The total value of orders received in 2026 up to and including September reached $5.76 billion, which is 45.0% higher than the value of the first three quarters of 2025.
The value of orders received in September 2026, which also includes orders placed at IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, set a new record for monthly investments in manufacturing technology. The order intake was 22.5% above the previous record set in December 2025. The number of new machines ordered in September 2026 was the highest since an earlier IMTS in September 2014. This marks the seventh consecutive month in which order intake exceeded half a billion dollars – the longest investment series recorded by USMTO.
The growth of the average order value for manufacturing technology began to exceed the inflation rate in October 2021. While inflation still plays a role, a much stronger driving force is the increased interest in automation among companies investing in manufacturing technology. In September 2026, this growth began to slow down, as the number of units ordered rose sharply compared to the value performance, a trend not seen since July 2024. A one-month deviation from the trend could be attributed to customers with less interest in automation making up a larger share of monthly investments. Should this trend continue, it could indicate growing capacity constraints among machine manufacturers, leading to a preference for options with the shortest lead times in purchasing decisions – even if some additional features that would lead to longer delivery times must be sacrificed.
Orders by customer industries
Investments in manufacturing technology by contract manufacturers – the largest customer industry – further accelerated in September 2026. While orders from contract manufacturers are rising, the generally increasing wave of investments across all customer industries has driven demand for machines to record levels. Investments from job shops also reached a record value in September 2026, nearly 25% above the previous record set in August 2026. The number of units ordered was the highest since September 2014.
While contract manufacturers typically dictate investment cycles in the field of manufacturing technology, their orders generally have a lower degree of automation than in other customer industries. Manufacturers of aerospace products and parts typically order some of the most complex and highly automated solutions available on the market. This trend further accelerated in September 2026, as both the order value and the number of machines reached record levels, increasing by 5.0% and 8.9% respectively compared to the previous peak in December 2025. Oxford Economics estimates that production in the aerospace sector will increase by about 5% per year by 2030, and Collin Heller, Vice President at Counterpoint Market Intelligence, reported to participants at MTForecast last month about Boeing and Airbus's plans to drastically increase their capacities in the coming years. The analysis clearly indicates that more capital investments will be required to manage the growing production level in an industry that is already struggling with increasing capacity constraints.
Orders from automotive manufacturers reached their highest level since July 2020 – against the backdrop of the rapid recovery in sales figures and the subsequent disruptions in the supply chain following the COVID-19 recession. While MT orders from automotive manufacturers increased overall in September 2026, this sector is a perfect example of the uneven growth expected in various customer industries in the future. Orders from manufacturers of automotive transmissions have declined after several months of high investments were needed to shift from the production of battery-electric vehicles to conventional internal combustion engines and hybrid drives. Aside from a slight increase in May 2026, the development in the area of automotive stamping parts has been relatively subdued in the post-COVID environment, as manufacturers are introducing fewer variants in body design each year.
Outlook
Order intake in the field of manufacturing technology remained high in September 2026 due to IMTS. If the forecasts from MTForecast are confirmed, order intake in the field of manufacturing technology will remain high for the rest of 2026 and into 2027, albeit with significant fluctuations in the composition of customer industries from month to month. The resilience of demand in the current expansion phase, which began in September 2024, can be attributed to the increased interest in automation, demand from industries with long order backlogs and lead times, as well as defense production, which should remain stable even with a decline in overall demand. Even if total investments were to decline in the near future, the current demand level for machined components and the increased capacity utilization could ensure that a significant number of contacts gained at IMTS 2026 lead to additional orders in the coming months.
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