Levels of Investment in Manufacturing Software Improving

There are many ways in which we can assess the health of the chemical industry. Thanks to Houston Neal of Manufacturing ERP Software Advice, for providing another perspective on the health of the chemical industry.

The 2010 Manufacturing Software State of the Industry Roundtable has focused on the state of manufacturing ERP Software.

The report shows that 2010 is healthier than 2009. Purchase activty is up, with the increase in activity attributed to two primary reasons - firstly that we have reached the 10-year anniversary of purchases made as a result of the Year 2000 (Y2K) date problem secondly and most importantly, many companies are restarting buying processes that were deferred in 2009. The report also notes that the chemical sector is one of the most active in terms of new purchases.

This last point is highly encouraging. I've seen many companies in the chemicals sector deferring spend in many areas as a result of the recession. Clearly for items such as control systems and manufacturing software, such expenditure can only be deferred for so long but to see a clear shift at this point in time is very welcome news.