Review of the “State of the Gear industry” survey and looking towards the future.

Reader Survey Results. Gear Technology's annual State-of-the-Gear-Industry survey polls gear manufacturers about the latest trends and opinions relating to the overall health of the gear industry. As in years past, the survey was conducted anonymously, with invitations sent by e-mail to gear industry companies – primarily in North America, but also including some respondents from around the world.

Reader Survey Results. Gear Technology's annual State-of-the-Gear-Industry survey polls gear manufacturers about the latest trends and opinions relating to the overall health of the gear industry. As in years past, the survey was conducted anonymously, with invitations sent by e-mail to gear industry companies – primarily in North America, but also including some respondents from around the world.

Overall, the gear industry enjoyed a very strong 2018, and the optimism expressed by survey respondents is the highest in recent years. When asked about their optimism regarding their companies’ ability to compete over the next five years, 85.8% of respondents indicated some level of optimism.

Gear industry experts give their opinions about the most important trends facing gear manufacturers today.

We’ve just come off a very strong year for gear manufacturing, and most of you are looking forward to another good year in 2019. At least, that’s what the results of our annual State-of-the-Gear-Industry survey tell us.

Results from our annual survey of gear manufacturers reveal that business is good, but the skilled labor situation is not.

It's probably no surprise to anyone that the majority of the gear industry had a pretty good year in 2017, and that most gear manufacturers are expecting a pretty good 2018 as well. After all, most major economic indicators - including the ones that focus on the manufacturing sector - have been positive for some time.

The results of our Annual State of the Gear Industry Survey (See page 26) provided insight on 2016 as well as forecasts for 2017. Here is additional insight from some of the industry's leaders.