Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Joseph Ogando

Motion Control Sales Grow

Motion control salesman really have been hustling this year. According to a study released yesterday by the Motion Control Association (MCA), reported sales of motion products in the second quarter of this year jumped 3.7 percent over those of the first quarter.

“Shipment growth paints an even rosier picture than sales orders,” says Paul Kellett, the MCA’s director of market analysis. Reported shipments for the second quarter totaled $503 million, which represents a 5.9 percent growth over the first quarter. 

The MCA breaks the motion market down into ten categories that cover the various types of motors, drives, controllers, actuators, sensors and other motion components. The largest is the motor category–which consists of DC brushed motors, AC and DC brushless motors, servomotors with gearing, direct drive motors, linear motors and steppers. In the second quarter, the motors accounted for 36.5 percent of the total motion control market. Motor orders, however, were actually down 11 percent for the quarter, Kellett reports.

The industry still managed to post some growth thanks in part to strong orders of both electronic drives and AC drives, which were up over the first quarter by 18.8 and 18.1 percent respectively. AC motors, a smaller category that the MCA separates from the other motor types, experienced even stronger quarterly growth, a whopping 37.2 percent.