Week 23 in Manufacturing News

Manufacturing profits rose 7.2% in the first quarter, from the previous period

U.S manufacturing companies’ seasonally adjusted after-tax profits rose 7.2%, or by $11 billion, to $164.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, from $153.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The profits increased by 4.7%, or by $7.3 billion, from $156.9 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Source: Talk Business.

Manufacturing shrinks as Brexit stockpiling halts

The UK manufacturing sector contracted in May for the first time since July 2016 as stockpiling eased ahead of Brexit, an influential survey shows.

The research, by IHS Markit/CIPS, said firms found difficulty convincing clients to commit to new contracts.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 49.4, down from 53.1 in April when it was lifted by stockpiling ahead of the UK’s expected EU exit. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction. The last time there was reading below 50 was the month after the EU referendum.

Source: BBC.

German manufacturing orders rise slightly

German manufacturing orders picked up slightly in April, the second month of growth as foreign demand rose, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Thursday.

Orders in the manufacturing sector have stabilized at a low level in the last two months as foreign demand picked up, the German economics ministry said. “Industrial activity is likely to remain subdued in the second quarter,” it added.

Total orders for the key sector rose 0.3% month-on-month, whereas economists polled by The Wall Street Journal last week expected a 0.1% rise.

Source: MarketWatch.

Things You Need To Know About IIoT In Manufacturing

These and many other fascinating insights are from IoT Analytics’ study, IIoT Platforms For Manufacturing 2019 – 2024 (155 pp., PDF, client access reqd).

• Discrete manufacturing is predicted to be the largest percentage of Industrial IoT platform spending for 2019, growing at a CAGR of 46% from 2018.
• IIoT platforms are beginning to replace MES and related applications, including production maintenance, quality, and inventory management, which are a mix of Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) technologies.
• Global spending on IIoT Platforms for Manufacturing is predicted to grow from $1.67B in 2018 to $12.44B in 2024, attaining a 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in seven years.
• Manufacturers are most relying on IIoT platforms for general process optimization (43.1%), general dashboards & visualization (41.1%) and condition monitoring (32.7%).’

Source: Forbes.

You might also be interested in Manufacturing ERP and Industry 4.0.