June U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $405.73 million according to The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 12.6% from May but down 2.1% when compared with the total of $414.26 million reported for June 2013. With a year-to-date total of $2,349.38 million, 2014 is down 2.7% compared with 2013.

“Order gains in June were driven by two factors – the end of the quarter and continued strength in key customer industries, especially automotive, aerospace, medical and energy,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “What really warrants attention, however, is a rise in the average value of orders, as this suggests manufacturers are making investments in greater productivity as well as capacity. Our forecasts suggest continued moderate growth throughout the rest of the year and going into 2015.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, compiled by the trade association representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.