According to the 'U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report' published by AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the orders for metalworking machines amounted to a total of $732.9 million in August 2026. Just one month before the opening of IMTS - the 'International Manufacturing Technology Show' in Chicago - the orders for manufacturing technology reached the third-highest monthly value ever recorded. Orders in August 2026 were 21.0% higher than those in July 2026 and 36.3% higher than those in August 2025. So far, orders in 2026 have totaled $4.76 billion, representing an increase of 36.9% compared to the first eight months of 2025.
The current upswing in orders for manufacturing technology now includes six consecutive months with order values exceeding half a billion dollars - the longest series of its kind ever recorded. Since the beginning of the current expansion phase in September 2024, order values have grown nearly three times faster than the number of units. The aerospace sector, which typically purchases high-quality machines, has already accounted for a growing share of total orders since before the current upswing began. Across industries, a steadily increasing share of new machines with enhanced automation has contributed to order values rising more than unit numbers.
If IMTS 2024 is remembered as the start of the current upswing, IMTS 2026 could be seen as the point at which orders from contract manufacturers led the market. In the past, an increase in orders from contract manufacturers has led to a general recovery in demand for manufacturing technology. The current upswing has largely been driven by demand from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who generally have a greater interest in automated machines than contract manufacturers, thereby maintaining the discrepancy between value and unit growth in recent years. In August 2026, the growth of orders from contract manufacturers exceeded overall market growth. Should the renewed demand for manufacturing technology from contract manufacturers mark the beginning of a sustained trend, the order situation for the rest of the year could exceed expectations.
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