ISM’s report of manufacturing’s expansion for the fourth , and economic expansion for seventh month in a row, combined with PMPA’s Business Trends Index improvement for 5 consecutive months, confirm that we are in a recovery phase, rather than the free fall we just survived.
What should we be doing differently in the recovery phase, compared to what we needed to do while we were free falling?
The latest Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Report for November showed that Manufacturing expanded for the fourth month in a row. While the Purchasing Manager’s Index decreased from 55.7 in October to 53.6 in November, the fact that the November value is above 50 indicates that mnufacturing activity continues to expand.
The Precision Machined Products Association’s Business Trends Index of Sales for October was up for the fifth month in a row, to 85, its highest value for the year. Almost three quarters of PMPA Business Trends respondents expect industry sales to remain at current levels or increase.
This reinforces the signal from ISM’s New Orders measure, which climbed to 60.3 in November from October ‘s 58.5. (The tie-in for precision machined components and manufactured goods should need little explanation- our products are the enablers of multiple technologies in automotive, appliances, aerospace, electrical/electronic, heavy truck, off road, and medical products to name a few.
These are not the halcyon days of “ship it, ship it, ship it.,” that seem like distant, almost forgotten memories. But ISM’s report of manufacturing’s expansion for the fourth , and economic expansion for seventh month in a row, combined with PMPA’s Business Trends Index improvement for 5 consecutive months, confirm that we are in a recovery phase, rather than the free fall we just survived.
What are your doing differently now? What lessons have you learned? What is your new top priority every day?