What did I hear at the IEOC? Wrap up

There were several very interesting speakers this year at the IEOC.  By the way, the event was held at a new location that being the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort.  It was very nice.

I always enjoy listening to and learning from Donna Ritson of DDR Communications LLC, a speaker at our own Fluid Power Technology Conference this year in Milwaukee in May.

The title of Donna's presentation was Robotics and IoT in the Industrial Market place.  She also addressed this topic at our event.  Robotics are no longer a tool but a force in the industry  There are many advancements in robotics including dexterity which has opened the door for many applications.  

The automotive industry including the manufacturing of automotive components makes up a large sector of robot usage but there is a record high usage outside of automotive.  The number of units in use continues to increase while the price declines.  China uses 39% of all robots while the U.S. uses 11%.  Digital twinning is used in 40% of OEM locations .

Robotics will continue to be a growth market for pneumatics including primary packaging.  In secondary packaging the number of robots doubled.  3 out of 4 manufacturers predict spending more on robotics.  There is a bold and boundless frontier for robots.

Alex Chausovsky of ITR Economics was the closing speaker this year presenting the Fluid Power Industry Forecast.

There will be a soft patch for the next 12 months.  May of 2020 is the low point for the cycle with a rise taking place after that.  Leading indicators show a slight recession for the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020.  

New orders are falling off a cliff coinciding with high inventory.  Here is his prediction for overall NFPA shipments:  2019:  -1.3%  and 2020:  +7.5%

Alex did a fantastic job closing the conference with his presentation.  We all learned a lot as usual and had a great time overall!