U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers ordered $493.1 million worth of new capital equipment during September, -7.2% less than during August and yet still 11.0% more than during September 2024. Through nine months of ordering activity, demand for manufacturing technology rose 17.3% higher than comparable figure for 2024, totaling $3.93 billion.
The new result represents the highest order total for September since 2022, according to AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology, a notable indicator as the September 2024 figure includes bookings made during the period covered by the IMTS 2024 event, typically creating a swell in purchasing activity for manufacturing technology.
All the data is supplied by AMT, which presents the monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report summarizing manufacturers’ purchases of metal-cutting and metal-forming machinery, according to order value and machine units, nationwide and in six regions. USMTO is an index to future manufacturing activity because it quantifies machining operations’ investments in preparation for new production programs.
AMT also commented on the recent trend of falling machinery unit totals recorded in recent USMTO reports. “Despite the strong growth in order values, the number of units ordered continues to grow at a slower pace, as September 2025 had the second-lowest number of units ordered during a September since 2009,” the Association revealed.
The trend may be attributable to the growing significance of automation in machine tool design, though AMT pointed to a lack of current Bureau of Labor Statistics data to confirm that observation for September.
The USMTO report details nationwide order activity as well as summary data for six regions: during September, the highest order value was posted by the North Central-East region, with $109.1 million indicating an increase (+25.1%) over August. For year-over-year results, the North Central-East region fell -9.8% behind September 2024, but the Southeast ($73.0 million for September, up 54.1% year/year) and South Central ($54.3 million, up 62.6%) regions showed considerable improvement in manufacturing technology demand.
AMT reported that orders from contract machine shops (aka, “job shops”) fell -1.6% from August, and that buying segment (the largest in the sector) continues to underperform as it has done through much of the current year. The value of job shops’ orders for the current year to-date is up 12% January-September, compared with 17.3% as noted above.
More positive results come from the automotive sector, whose new orders for manufacturing technology reached their highest level for 2025. Even so, the sector’s September orders represented the third-lowest unit total for the current year. “There has been a general lull in orders from the automotive sector following large investments in new production lines made in 2021 and 2022,” according to AMT. “Through September 2025, orders are up nearly 15% over the first three quarters of 2024, as some OEMs retool production lines away from electric vehicle production.”