Research
The PMI Index dropped 5.2 percentage points in December to a 2-year low. Courtesy: CFE Media.
Research January 3, 2019

PMI plunges in December over manufacturing slowdown concerns

Index drops almost 10% to 2-year low as production, new orders slump.

By Bob Vavra
Courtesy CFE Media.
Research December 3, 2018

PMI jumps 1.6 percentage points in November

New orders climb and business expands even as tariffs, worker issues remain.

By Bob Vavra
Over the past 12 months, the average respondent's company was estimated to have been spent $184,000 on industrial controller software and hardware—an increase of 17% over 2017 data. Source: Control Engineering
Research September 10, 2018

2018 Programmable Controllers Study

Five industrial controller findings

By Amanda Pelliccione
Research March 15, 2018

2018 Maintenance Survey: Playing offense and defense

Maintenance requires monitoring assets today while looking to the future.

By Bob Vavra, Plant Engineering
Research March 1, 2018

2018 ERP, IIoT and the Cloud Study

The IIoT for Engineers 2018 Enterprise Resources Planning, IIoT and the Cloud Study unveiled several key findings regarding usage of ERP, IIoT, and the Cloud. This includes connections to process control, HMIs, SCADA, data historians, alarm management, and data acquisition systems.

By CFE Media
Research March 1, 2018

Plant Engineering 2018 Maintenance Study

7 key findings on facility maintenance

By Amanda Pelliccione, Research Director
Research July 27, 2017

Mobile robots projected to transform material handling and logistics industries

Mobile robots are expected to become a $150 billion market by 2038 according to a report by IDTechEx, but that growth will have some challenges as the industry changes and evolves.

By Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, IDTechEx
Research March 15, 2017

Plant Engineering 2017 Maintenance Study

Respondents to the Plant Engineering 2017 Maintenance Study identified six important, high-level findings impacting the manufacturing industries today; access full report.

By Amanda Pelliccione, Plant Engineering
The 2016 Salary Survey found that 77% of workers believe manufacturing is a secure career in the present and in the future. Courtesy: CFE Media
Research February 15, 2017

2016 Salary Survey

Plant Engineering's 2016 Salary Survey shows optimism amongst manufacturers remain strong going into 2017, but there are some concerns about the future and they don't know what the Industrial Internet of Things' (IIoT) role will be in the workplace.

By Bob Vavra, content manager, CFE Media
NIST engineer Jeremy Marvel adjusts a robotic arm used to study human-robot interactions. According to a NIST economic study on advanced robotics and automation—one of four reports on advanced manufacturing—Marvel’s work is the type of research needed to
Research December 2, 2016

Lowering technology barriers could save manufacturers $100 billion

NIST study finds smart manufacturing, robotics show greatest potential.

By Bob Vavra, CFE Media