Better Days Ahead? Packaging Machinery Mfrs. Index Says Yes

Published: May 03, 2002, By PRESS RELEASE

ARLINGTON, VA, USA—Packaging machinery manufacturers are optimistic about a North American economic turnaround. According to the monthly Business Conditions Index (BCI) of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), shipments jumped from 8.2 points to an index of 60.7; quotations measured up 6.6 points to an index of 67.4; general business conditions jumped 5.7 points to an index of 61.9, and new orders were up 1.6 points to an idex of 60.7.

An index of 50 represents the mid-point, where the number of respondents reporting an increase in activity is the same as those reporting a decrease in activity. An index of more than 50 indicates an expansion, below 50 indicates contraction.

The March BCI tabulates the input of approximately 100 of PMMI's 502 PMMI member companies. The BCI is based on PMMI's "How's Business" survey, a weekly poll of member companies. PMMI's BCI collects data on four business indicators: general business conditions, new orders, shipments, and quotations/proposal activity on a weekly basis.

"Packaging machinery manufacturers' orders and shipments are important barometers of the manufacturing economy's future health," comments Charles D. Yuska, PMMI president. "Every consumer and industrial goods manufacturer utilizes packaging machinery to protect, identify, and market its products. Because packaging machinery order and shipment trends are indicators of future activity along the supply chain, BCI can be read as an early indicator of business activity along the pipeline. Based on what PMMI members are reporting, the manufacturing sector is clearly rebounding and beginning to order and source new pieces of packaging machinery," Yuska adds.

The Packaging Machinery Institute (PMMI) is a trade association whose 502 members manufacture packaging and packaging-related converting machinery in the US and Canada. For more information, visit pmmi.org.