Metalworking Machinery Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 5,800 metalworking machinery manufacturers in the US produce metal cutting and forming machinery, dies, machine tools, jigs, and industrial molds. Major customers are machine shops, industrial machinery wholesalers, industrial supplies distributors, construction firms, oil and gas firms, mining companies, power companies, defense contractors, and manufacturers of vehicles, aircraft and aerospace components, ships, and a wide range of products that require the machining or molding of metal, glass, rubber, or plastic.
Competition from Used Equipment
Metalworking machinery manufacturers not only compete with one another but also the used equipment market.
Historically Weak Pricing Growth
Strong competition from domestic competitors and imports has historically prevented metalworking machinery manufacturers from significantly raising their prices.
Industry size & Structure
A typical metalworking machinery manufacturer operates out of a single location, employs 28 workers, and generates about $5-6 million annually.
- The metalworking machinery manufacturing industry comprises about 5,800 companies, which employ about 162,000 workers and generate about $32.4 billion annually.
- Most companies are small, independent operators - about 72% of establishments employ less than 20 workers.
- Customer industries include machine shops, industrial machinery wholesalers, industrial supplies distributors, construction firms, and manufacturers of metal, glass, rubber, and plastic products.
- Large companies include Baileigh Industrial, Mazak, Kennametal, and Amada.
Industry Forecast
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 20, 2025 - Shop Class Stages a Comeback
- Shop class is being retooled to teach today’s students the technical skills required to fill the manufacturing labor gap, which could swell to 3.8 million workers by 2033, according to a report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. Leading-edge school districts are investing tens of millions of dollars to update and expand high-school shop classes for the 21st century, The Wall Street Journal reports. Vocational classes are preparing students for careers in the trades by working with wood, metals, and machinery as hands-on skills stage a comeback amid high college costs and AI’s threat to white collar job. Cutting-edge facilities – outfitted with computer-controlled machine tools and robotic arms – are attracting students at a suburban high school in Wisconsin, where about a quarter of its 2,300 students have signed up for at least one of the courses in construction, manufacturing, or woodworking, WSJ reports.
- December marked the third consecutive month of metalworking improvement as measured by Gardner Intelligence’s Gardner Business Index’s (GBI) for Metalworking, which tracks the current state of metalworking and machining activity. The metalworking industry registered a GBI reading of 46.9 in December. While still indicating contraction, the upward trend in recent months points to a possible bottoming out of the current contractionary cycle that began in early 2023, Modern Machine Shop reports. Supplier deliveries was the strongest index component, showing gains month-over-month and versus the previous year in December, while other components including employment and exports registered contractions from the previous month, per MMS. The GBI Future Business Index – look at the future state of the metalworking market – surged to 68.1 in December to its highest level in recent years. This dramatic improvement in sentiment suggests growing optimism among metalworking manufacturers regarding business conditions over the next 12 months.
- President Donald Trump's tariffs threats, if realized, could worsen the existing labor shortage in the US manufacturing sector, Inc reported in December. If, as the president has suggested, 25% tariffs on exports from Mexico, Canada, the European Union, and other US trading partners, result in largescale reshoring of jobs to the US, that would add to the tally of 100,000 US factory jobs that currently go unfilled. Moreover, the domestic labor pool may not be able to fill millions of new positions expected to be created in the next few years, Inc writes. According to data cited by The Wall Street Journal, the number of available manufacturing jobs that go unfilled each month remained constant at about 100,000 throughout last year. Trump’s promise to deport undocumented workers and restrict immigration to the US would only exacerbate the current labor shortage, some business owners say.
- Employment by metalworking machinery manufacturers shrank 2.8% in January compared to a year ago, while average industry wages rose 1.1% over the same period to $27.31 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by the industry is declining amid declining new orders and shipments, down 4.5% and 1.6% year over year in November, respectively, Census Bureau data show. Meanwhile, producer prices for metalworking machinery manufacturers reached a new high in December.
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