We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
  • TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Applications
    • Components
    • Industry
    • MRO
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
  • VIDEO
    • Power Transmission Engineering TV
  • BLOGS
    • Revolutions
    • Editors Choice
    • Motor Matters with George Holling
    • Bearings with Norm
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • Advertising
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Email: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • E-Mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Print
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: IMTS/Hannover Messe USA Showstoppers (September 2022)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
      • Print: Specifications
    • Online
      • Online: Web Banners and Keyword Banners
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-Mail
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: Showstoppers(IMTS/Hannover Messe USA)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
  • Contact Us
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
      • Gear Technology
      • Gear Technology India
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Global Industrial Outlook: Weathering the Storm

Global Industrial Outlook: Weathering the Storm

October 1, 2015

Global Industrial Outlook: Weathering the Storm

Brian Langenberg

Last issue (Sept.) we explained how bad energy is getting. So on to alternatives.

We just returned from WEFTEC — the premier U.S. water and wastewater management show. Our recent discussion (Game Changer) highlighted the negative impact of low oil prices.

We confirmed that municipal finances continue to improve, leading to continued activity on projects originally planned for 5, 6, and 7 years ago finally being released.

Could this possibly be enough to offset weak energy? Not in 2015 or 2016.

Speaking with a publicly traded pump manufacturer that tends to focus on small-to-mid-size municipal water systems, we gleaned the following:

We think these trends will continue at least through 2016, albeit with oil and gas comparisons eventually (hopefully) stabilizing.

So what/where are the silver linings when the entire machinery sector, ex trucking, is getting whacked?

  1. Low commodity prices enable demand. Nothing big is happening now. But infrastructure soaks a lot of energy and materials; funding improvements is easier after an election (hopefully) and with lower input costs. The set-up is for early ’17 bills getting passed with funding (President-elect’s brief “honeymoon”), and rising activity in 2018.
  2. Improving home prices support continued residential optimism. You (not me) will be happy to know that, for example, my village has just proposed a 20 percent increase in my tax assessment. THAT isn’t going to happen, but the direction remains up.
  3. U.S. economic growth continues, despite headwinds from lower energy and the strong U.S. dollar.
  4. Aerospace and auto market conditions should remain strong. In a nutshell, weathering the continuing low commodity price storm (energy, mining, agriculture) will remain your number one priority — but with pockets of potential — as above.

Focus Company: Bombardier (BBD.B)

Bombardier operates in two business segments: Commercial Aviation and Rail. This company matters to you if you supply engine components or related systems to Pratt & Whitney on its geared turbo fan (GTF) engine slated to launch on the significantly delayed C-Series jet.

That chart looks…awful. The company is over two years late on C-Series entry into service (hoping for certification in November), which has cost orders, replaced senior management, and is currently running around seeking cash so they can ensure getting aircraft into commercial production.

If you are a supplier on the GTF engine, this appears worrisome, but take heart — the GTF is extremely important to United Technologies (owner of Pratt & Whitney) and the AOFUTXEWSF (Association of Former UTX Executives Who Speak French) has taken over at Bombardier. They will get it into the air.

Further your career: On July 1, 2015 I took over as Chair (and Lecturer) of Graduate Business Programs at Aurora University. The Dunham Graduate School of Business MBA with a Leadership concentration is ideally suited for technical or engineering professionals seeking to gain the business skills, tools, and mentorship to further their careers. AU also offers adult degree completion programs.

  • Highly accomplished, professional business people teach our courses, whether on ground or online (same professors).
  • Front-end career goal discussion and mentorship. We want you to succeed.
  • Rolling admission with six 8-week terms per year allows you to flex up/ down, depending upon your needs.
  • Focused curriculum: 12 classes — seven core, five electives. Each core class is a basic, needed building block; the electives are geared for your objectives.
  • Locations: Aurora, Illinois, Woodstock, IL and Online.

Contact blangenberg@aurora.edu to arrange for a phone or in-person discussion.

Corporate Services: Langenberg & Company provides a range of Aurora University. consulting services — strategy, financial benchmarking, M&A pipeline development — for private or public companies and executives. Contact Brian@Langenberg-llc.com to discuss.

About Author

Brian K. Langenberg, CFA

Brian K. Langenberg, CFA has earned recognition as a member of the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team, a Wall Street Journal All-Star, and Starmine Best on the Street. As Principal of Langenberg & Company, he advises CEOs and senior executives on strategy and capital markets, and makes numerous public speaking appearances. In July 2015 he was named Chair (and Lecturer)of Graduate Business Programs at Aurora University.

Voices
KEYWORDS Global Outlook
  • Download This Article

    Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
    Subscribe
    Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
    Subscribe
    FEATURED VIDEO
    • Regal Rexnord Motor Minute: Why Do Direct Drive Motor Shafts Have a Flat Side?
    March 21, 2022
    RECOMMENDED
    • LogiMat 2022 Offers Motion Control and Robotic Technologies

      April 18, 2022
      Logi1.jpg
    • The Flexibility Factor

      April 12, 2022
      Huco2.jpg
    • Rapid Advancement at Automate 2022

      April 12, 2022
      Depositphotos_204041702_XL.jpg
    • Interoperability: What it is, and why it matters in the age of automation

      May 17, 2022
      Kollmorgen1.jpg
    • The Extreme Ends of Turbine Condition Monitoring

      May 6, 2022
      wind farm1.jpg
    • Interoperability: What it is, and why it matters in the age of automation

      May 17, 2022
      Kollmorgen1.jpg
    • The Extreme Ends of Turbine Condition Monitoring

      May 6, 2022
      wind farm1.jpg
    • LogiMat 2022 Offers Motion Control and Robotic Technologies

      April 18, 2022
      Logi1.jpg
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Gear Technology
    Powered byAGMA
    Copyright © 2022 Power Transmission Engineering
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact