Workshop Journal

Notes from the Floor

Workshop insights, project showcases, and machining tips from the Vesprr team.

#machine tool orders

Uzair bin HaroonSep 12, 2026

German machine-tool orders up 14%, production down 7%: what VDW's half-year figures do to your delivery date before AMB and IMTS

VDW's own H1 2026 ledger: orders +14%, production −7%, forming −20%, utilisation 74%, and 52.6% of the German market now imported, mostly Japanese and Korean. Read from the shop floor, a week before AMB Stuttgart and IMTS Chicago open.

VDWGerman machine tool industryAMB 2026

Zohaib MasoodSep 10, 2026

Japan's machine tool orders rose 64.7% in August — and August was not the biggest month of the year

JMTBA's August preliminary prints ¥197,880m and an index of 164.7, the biggest year-on-year figure of 2026. June was the bigger month. The gap is the base: August 2025 was the weakest month in the year-earlier row. What survives into a purchase order, and what does not.

Japan machine tool ordersJMTBAmachine tool lead times

Sadaf MasoodSep 9, 2026

Japan's machine tool orders: 17 months of a full order book, and what it does to your delivery date

Japanese machine tool orders hit ¥193.09bn in July, +50.4% year on year and the 17th straight month above ¥120bn. A buyer's read on lead times, escalation clauses and the 39.3% one-month fall in automotive demand — with August's number out today.

JMTBA machine tool ordersmachine tool lead timesCNC capital equipment

Sadaf MasoodSep 6, 2026

US Machine Tool Orders Hit a Record $3.44 Billion in H1 2026 - On Fewer Machines

AMT's USMTO data shows the strongest half-year for metalworking machinery orders since 1998, yet unit counts fell - and contract machine shops bought nearly 8% fewer machines while spending more than ever. Here is what that mix shift means for a job shop.

USMTO machine tool orderscontract machine shopsCNC machining capacity