The latest Contract Manufacturing Index showed that the subcontracting market was down 46% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 compared to the previous quarter. Year on year though the market barely moved, ending 2021 1% high than it ended 2020.
Those figures, though, conceal a volatile 12 months.
A strong start to the year was followed by a dramatic fall at the start of the March lockdown. A strong recovery followed in the summer, with activity falling back again from September.
The CMI is produced by sourcing specialist Qimtek and reflects the total purchasing budget for outsourced manufacturing of companies looking to place business in any given month.
https://www.qimtek.co.uk/news/engineering-capacity/volatile-2020-subcontracting