Machinery manufacturing is one of the largest and most competitive sectors of the U.S. manufacturing economy. Exports of capital equipment totaled $141 billion in 2018 alone. Leading markets for U.S. machinery exports include Canada, Mexico, China, Germany, and Australia. The United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, and Belgium round out the top 10 export markets. Taken as a whole, the European Union was the U.S. machinery manufacturers’ third-largest market in 2018, after Canada and Mexico. Among the wide range of machinery manufactured in the United States, construction machinery, engine equipment, industrial process controls, agricultural equipment, and turbines and turbine generator sets led U.S. exports in 2018. Major competitors in global machinery markets include China, Germany, Japan, and Italy.
The economic impact of machinery manufacturing extends throughout the U.S. economy. Machinery industries provide essential and highly sophisticated technology for many other manufacturing and service industries. Industrial process controls and other automation technologies enable end-users to maximize the productivity of their equipment. Sales of many types of machinery are accompanied by a variety of high-value services as well, including specialized architecture, engineering, and logistics.
Tens of thousands of companies manufacture machinery in the United States. A majority of these manufacturers are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but there are also many large, public companies and iconic American brands that trade on a global scale. Machinery is manufactured in almost every state, but production is concentrated particularly in the industrial Midwest, California, and Texas.
More than 1.1 million Americans are employed in the machinery manufacturing sector. These jobs are primarily in highly-skilled, well-compensated trades and professions. Leading employment categories include team assemblers, machinists, welders, tool-and-die makers, and mechanical and other engineers. Machinery manufacturing also supports the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Americans in a variety of other manufacturing and service industries.
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
Association for Suppliers of Printers, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES)
Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI)
Industrial Truck Association (ITA)
National Restaurant Association (NRA)
Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA)
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)