The recession of 2009 has construction industry manufacturers fine-tuning their business plans to ensure that when the economy bounces back, sales of their product lines will rebound as well.

Three manufacturing executives who accepted a request by Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) for a question-and-answer exercise, are, of course, keenly interested in the impact of the Obama administration’s infrastructure stimulus policy. Generally, they hope that it will boost construction activity and sales, though cash flow problems in the interim are difficult and tax policies seem problematic.

They acknowledge that some operational theories about the benefits of a global economy are being tested in this worldwide downturn. As Terex Corp. Chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo noted, because the world’s economies are closely joined for good or ill, economic struggles on other continents actually “exacerbated the recessionary effects we were feeling” in the United States.

The company officials also touch on the subject of “bellwether machines,” that is, pieces of equipment in product lines that are sensitive to marketplace fluctuations, giving early warning of economic changes ahead.

Joining DeFeo in answering the questions submitted by CEG editors are Don Johnson of Caterpillar Inc.’s Business Intelligence Group and Goran Lindgren, president and CEO of Volvo Construction Equipment North America Inc.

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Reprinted with permission from Construction Equipment Guide