Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

As a proud graduate of Cleveland State University, I am thrilled to have our Fluid Power Technology Conference hosted at CSU at the Wolstein Center. The dates for the event are November 18-20, 2019.  The first day will feature a Basics of Fluid Power course taught by Tom Wanke of MSOE. Tom is a long time favorite speaker at our Fluid Power Technology Conference and he will be offering a half-day seminar on Monday November 18th.  Also on that day, the National Fluid Power Association will co-locate their Cleveland Regional Meeting at CSU's Wolstein Center.  Click here for more information. I will be posting more information about the agenda for the Fluid Power Technology Conference at CSU.  I invite you to visit our website for updates.

We have sent another great issue out to our readers.  Our August issue of Fluid Power World is full of great content. Click here for the digital edition.  Click here to subscribe. Happy Labor Day!  And Happy Reading!

Our Fluid Power Technology Conference is designed and developed to give our advertising clients the opportunity to meet face-to-face with potential customers and partners.  We feel that this is a vital element in the chain of communication that includes print magazines, websites, e-newsletters, and custom media options. The Conference was established in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee School of Engineering because of their involvement with fluid power technology and the proximity of Milwaukee to many users of fluid power technology, both OEM and user markets.  Now that we have established the event as a venue for networking and presenting very useful content, we are moving it to new locations.   The next event will be held in Cleveland at Cleveland State University where a strong engineering school resides.   The team from CSU won the Vehicle Challenge this year signaling a strong interest in fluid power technology.  Cleveland and the rest of Ohio also hav...

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 whil...

One of the really nice features of the IEOC format is that breakouts are organized by specific markets and presented by segment experts.  The good news is that all of the presentations are very informative.  The only inconvenience is that I can only be at one session at a time,  The slides, however are available to all attendees so we can review the sessions that we missed. Scott Hazelton of IHS Markit gave a presentation titled Industry Markets Overview .  Since the three main segments of the fluid power industry are industrial hydraulics, mobile hydraulics, and pneumatics, this presentation is a pretty significant part of the conference. Here are my notes.  There will be a 0.3% growth in the industrial sector for 2019 and a 1% growth for 2020.  This would still allow for a dip in the first half and a pick up in the second half of 2020 with a net gain of 1%.   Natural gas prices will be down 16% in 2019 and down 7% in 2020.  The PMI ...

Even though I have only heard him present a few times, Mark Killion of Oxford Economics has become one of my favorite speakers. Here are some of my notes from his presentation.  For the U.S. Economic forecast, "expansion will continue."  In fact, it is showing signs of positive GDP forecast through 2022 with no recession in 2020.  However, debt as a percentage of GDP continues to grow which is a concern. What we are experiencing now is the longest economic expansion in history but there are some warning signs for a recession.  The projection given by Mark was a 15% chance of recession in 2019 and a 40% chance in 2020. There are three key factors in the cause of a recession and they include government policy, confidence by consumers and buyers at all levels, and behavior as a reaction to the current conditions and anticipated future conditions. Business confidence is still high but has fallen back but recovered in the past few months.  Capex is...

Every year around this time, the National Fluid Power Association hosts the Industry and Economic Outlook Conference - NFPA and IEOC.  I attend this conference and I listen, make notes, try to understand the trends, and then share the information with my customers and my audience on this blog. Part 1.  What did I hear from Alan Beaulieu - Well, Alan is a favorite speaker at this event because of his vast knowledge of economics, fluid power business, and the many markets served by fluid power technology.  His message was mixed as he called the next 12 months a "period of uncertainty."  Alan represents the Institute for Trends Research - ITR. The GDP is slowing down and we are on the backside of the ITR curve meaning that we are in a period of slowing growth leading to a period of negative growth.  The good news is that Alan is predicting a brief downturn, a slight recession that was actually pushed forward by tax reform.  The first half of 2020 should ha...