By Gordon Weiler

As the end of summer approaches, the 2019 third quarter business cycle is winding down.

It’s safe to say that 2019 has been bittersweet. On one hand, Daman has seen a welcome recovery of the fluid power industry. On the other hand, we have had to fight tooth and nail to secure orders with significant challenges along the way. Acquisitions and buyouts have changed the relationships of key accounts as key personnel have changed jobs during the continued times of everyone seeking qualified employees to grow their businesses.

Additionally, extended fluid power component deliveries have forced us to consider alternative solutions in order to satisfy customer needs. To top it all off, there is the looming economic slowdown that NFPA and ITR (Institute for Trend Research) have been predicting for months.

So far, this prediction, which indicated an economic slow down from mid to late 2019 that would continue into early to mid 2020, has been pretty spot on. While it is unclear how long this decline will continue, the fluid power industry has definitely seen a much slower pace than in years past.

Fluid power stats

We would like to thank all of you who are providing us with your point-of-sale information when you request custom manifold quotations. Not only does this information allow us to protect you against competitive pressures, it also helps us identify emerging and declining industries so we can better predict and work to offset challenging economic pressures. Based on what we’ve collected, here is our take on fluid power industry trends.

There are 3 large declining industries from our manifold perspective:

• Oil and gas

• Construction

• Agriculture & Forestry

Industry bright spots

Fortunately, we now have field information which allows us to gauge current conditions and make better decisions about where to assign resources. As a key Daman partner, you have our sincere gratitude for your confidence in us. Here is what we’ve gathered about your top growing industries.

In conclusion

We are cautiously optimistic about the near future in fluid power. While there will certainly be significant challenges, Daman is appropriately responding to the predictions by controlling expenses while focusing on emerging industries. We are fortunate to have some great new products and services in our pipeline to offer to our key customers, which will allow us to mutually create new business in new places.

You are our eyes and ears. Please challenge us all along the way so we can continue to find new solutions for you and your customers. We appreciate your business and your willingness to provide point-of-sale information so we can grow in new ways to better serve your most important needs.