David A. Belforte

The recovery from the 2008/2009 global recession was, according to experts, going to take at least three years to reach pre-recession levels. In the United States, manufacturing companies, reacting to orders from pent-up demand and delayed 2009 buying plans, found their production taxed to meet a rapidly growing order book in 2010 followed by a banner year in 2011 and likely through 2012.

Riding on the coat-tails of a more rapid U.S. recovery (see Figure 1) were the suppliers of industrial lasers used to power systems that were being heavily utilized by six key manufacturing industries: transportation, energy, medical devices, agricultural equipment, aerospace and communications. Another sector, fabricated metal products, while slower to recover, is a market sector of importance because of the high value laser products required to cut sheet metal. Continue reading →