Over the last few years, our team at Steel Sales has seen a growth in manufacturing cutting tool sales, both internally and in the industry as a whole. For 2017, it looks like that trend will continue, as year-to-date cutting tool consumption is up 5.9% through the first quarter of the year.
This is great news for manufacturing companies, since it shows that the manufacturing industry is currently healthy, and expects to continue strong in the coming years. This isn’t surprising considering the improvements in the cutting tool industry’s technology, as well as the current U.S. political administration’s focus on manufacturing growth in the United States.
Cutting Tool Specialization
A big reason for the continued improvement in manufacturing is the constant innovation happening in the industry. One area that Steel Sales is especially conscious of is the ongoing development and introduction of specialized cutting tools. For many years, manufacturers were relegated to using the same cutting tool on all materials, which often hampered their efforts.
These days, most cutting tool manufacturers, including OSG, Helical Solutions, Harvey Tool, and Mitsubishi, offer a range of specialized cutting tools based on the materials manufacturers are cutting. This allows manufacturers to get cutting tools designed specifically for their needs, which in turn makes the tools more reliable and longer-lasting.
The Carbide Solution
Interestingly, cutting tool sales continue to grow even as cutting tool quality improves. One would expect that as cutting tool life extends, companies will buy fewer, making overall sales drop. However, with improved quality comes greater confidence in purchases, which seems to point to higher ongoing sales for cutting tools.
For instance, while carbide cutting tools are more expensive than traditional cutting tools, they last much longer for manufacturers and represent a better long-term deal than traditional cutting tools. Such data has bolstered the industry’s expectations for the coming years.
Trump Administration Expectations
As mentioned above, much of the confidence manufacturers have in the industry is due to the Trump Administration’s focus on growing the manufacturing industry within the United States. Regardless of a person or company’s political sway, experts in the industry have a positive outlook on manufacturing thanks to the current political climate.
In fact, Brad Lawton, Chairman of the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s Cutting Tool Product Group, shared some insight recently about how cutting tools are seeing a rise in consumption thanks to this very thinking in the industry. Lawton said:
“The cutting tool industry reported numbers are supporting the positive feelings that exist in the domestic market. This is a very welcome improvement and support for the Trump Administration’s pro manufacturing policies.”
Conclusion
The end result of these observations is that manufacturing is in a healthy state, and it’s a good time for manufacturing companies to purchase cutting tools. In fact, with the positive forecast for manufacturing in the United States, it’s even a good time for manufacturers to try new avenues of cutting tools, such as specialized or carbide cutting tools.
For questions or information about which cutting tools would be best for your manufacturing needs, give our team a call today at 501-375-3338.