According to a recent ARC report, automation suppliers saw their revenues grow by nearly 5 percent in the third quarter of 2014. Suppliers to the process industries posted some-what slower growth despite strong activity in the oil & gas and energy sectors. Largely due to a resurgence in investment activity in the electronics and automotive industries in Asia and North America, suppliers to the discrete industries continue to see stronger revenues. Japanese suppliers continued to gain disproportionate benefit from a weaker yen and an uptick in domestic investments in plant upgrades and other projects.
Compared to the third quarter of 2013, the total combined revenues of suppliers to both the process and discrete manufacturing industries grew by 4.9 percent. Suppliers to the discrete industries saw a 7.1 percent increase in revenues; process industry suppliers saw their revenues grow by 3.1 percent. For the first three quarters of 2014, overall revenues increased by 5 percent. Among suppliers that report order intake, many posted double-digit increases in activity; on average orders rose by nearly 13 percent.
In this Insight, ARC Advisory Group includes the most recent quarterly results for automation suppliers that publicly report their results. If quarterly results are not available, we use the most recent half- or full-fiscal-year results. We average exchange rates for foreign currencies used for the entire third quarter of 2014.
