. MCMA member companies with ties to the optics and photonics industry include Aerotech (Pittsburg, PA), Ametek Advanced Motion Solutions (Kent, OH), Heidenhain (Schaumburg, IL), Seimens (Atlanta, GA), Micromo (Clearwater, FL), National Instruments (Austin, TX), and SICK (Minneapolis, MN).

MCMA's market reports free to member companies
MCMA 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 tables and graphics. Growth rates and book-to-bill ratios are provided for each product category. MCMA also provides an economic indicator report tht allows report users to interpret quarterly statistics from the standpoint of macroeconomic indicators by individual manufacturing industry as identified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Reports are available free of charge to all MCMA members. Members providing data for the reports receive full versions of the reports, which are detailed examinations of order and shipment results. Nonparticipating members receive abridged reports, which contain shipment results.

MCMA is a not-for-profit trade group. To learn more about MCMA, see http://www.motioncontrolonline.org/About-MCMA.

Source: MCMA

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