Quarterly Economic Outlook: Planning for 4th Quarter 2018, published by PMMI – The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, examines industrial production and business‑cycle dynamics using data through mid‑2018 and forward-looking indicators to frame forecasts into 2019–2020. The analysis synthesizes national and regional production indexes and leading indicators, providing benchmark comparisons across sectors; focus areas include business-cycle and demand forecasting, sectoral production and regional risks, and operational readiness—workforce development and retention, knowledge capture and documentation, and digital-tool adoption and version control—to guide capacity and pricing decisions. Charts highlight emerging patterns by industry, and the analysis indicates firms generally tend to prioritize agility over scale. The report reveals where manufacturers are prioritizing investments to strengthen operational resilience.
Published by ITR Economics in October 2018. Based on industrial and economic time‑series (manufacturing and industrial production indexes, capacity‑utilization rates, PMIs, orders, retail sales, and corporate profits) from national and regional statistical agencies and industry databases for the US, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, collected through May–June 2018 and analyzed via secondary analysis, time‑series trend and rate‑of‑change methods, and proprietary ITR Leading Indicator/Checking Points systems.
