The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Intl. (FMA), Rockford, Ill., has released its 1st Quarter 2015 Forming & Fabricating Job Shop Consumption Report — one of the most complete tools available for forecasting activity in the heart of the manufacturing cycle.

According to the report, the level of capacity utilization for small and mid-size metal fabricators is lower than the national norm by about 10 points. Of those participating in the survey, 78 percent indicate that their usage and new orders are either stable or increasing, while 22 percent report that usage and orders are decreasing.

Employment is stable or increasing, with 85 percent of respondents falling into one of these two categories. Fifteen percent of those surveyed reported decreased employment. Many companies report they are struggling to find appropriate workers.

The stable or falling prices of steel and aluminum have been a boon for many manufacturing companies. Only 19 percent of respondents have seen prices rise, and those seem to be mostly in the aluminum area.

Most respondents report that logistics cost are stable and relatively high. Twenty-seven percent of companies have seen costs rise, while just 4 percent have seen decreases in costs.

According to the report, 53 percent of respondents are on track with plans for capital investment. For 23 percent of companies, though, capital investment plans have been postponed indefinitely.

The results are interpreted by FMA’s economic analyst, Dr. Chris Kuehl, founding partner of Armada Corporate Intelligence and author of Fabrinomics®, a biweekly economic analysis e-newsletter for members of FMA. Kuehl’s commentary is included in the survey results.

The Forming & Fabricating Job Shop Consumption Report for the 1st quarter of 2015, as well as previous reports, can be found at the FMA Store (fmanet.org/store). The report is distributed free as a service to professionals in the metal forming and fabricating industry.