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November 2024 US Cutting Tool Orders Total $183.1 Million, Down 0.3% Year-to-Date From 2023

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report compiled in a collaboration between AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), totaled $183.1 million in November 2024. Orders decreased 13.8% from October 2024 and were down 9.7% from November 2023. Year-to-date shipments totaled $2.25 billion, down 0.3% from shipments made between January and November of 2023. The year-to-date growth rate has declined every month since April 2024.  

“Uncertainty due to the election and now potential changes to policy have kept new projects and orders for manufactured products on hold, resulting in stagnant cutting tool consumption,” explained Jack Burley, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group. “Despite lower new orders for durable goods, the outlook remains optimistic for a return to more activity across all sectors. Aerospace was the most significant cause for the reduction in manufacturing activity, and many machine shops and tier 1 suppliers continue to wait for U.S. commercial aircraft orders to get back on track.”

Costikyan Jarvis, president of Jarvis Cutting Tools, added: “Recent cutting tool consumption data reveals complex dynamics in the manufacturing sector as 2024 ended, providing crucial insights into potential 2025 trends. The final quarter of 2024 showed notable volatility, with October posting strong numbers followed by a significant decline in November. This pattern suggests ongoing adjustments in manufacturing production schedules and investment decisions. Overall consumption levels remain historically robust, with monthly figures consistently exceeding $180 million. With the PMI improving, Boeing going back to work, and the overall reshoring of manufacturing, 2025 looks to be a much stronger year.”

The Cutting Tool Market Report is jointly compiled by AMT and USCTI, two trade associations representing the development, production, and distribution of cutting tool technology and products. It provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers’ consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process, the cutting tool. Analysis of cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it is a true measure of actual production levels.

For more information, visit amtonline.org.

November Manufacturing Technology Orders Climb, Setting Up Strong End to 2024

Orders of manufacturing technology, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, totaled $448.8 million in November 2024. These orders for metalworking machinery increased 16.8% from October 2024 and 12.4% from November 2023. Year-to-date orders reached $4.18 billion, a decline of 5.7% compared to the first 11 months of 2023.

After a slow start to 2024, orders of manufacturing technology began trending upward following September’s IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show. This continued in November, with new orders nearly 30% above a typical November and at the highest order level for any November since 2021. November 2024 orders nearly equaled those in September, when IMTS opened its doors at Chicago’s McCormick Place. This is further evidence of the lengthened buying cycle for metalworking machinery in recent months. As the impetus for capital investment shifts from augmenting capacity to quality and efficiency improvements, the time between an initial quotation and an order being placed has expanded.

With the exception of September 2024, contract machine shops, the largest consumer of manufacturing technology, placed the largest order since March 2023. This is a welcome sign for the larger manufacturing sector, as these shops typically receive additional work when OEMs experience capacity constraints. Aerospace manufacturers decreased their orders modestly from October but remained slightly above their 2024 average, indicating the effects of the nearly two-month strike of Boeing machinists likely only shifted demand.

Although orders of manufacturing technology tend to correlate positively with interest rates over the long run, recent trends have shown more of the inverse correlation that conventional economic thinking would expect. This is in stark contrast to the previous example of an economic soft landing, where orders peaked along with interest rates and began to decline slightly as the Federal Reserve began loosening their monetary position. Given this trend, along with a tendency for manufacturers to expend their capital budgets by year’s end, orders from December 2024 could show a strong end to an irregular year.

For more information, visit www.amtonline.org.

Wabtec to Acquire Evident’s Inspection Technologies Division

Wabtec Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire Evident’s Inspection Technologies division (Inspection Technologies), formerly part of the Scientific Solutions Division of Olympus Corporation, a global leader in Non-Destructive Testing, Remote Visual Inspection and Analytical Instruments solutions for mission critical assets. Recognized for its industry-leading brands and reference-standard technologies, Inspection Technologies brings highly attractive and complementary technologies to Wabtec’s Digital Intelligence business. This acquisition positions Wabtec for accelerated, profitable growth while reinforcing its strong commitment to enhancing customer productivity, reliability and safety.

With a 50-year legacy of innovation and commitment in advancing mission-critical applications, Inspection Technologies serves its global customer base through a geographically distributed sales force and four engineering and production facilities in North America and Japan with more than 1,300 team members.

“The addition of Inspection Technologies aligns with our growth strategy to accelerate the innovation of scalable technologies, increase our installed base, expand high margin recurring revenues and continuously drive operational performance,” said Rafael Santana, President and CEO of Wabtec.

“I am incredibly excited to partner with Evident’s talented Inspection Technologies team to further enhance our presence in key markets and applications. Together, we will drive profitable growth, lead in customer value and innovation, and maximize value creation. Inspection Technologies will augment our existing offerings in the rail, mining and industrial sectors while broadening our reach into other high growth, high margin complementary sectors,” said Nalin Jain, President of Wabtec’s Digital Intelligence Group.

Inspection Technologies’ leading industry presence and innovative product portfolio will significantly expand Wabtec's capabilities, adding advanced automated inspection capabilities, driving technology in a space where data acquisition, analytics and automation are critical. Moreover, the integration of Inspection Technologies into Wabtec will leverage Wabtec’s extensive software development expertise, engineering depth and focus on operational excellence to deliver superior solutions to customers.

“Our deep expertise, shared commitment to innovation and strong customer relationships will unlock significant value. The combination of our two skilled teams and complementary portfolios will accelerate the development of first-class, intelligent monitoring solutions to meet the changing needs of the industries we serve,” said Karen Smith, Executive Vice President of Evident Inspection Technologies.

Headquartered near Boston, MA, Evident’s Inspection Technologies division is expected to achieve approximately $433 million in revenue for calendar year 2024, with EBITDA of approximately $112 million, translating to a margin of 25.9%. Beyond its strong financial performance, Inspection Technologies adds a highly stable and predictable revenue base, bolstered by a recurring revenue stream of approximately 68%.

This acquisition expands Wabtec’s Digital Intelligence business growth opportunities, effectively doubling the size of its total addressable market (TAM) from approximately $8 billion to $16 billion, while enhancing its ability to deliver innovative solutions to a broader range of customers.

Wabtec agreed to acquire Evident’s Inspection Technologies division for $1.78 billion (~$1.68 billion after tax benefits), subject to customary adjustments. The transaction is anticipated to provide immediate shareholder value with a high single-digit revenue growth outlook, accretive Adjusted EBIT margins and accretive return on invested capital (ROIC) over time. Additionally, the acquisition is projected to be slightly accretive to Adjusted EPS in the first year of ownership. The purchase price reflects an estimated multiple of 12.0x projected 2025 EBITDA adjusted for transaction and separation costs, anticipated tax benefits, and projected run-rate cost synergies of $25 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, with the Company expecting to finalize the purchase of Inspection Technologies by the end of the first half of 2025.

This strategic acquisition strengthens Wabtec's portfolio, accelerates its penetration into high growth industrial markets and aligns with the Company's long-term vision of driving innovation, productivity, safety and reliability, ensuring the integrity of mission critical assets, infrastructure and supply chains on a global scale.

For more information, visit www.wabteccorp.com or www.evidentscientific.com.

The Association for Advancing Automation Promotes Shikany to Executive VP

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) announced the promotion of Alex Shikany to executive vice president. Previously serving as vice president of Membership & Market Intelligence, Alex brings over a decade of dedicated leadership and innovation to his new role.

As executive vice president, Alex will oversee several key operations for A3, serving as the day-to-day liaison to the A3 Board of Directors and leading the A3 Leadership Team. His focus will be on driving strategic initiatives, fostering collaboration, and enhancing member value to advance A3’s mission.

A3’s President Jeff Burnstein said that his decision to create the new role of Executive Vice President was based on the rapid growth of the association over the past several years. “In the past five years we’ve doubled the size of our team, established Automate as North America’s leading annual robotics and automation event, and expanded our international activities that currently focus on Mexico and India. With A3 in its strongest position ever, and Alex running the internal operations, I’m now able to spend most of my time on A3’s long- term strategy in areas such as new partnership opportunities, expanded efforts to accelerate adoption of automation, and our global footprint.”

Burnstein also praised Shikany’s contributions to A3’s success. “Alex has been a transformative force for our team, demonstrating visionary leadership, a strategic mindset, and collaborative approach. His efforts have shaped our direction, and I am confident he will continue to elevate the Association’s impact on the automation industry.”

Reflecting on his promotion, Shikany stated, “It’s an honor to step into this new role and further A3’s mission to drive innovation and growth in the global automation industry. I am grateful for the incredible team at A3, as well as our talented members and community, whose efforts drive meaningful change and innovation worldwide.”

For more information, visit https://www.automate.org/.