According to the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA), technology consumption totaled $438.95 million through September. This total was up 21.7% from August and up 6.7% compared with numbers through September 2006.

“Evidence that manufacturing is alive and well in the U.S. can be seen in September’s extraordinary surge in manufacturing technology orders,” says John B. Byrd III, AMT president.  “It is especially impressive that orders surpassed those placed in September of 2006, when the biennial International Manufacturing Technology Show was held in Chicago, traditionally a peak in order activity.”

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States.

Northeast Region

Manufacturing technology consumption in the Northeast Region in September stood at $46.26 million, down 8.9% when compared with August’s $50.77 million and 21.8% less than the total for September a year ago. At $470.54 million, the 2007 year-to-date total was 10.9% higher than the comparable figure for 2006.

Southern Region

Totaling $49.86 million, September manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern Region was 6.3% higher than August’s $46.90 million and 19.4% higher than the September 2006 tally. The year-to-date total of $401.86 million beats the comparable figure for 2006 by 6.5%.

Midwestern Region

At $206.04 million, Midwestern Region manufacturing technology consumption in September was up 79.8% when compared with August’s $114.60 million, and 46.7% higher than the September total last year. Compared with 2006 at the same time, the year-to-date total of $974.16 million represented an 8.7% increase.

Central Region

In September, Central Region manufacturing technology consumption stood at $97.48 million, 3% less than the $100.48 million total for August and 20.5% less than the total for last September. Compared with 2006 at the same time, the year-to-date total of $811.76 million was up 8.6%.

Western Region

At $39.31 million, Western Region manufacturing technology consumption in September fell 17.9% compared with the $47.90 million total for August, and was 37.0% less than in September 2006. The year-to-date total of $418.34 million was 4.4% less than the comparable figure in 2006.