Overall leadtimes beginning to ease

Lead times for three of the five products that we follow declined between the second and third quarters. Average leadtimes rose for special fasteners and valves during the July-September period, but fell for gears, pumps, and cylinders. Nevertheless, September 1998 leadtimes were much higher than during September 1997 for all categories except hydraulic cylinders. AVERAGE LEADTIMES

Weeks Annual change,%

Sept. 98 1997 1998 1999

Gears 5 -1.9 10.5 11.4

Pumps 5.3 -5.4 11.9 14.1

Special fasteners 7 -3.4 5.7 7

Valves 4.6 -6.9 12.4 10.1

Hydraulic cylinders 6.6 24.8 18.7 14

Data source: Purchasing magazine and Cahners Economics

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