Orders, shipments up
By staff -- Industrial Distribution, 2/1/2001
The survey of shipments and orders of pneumatic and hydraulic products shows a welcome rise in sales through three quarters of 2000. The National Fluid Power Assn. surveys about 100 members and a running chart for the nine months ending last September shows healthy gains in all three segments: pneumatic, industrial hydraulic and mobile hydraulic.
The upswing began to gain momentum in January of 2000, after a slight rise in numbers at the end of 1999. The first six months of the year saw double-digit increases in shipments and orders of pneumatics, and shipments and orders of industrial hydraulics. Mobile hydraulics numbers were up significantly, as well.
According to Joe O'Brien, of Gibson Engineering in Norwood, Mass., orders and shipments increased in all areas over 1999, a trend he says may be slowing for 2001.
"Orders were up. Shipments were up, and we did get new customers. Our business exceeded general expectations in that dollars grew in field bus technology, that they're now part of the pneumatic package," O'Brien says.
Through November, orders and shipments at Iowa Fluid Power were up about 16 percent, according to Donald Kaas, president.
"Component sales were up, but not as much as our value-added services. They were up 25 percent, and that will be our growth this year, too. The high-tech end of this business really grew last year and...will be the way to go [in the future]," Kaas says. He added that he expanded his business last year into hydraulic product testing, an area he says expanded his capacity for value-added services.
O'Brien agrees distributors need new sources for revenue increases. "Orders and shipments are up, but ...if we see an increase for 2001, it will be in market share here," he said.
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Pneumatic Shipments Pneumatic Orders Industrial Hydraulic Shipments Industrial Hydraulic Orders Mobile Hydraulic Shipments Mobile Hydraulic Orders Oct '99 0.1 1.7 -11.0 -4.7 -7.9 -7.7 Nov '99 0.8 2.3 -10.9 -4.3 -7.3 -6.7 Dec '99 1.8 3.0 -10.3 -3.5 -6.7 -5.2 Jan '00 14.3 16.5 6.5 10.8 4.9 8.6 Feb '00 12.4 12.9 15.5 15.8 5.7 10.3 Mar '00 16.0 12.6 13.6 15.3 5.3 10.9 Apr '00 13.7 10.7 14.8 11.3 4.6 8.4 May '00 13.3 11.7 14.9 11.6 6.3 11.4 June '00 11.9 9.3 13.9 10.9 7.0 11.5 July '00 9.5 6.7 14.0 9.5 6.5 11.9 Aug '00 8.8 6.9 14.1 10.3 6.5 10.2 Sept '00 7.4 6.0 13.2 10.1 5.0 7.3 |
Note: The above table expresses cumulative percent changes. For example, the January pneumatic shipments figure of 14.3 means that for the calendar year through January 2000, shipments were up 14.3 percent.
Source: National Fluid Power Assn. For other statistics, contact NFPA at 414-778-3372
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