I have had the good fortune of meeting with and getting to know many industry experts in the fluid power industry. From hose and fittings to cylinders to pneumatic valves, I have been able to keep tabs on how things are going.
How do I accomplish this? By simply asking "So how is business" on just about every sales call. So, how is business? In 2010, most companies are showing an improvement over 2009. Many companies have not yet realized a 12-month over 12-month improvement yet but all are showing less decline month after month.
The fluid power industry remains in phase A recovery according to the information that I have gathered so far this year. I believe that the forecasts revealed at this year's NFPA Industry and Economic Outlook Conference are thus far accurate.
So what comes next? Well we should be entering phase B soon which is continued improvement with actual positive growth over the previous 12-month period. This has not actually been completely forecast by all of the companies I have had conversations with, but certainly most of them.
Therefore, I remain optimistic for the near term future of the fluid power industry. All of our end use markets should continue to show improvement as the overall industrial economy improves.
