To play in global markets, the game for manufacturers is to stay ahead of the competition -- as in this old African proverb:
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
When the sun comes up, you'd better start running."
Running unaided is out. Winning in manufacturing, ultimately, is determined by how fast you can run while armed with the latest technology.
U.S. manufacturing technology consumption in May grew to $319.40 million, according to data compiled by the Association of Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA). The total was up 21.4% from April and up 29.7% from the total of $246.27 million reported for May 2005. With a year-to-date total of $1,437.11 million, 2006 was up 22.0% compared with 2005. "May's growth in consumption is particularly encouraging because it is shared across every region of the country," says John J. Healy, AMTDA president. "While May was one of the four best months in the current recovery, the important point is that the trend in orders continues to be upward."
By July, record first-half reports began to be released, even by machine tool companies noted for specializing in serving the family-run job shops. For example, Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation Inc. reported record production numbers and shipments for the first half of 2006. Small job shops typically comprise as much as 70% of the customer base, says Jeff Law, sales and product manager for horizontal machining centers.
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Even amusement parks are staying ahead with robots. Kuka leverages its industrial robot technology with the Robocoaster, an adaptation serving as an amusement
park ride. |
During the period of Jan. 1 through June 30, the company built and shipped more than 6,000 CNC machines to customers around the world, and June was its best month ever as it shipped 1,198 machines -- an all time record for Haas.
At current production levels, Haas is on track to build more than 13,000 machines this year and surpass its goal of $700 million in sales. In 2005, sales topped $574 million, making it the largest dollar-volume builder of machine tools in North America. The company also built more than 10,000 machines in 2005, making Haas the largest unit-volume builder of CNC machines in the world. All Haas products are manufactured at the company's 1-million-square-foot facility in Oxnard, says Law.
But even as the industry revels in the new levels of machine tool investment, there are plenty of reasons to push on with the technology race. One is the potential for competitive gain among U.S. manufacturers. For example, notes John B. Byrd, III, president of the AMT, the average age of machine tools on U.S. plant floors is 12 years. Then, too, consider that China's machine tool investments are racing ahead of the U.S. without any signs of slowing. In 2006 China's cumulative investments in machine tools since 1998 will exceed that of the U.S., Byrd notes. In 2005 China invested more in machine tools than the U.S. -- $10.9 billion vs $5.8 billion. (China consumes 21% of the world's machine tool production, according to the AMT.)
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