The weakening dollar against other currencies is making it cheaper for foreign companies to buy U.S.-made products, one reason that many companies, like Haas, are experiencing a boom in international orders.
      The lower cost of capital also could be influencing the location decisions of European machine and equipment manufacturers. "Global companies want a global footprint," says AMT's McGibbon. "A stronger dollar had been putting off decisions to expand in the U.S. And even though exchange rates are not the reason companies make long-term location decisions, a lower dollar could have an impact on a company that was already looking."Sweden's Volvo, for instance, is weighing a move to the U.S. for some of its off-road construction equipment business, reportedly because of the weakening dollar.
      Japanese machinery manufacturer Mori Seiki, with a U.S. headquarters operation in Dallas, is significantly expanding its technical operations in Chicago. "We are building on land we already own in Chicago, because of the growth in orders and our expanded operations into sales in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana," explains company vice president Marlow Knabach in an interview. "The Chicago facility also serves customers in Kentucky and eastern Missouri." The company is increasing engineering and support service capacity and enlarging its showroom, located within easy proximity of O'Hare International Airport and Interstate 90.
      All the firm's tools are made in Japan, even though Knabach notes that the company has investigated lower labor cost options in other parts of Asia.
      "Last year we looked hard at other countries in Asia. But instead, we decided to pool our resources and re-vamp our assembly on three campuses in Japan. We are challenging production costs through efficiencies," he explains.
      The company does not intend to shift production to the U.S., although sales there are growing. "The economic changes would have to be a lot more dramatic [than the current weakening of the dollar] to move production [to the U.S.]," he says.