“Despite the slower first half of 2013, we see optimism from motion control companies about the rest of the year,” says MCA president, Jeff Burnstein. “Our second-quarter survey of MCA member companies revealed that only 2% of respondents believe motion control shipments will contract further over the next two quarters. Optimism is higher yet among MCA distributor members, of whom 80% believe motion control shipments will increase in the next six months.”

“While shipments declined in some of the largest product categories, such as motors, there are a few categories that are doing very well this year,” adds the MCA’s director of market analysis, Alex Shikany. “For instance, shipments of motion controllers are up 15% and support services are up nearly 6% through June.”

The MCA is a global non-profit trade group dedicated to promoting the understanding and use of motion control technologies and developing business opportunities for mechanical and electronic motion control companies. Its members include manufacturers of motion control systems and components, systems integrators, distributors, end-users, consultants, academic institutions and research groups.

The MCA is part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) serving around 675 global automation companies involved in robotics, vision and imaging, motion control and related technologies.