NFPA’s State of the Fluid Power Industry Survey (SOFP) is a monthly seven-question, opinion-based survey that examines responses from fluid power industry peers on orders, shipments, hiring plans and inventory levels to gauge the change in the monthly, quarterly and annual state of our industry compared to previous benchmarks and predictions.
The latest survey revealed over 60% of U.S. Fluid Power Manufacturers experienced orders growth in February and over 65% project orders growth in March, while only 25% of U.S. Fluid Power Distributors experienced shipments growth in February and 100% project shipments growth in March. Both U.S. Fluid Power Manufacturers and Distributors identified growth in hiring and backlog for February, and the majority also anticipate growth in orders and shipments in the months to come.
Participation is voluntary and all individual responses are confidential, but participation is required to receive the results. The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete.
SOFP Industry Facts
The SOFP helps members create a simple forecast and is a strong leading indicator for the fluid power industry, which has been statistically proven to lead actual conditions by 3-5 months with over a 90% correlation to NFPA shipments data, providing participating members with a clear planning advantage by helping them:
- Identify the industry’s position in the business cycle
- Anticipate how the industry will do in the months to come
- Track industry backlog and hiring plans
- Analyze the progress of your company compared to others
Update Frequency: Monthly
Valuable Features:
- State of current month
- Projection for next month
- Projection for next 3 months
- Projection for next 12 months
- State of hiring
- State of backlog
- State of competitiveness vs. alternative technologies for manufacturers
- State of current month by U.S. region for distributors
Accessibility: Participation in NFPA’s State of the Fluid Power Industry Survey is available to all manufacturer and distributor members, click MANUFACTURER or DISTRIBUTOR to view.
Like this post? Share it!
Recent Posts
Connecting NFPA Members with Emerging Talent: Meet Kyla Olson
We’re excited to share a new onboarding video from Kyla Olson, one of NFPA’s Workforce Program and Event Managers. In this video, Kyla highlights the many ways she can help members connect with the next generation of fluid power professionals. Kyla is dedicated to assisting NFPA members in engaging with university engineering students, particularly those…
NFPA to Present Advanced Hydraulics Conference at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026
The National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) will convene and co-locate an advanced hydraulics conference for off-highway vehicle and other fluid power engineers at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026, to be held March 3-7, 2026, in Las Vegas, NV. CONEXPO-CON/AGG is the international gathering place every three years for the construction industries, focusing on construction, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete. The event features exhibits of the…
Survey Results on Preventing Leaks – Now Available for NFPA Members
A new publication, 2024 NFPA Preventing Leaks Survey Results, has been published by the National Fluid Power Association. As defined in the 2023 NFPA Technology Roadmap, there are many machine-level technology trends that are actively shaping the future of the fluid power industry. These trends include the increasing electrification, connectivity, and autonomous functionality of both the…