I attended and open house event at a major manufacturer of Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machines. They were demonstrating robots to automate production and run the machines “lights out”, that is overnight without any human interaction.

I asked a sales rep how business has been going during this “age of COVID“. The rep told me that business has been BOOMING. They are selling machines as fast as they can make them. The rep said right now lead time on a new machine is 20 weeks. They are also having supply chain issues. The rep mentioned that they too are suffering from the chip shortage as they can’t get everything to build up the “computer controllers” for the machines.

I asked the rep what sectors were creating the demand for machines and the response was quite interesting. The rep said that the “TOY manufacturers” are buying up machines. The definition of “TOYS” is not Barbies and Hot Wheels, but  gun parts, automotive accessories, and other flashy accessory bits. The rep speculated that all of the COVID relief money, rent relief, loan forgiveness, and extended unemployment benefits made millennials who live with their parents, flush with cash, and they ended up spending all the “virus” money buying “TOYS”.  The rep also said the medical manufacturing sector was up as well, which makes sense.

The only sector mentioned which had a downturn on machine purchases was aerospace/aircraft manufacturing.  Speculation is that the airlines weren’t buying new planes when air travel was almost nonexistent during the virus crisis compounded by Boeings ongoing issues with the 737 Max.

I spoke at length with a vendor of fixtures which increases the productivity of the CNC machines and he also said that demand is up for “TOYS“. He too said that the “gun guys” demand for parts is higher than he’s ever seen it before. He’s been in the industry for over 40 years.

Interesting data points.

Lunch Bucket Joe need to give out more money for “TOYS“.