For the fire industry, 2016 continued the rebound many markets have been going through since the economy began its recovery.

Several examples came in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&A)-some small and some that generated a lot of buzz throughout the industry. This market is a mature market, and the M&A activity is not likely to stop, although the pace at which it occurs will probably fluctuate. For those companies that merged, often they enjoy expanded research, development, and engineering resources at their disposal to improve existing products and develop new ones. For those remaining largely independent, the economy has rebounded to the point where they can reinvest in their products, and orders for new equipment are increasing.

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