The manufacturing sector has expanded for the seventh consecutive month, according to the July 2026 Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing PMI Report. Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee discusses the factors driving industry expansion.

Manufacturing Economy Hits 4-Year High

Advanced Manufacturing Now

Hello, welcome to the Advanced Manufacturing Now podcast. I'm your host, Steve Plum, Editor-in-Chief of SME Media, and I'm joined today by Susan Spence, who chairs the Institute for Supply Management, or ISM, of the Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. Susan, welcome to the program. Susan Spence Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate it. Thanks for hosting me on my first, hopefully not last. We'll see how I do.

Yeah, so I definitely hope this turns into a regular segment. Especially the timing for this one. Earlier today, ISM released the Manufacturing PMI for July. So first, the good news, PMI, or Purchasing Managers Index, gained 2.3 percentage points from June to reach 55.6% in July, which puts it safely in the expansion territory again.

Susan Spence But this was the highest level in about four years. Susan Spence Yeah. Susan Spence Seems like we're, the industry's on an upward trajectory for the last several months. Susan Spence Yeah, certainly. And this month marks my 13th month doing this report. I only started a year ago. I took it over from Tim Fiore, who did it faithfully for eight years, big shoes to fill, when he convinced me to do this volunteer deal, because that's what it is.

Susan Spence I am fully retired, but busy with volunteer things. What he had said to me is, you know, it was in May, April, May of last year, the first tariff announcement had come out. And he said, this is a really volatile and interesting time. And if we all thought we could predict what was going to happen next, we can't anymore. And boy, was he right. So I had to give not great news all the way up until this past January.

Manufacturing Economy Hits 4-Year High

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Manufacturing Economy Hits 4-Year High

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.