Courtesy of Peerless Electronics
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Heard in the Channel: Manufacturing Continues Steady Growth Through 2016

Sept. 23, 2014
Report from MAPI points to energy, construction, transportation, and medical as key growth industries; plus news from Avnet, Mouser, Peerless Electronics, and Anixter.

The U.S. manufacturing sector will grow steadily through 2016, according to a new report from the MAPI Foundation, a research group of the Manufacturer’s Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. Its latest quarterly U.S. Industrial Outlook, released this month, calls for 3.4% growth in 2014, 4% in 2015, and 3.6% in 2016.

Manufacturing industrial production increased 4% in the first half of 2014, the group said, noting that growth in the sector continues to outpace that of the overall economy.

“The proximate cause for faster industrial growth is that demand has shifted toward manufactured goods,” MAPI Foundation Chief Economist Daniel J. Meckstroth said in announcing the report. “Durable goods, equipment, and construction have long lives and therefore are temporarily postponable, especially during economic downturns and times of uncertainty.”

Meckstroth pointed to energy infrastructure, residential and nonresidential construction, transportation equipment, and medical supplies and equipment as key growth drivers through 2016. Construction machinery, at 11% growth, and housing starts, at 10% growth, will lead growth in the near term, while housing and aerospace products will spur growth in 2015. Looking ahead to 2016, Mekstroth says housing should continue its strong momentum, followed by electric lighting and private nonresidential construction.

According to the report, non-high-tech manufacturing production (which accounts for 95% of the total) is anticipated to increase 3.2% in 2014, 3.8% in 2015, and 3.2% in 2016. High-tech industrial production (computers and electronic products) is projected to expand by 4.7% in 2014, 8.5% in 2015, and 10.4% in 2016.

The report comes on the heels of other positive economic reports from the manufacturing supply channel. August’s Global Purchasing Index, for example, revealed continued optimism among buyers of electronic components, and the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Manager’s Index continued its upward climb last month, reaching its highest level in more than three years.

In other industry news:

  • Avnet Electronics Marketing began the North American part of the international X-fest seminar series earlier this month. X-fest Technical Series offers training for FPGA, SoC, DSP, and embedded systems designers based on Xilinx All Programmable products. Avnet Embedded signed a distribution agreement with TrueUC Solutions LLC and will now offer its flagship unified communications (UC) software which includes TrueUConnect, TrueContact, and TrueCapture.
  • Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with Italian manufacturer Eurotech. The Eurotech product line includes the Antares Series 5.25 inch SBC, the Isis Series PC/104 SBC, and the Catalyst TC Series SBC. The line is based on Eurotech’s philosophy of Pervasive Computing. Additionally, Mouser has introduced its new High Voltage Components Technology site. The site contains resources on advances in this technology and the latest products available.
  • Peerless Electronics is now distributing Sensata’sAirpax LEJ/LEJA Series. The series is a
    Airpax LEJ/LEJA Series (Courtesy of Peerless Electronics).
    hydraulic/magnetic circuit breaker that provides 240VAC per pole.
  • Distributor Anixter is now carrying B&B Electronics’ new Spectre 4G Cellular/Wi-Fi Routers – LTE. The router is built for industrial remote M2M monitoring applications that require speed, low latency, security, and the capability of handling large data loads.
  • EVENTS

    Avnet X-fest

    Dallas: September 25, 2014
    Richardson, TX

    Toronto: September 29, 2014
    Mississauga, Ontario

    Montreal: October 1, 2014
    Dorval (Québec), QC

    Vancouver: October 7, 2014
    Burnaby, British Columbia

    Chicago: October 22, 2014
    Hoffman Estates, IL

    2014 ECIA Executive Conference
    October 26-28, 2014
    Rosemont, IL

    Electronica
    November 11-14, 2014
    Munich, Germany

    2014 NAED Eastern Region Conference
    November 10-12, 2014
    Marco Island, FL

    Avoidance and Visual Indicators of Counterfeit Parts for Management
    November 12, 2014
    Online Training Course Sponsored by IDEA

    ISM Indirect Procurement Conference
    December 3-4, 2014
    Phoenix, AZ

    Quality and Reliability Technical Symposium
    March 23-25, 2015
    Mesa, AZ

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