Suppliers Close the Books on 2014

Automation suppliers saw their revenues grow by about 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, and closed out the year with slightly under 5 per-cent in revenue gains. Suppliers to the process industries posted slower growth than in past quarters, while discrete suppliers continued to bene-fit from stronger investment activity in the electronics and automotive industries in Asia and North America. Japanese suppliers continued to gain disproportionate benefit from a weaker yen and a resurgence in domestic plant investments, after enduring many lean years. Against the backdrop of falling oil prices, a return to more robust growth in future quarters seems in doubt, given that many suppliers reported slower or-der activity.

Slower Growth for Q4
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, the total combined revenues of suppliers to both the process and discrete manufacturing industries grew by 3.2 percent (see Figure 2 on page 4). Suppliers to the discrete industries saw a 6.1 percent increase in revenues; process industry suppliers saw their revenues grow by 1 percent, their worst showing since Q1 2013. For the entire year, overall revenues increased by 4.8 percent for all sup-pliers. Among suppliers that report order intake, many saw declines in activity during the quarter; on average orders rose by only 2.4 percent (Figure 3, page 5).

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Keywords: Automation, Quarterly Supplier Results, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Latin America, North America, ARC Advisory Group.