In releasing 2008 year-end sales data for distributors and manufacturers of power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) products, the Power Transmission Distributors Association reported that U.S. distributors and manufacturers experienced overall growth in sales in 2008 while their Canadian counterparts experienced a decline in sales. Confidence in the market has eroded overall, holding a current neutral position between 4.6 and 5.2 versus a range of 5.0 to 5.8, on a 10-point scale with 10 being high, at year-end 2007.
Growth in sales of PT/MC products is definitely slowing, the report indicated. Following a moderate growth rate of 6.6 percent in 2007, U.S. distributors saw a 4.3% increase in PT/MC product sales in 2008. The annualized sales-to-inventory ratio for 2008 was at 6.5, compared to 7.6 in 2007.
Canadian distributors ended the year with a drop in sales, the first loss since 2001.
U.S. manufacturers of PT/MC products experienced year-to-date sales growth of 3.8% in 2008, off slightly from the 4.1% growth rate posted for 2007. Year-to-date orders of PT/MC products for U.S. manufacturers, however, were down 2.2% in 2008 versus 1.0% growth for 2007. The annualized sales-to-inventory ratio dropped slightly from 10.0 at year-end 2007 to 9.7 at year-end 2008.
Canadian manufacturers’ sales suffered in 2008, with a decrease in sales of 7.4% for 2008 following relatively flat results in 2007.
Click here for more information.

Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our WTWH Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.