is “somewhat better, but there are still lingering issues with banks and real estate as they transition their economy.” Europe in 2013 was “weaker than anticipated but seems to be stable.”


Turning his attention more to the US, Douglass noted that reshoring of manufacturing is real, “but it’s not a panacea.” The downturn of 2009 made manufacturers realize short supply chains are most desirable during an economic shock, he explained. Quality issues and labor and transportation costs are contributing to the effect. However, “reshoring might be hard to see; US production levels have been growing nicely, but employment continues to shrink. …We’re at roughly 30 percent of (manufacturing) jobs we had before the big recession — but we’re already at the same levels of output.”


Nevertheless, Douglass said, appliance and automotive manufacturers are adding capacity in North America — often in Mexico. For 2014-15, he expects most industrial markets to improve modestly. “Machine-tool demand we think recovers;          truck production rates are still great, but they’re likely peaking.” Rail car production should continue to grow as they are needed to move oil produced by fracking — and pipeline construction should also remain healthy.


“Rail car production has been off the charts,” Douglass asserted, “and now because of safety concerns, old cars have            fabrication.” Related infrastructure needs provide yet more opportunity. Other US industries Douglass highlighted include:


 Machine tools: 2015 might see an uplift after “a soft couple of years.”


 Farm equipment: Demand might fall by double digits as farmers who have been spending on equipment the past few years earn less from crops while commodity prices fall.


 Construction equipment: Experienced the massive reduction in production that looms for agriculture but improved moderately in the first half of 2014.


 Heavy trucks: Good momentum the past couple of years and a good sector to be in.


 Automotive: “Really nice recovery in North American production,” with pent-up demand pushing equipment sales.  Aircraft: Production modest in 2014 but improving.


Echoing those themes in his traditional LME keynote address, LIA Past President David Belforte noted that “industrial lasers


for materials processing represent 11 percent of all machine- tool sales globally. We’re no longer a curiosity. However, it’s still a weak global economy for manufacturing.”


Amid the highlights of Belforte’s midyear analysis:


 Global revenues from laser sales should increase by 5 percent by the end of 2014, “courtesy of the 21 percent that the  likely to approach the $1 billion level, representing about 38 percent penetration into the total laser marketplace.


 Fiber lasers are slow to penetrate in Japan, where CO2 and


      processing a variety of materials in their plants.” East Asia and Japan represented 47 percent of the $11 billion worth of industrial laser systems installed in 2013.


solid-state units dominate. “Japanese job shops that buy laser cutting machines think by virtue of past experience that CO2


 In macro applications (lasers greater than 1 kW output power), CO2


  up; in micro applications (lasers less than 1 kW output power), solid-state lasers are strong.


 Energy and aerospace remain hot areas of opportunity in North America.


 Smart phones require about 15 laser functions. “Sapphire cover glass looks like the wave of the future, and if you look at the patents… all of them include laser cutting.”


 Metal stents appear to be losing favor vs. nonmetal versions, which might change or diminish laser use in that sector.


Array of Applications


       summit presentations by Terry Wohlers on the state of the industry and James Yang’s overview of additive manufacturing at GE to Paul Denney’s tutorial on laser additive manufacturing systems and Tim Biermann’s Showcase Theater keynote.


Denney, of Lincoln Electric, gave an overview of the converging technologies at the foundation of the revolution in 3D printing and what he calls 2D-plus. Laser hot-wire cladding presents a growth opportunity when compared with powder processes, he noted. By his estimation, cladding material with powder can cost about $35.70 a pound vs. $15.95 with preheated wire. Preventing or repairing corrosion on equipment used to retrieve oil from increasingly inhospitable environments can be 


(Continued on page 20) www.lia.org 1.800.34.LASER 17


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