Orders Please

A third of our sample expected that the volume of orders taken in the first quarter of the new financial year (April to June 2002) would be higher than that in the period January to March 2002; only 15% are expecting a decrease.

Revenue Forecasts

There is a reasonable degree of confidence on revenue performance for the first six months of this financial year.  Six out of ten of our sample are either very or quite positive about revenue performance for April to September 2002 compared to the six months between September 2001 and March 2002.

Budget Matters

Only 8% of our sample said their budget for product design and development processes would decrease this year compared to last.  Nearly one in five said this budget would increase.

Design Investments

One in ten of our sample said they were definitely planning to invest in improvements to their electronic design processes in the next six months.  

Conclusion

This survey offers only a snapshot of the business confidence in the electronic engineering sector, but the findings are consistent with broader assessments of the manufacturing picture in the UK.  The February Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) reported that manufacturing output would remain unchanged in the next four months, after six months of significant falls.  This CBI survey provides further evidence that the UK manufacturing sector is on the turn through a small improvement in total order books.  While our findings do not provide any quantitatively measurable data on output or orders, they do at least reveal that the majority of electronic engineering companies see their overall performance remaining stable or improving in the short term.  CAD Spaghetti will report on other CAD/CAM using sectors in future issues.