MT Magazine January/February 2026

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

TECHONOMICS

33

historical trends, research from AMT can help you assess an industry’s near-term need for additional manufacturing technology.

You Don’t Have To Stay Out of the Insight Knowing the economic trends of an industry is a prerequisite to knowing your customers in that industry. In 1984, the U.S. economy began to show signs of rising inflation, yet real income increased for the third year in a

row. Consumers had money to spend but were still extremely price-sensitive and sought value. Tapping into that economic sentiment brought the catchy slogan to the cultural forefront – and demonstrates the value of understanding the economic factors that influence customer decisions. Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas, underscored this point when he put knowing one’s customer among the three prerequisites to starting a business.

That’s Why They Call It the Jungle At the 2025 MTForecast conference, Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, described how the factors driving the aerospace sector were primarily on the supply side of the market because demand is expected to remain firm. Now, months later, some may wonder if that still applies and if any updates could impact new orders of manufacturing technology. As part of their membership benefits, AMT members may submit research requests, including for updates on any customer industry that is important to their business. Satisfying a research request for an industry update begins by compiling data from government and private sources, as well as any relevant news that impacts the industry. Trends in the number of establishments and employees can help gauge the longer-term outlook, while statistics like capacity utilization can measure the real-time pulse of the industry. Additional data, such as that collected by AMT’s proprietary statistical programs, and industry insights add further depth to the analysis. Developing nuanced context and a comprehensive understanding of the industry are crucial for companies to make informed decisions and seize available opportunities. For instance, in the aerospace sector, capacity utilization rates, which began increasing after the end of the Boeing machinists strike in the last quarter of 2024, reached their highest level since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a recession. While sudden capacity constraints can occur with little effect on demand for capital equipment, the data on new orders and backlogs indicate that this is not currently the case for the aerospace industry. Rising capacity utilization, combined with a backlog that grew 16.4% from September 2024 to September 2025, point to a high likelihood that the elevated investments in metalworking machinery from the aerospace sector are likely to continue. By pulling together news, data, expert insights, and analyzing

Events like MTForecast and the Winter Economic Forum are the best opportunities to learn the trends likely to influence the consumption of manufacturing technology. However, between these events, submitting a research request to AMT can provide actionable information when the most common question in sales meetings becomes “Where’s the beef?”

If you have any questions about this article, please contact Chris at cchidzik@AMTonline.org.

Scan here to download the data that accompanies the analysis in this article. This is an example of what you can receive by submitting a research request to AMT.