February U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $444.06 million according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 9.3 percent from January and up 35.2 percent when compared with the total of $328.44 million reported for February 2011. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program. "Manufacturing technology orders are off to their best start since 1998," said AMT President Douglas K. Woods.  "U.S. manufacturers continue to seek increases in productivity through automation and innovative technologies to increase their global competitiveness." The 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. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.