UK subcontracting show goes international
Mould Cutting Machine Exhibitors experienced high levels of serious enquiries from companies genuinely interested in
their products and capabilities at the 2007 event - the Subcon 2008 event will be even more important. The annual UK
exhibition for international buyers of subcontract manufacturing - Subcon - will take place at the National Exhibition Centre
(NEC), Birmingham, April 22-24, 2008 Subcon will enable visitors to compare and source subcontract manufacturing services
under one roof Exhibitors will be there from the UK, Europe and around the world. Apart from exhibiting a wide range of
machined parts, electronic assemblies, castings, plastics mouldings and metal fabrications, many exhibitors offer full
manufacturing services. Such services include design, rapid prototyping and managing full 'turnkey' projects. Subcon 2008
event director, Jon Hughes, said: "As an annual event, Subcon is a 'must-see' show in its own right, but with the added
benefits to visitors of taking a broader look at their whole make/buy strategy this will be the highlight of the 2008
calendar for anyone in manufacturing". The 2008 event will be co-located with several complementary events at the NEC, such
as the MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition and Design and Controls. It will help visitors to make a decision about
manufacturing in-house or subcontracting out. * MACH 2008 - organised by the Manufacturing Technologies Association, MACH
2008 is attracting over 500 exhibitors and expects over 22,000 visitors. * The 'Drives and Controls' show, organized by DFA
Media and running during April 22-24, 2008, covers automation, drives, power transmission and motion control. * Subcon 2007
generated high levels of serious enquiries - information gathered from 100 telephone interviews with buyers and technical
specifiers indicated that exhibitors experienced high levels of serious enquiries from companies genuinely interested in
their products and capabilities. Some visitors, on the other hand, were disappointed with the numbers of suppliers,
especially UK suppliers, who participated. Richard Brinley of Spirax Sarco said: "I spend half a million a year on CNC
machining alone and millions on presswork and fabrications and I can't understand why so few local suppliers turned out".
Buyers in all sectors said they were disappointed with the number of companies - particularly UK companies - that had
'general engineering' skills. These are suppliers who can provide a 'one-stop service' to supply a finished or semi-finished
component or sub-assembly from start to finish, that is, buy the material, cut it, machine it, treat it and finish it. In
practise they found few suppliers that were able or willing to do more than one process. This trend is apparently driving
more and more buyers to source from Eastern Europe. * Volumes and values - volumes reported were mainly small to medium
(hundreds and thousands of units rather than hundreds of thousands and more) but there were some high volumes too - one
company spent GBP 40 million in UK on castings alone. Spends of GBP 3 million, GBP 5 million, GBP 10 million and GBP 25
million were not uncommon, said those interviewed. * Global sourcing trends - the trend seems to be towards sourcing more
from Eastern Europe. UK suppliers and those in China and India are losing business to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, CZ, etc.
Manufacture for export of components and assemblies for oil, gas and power is booming. 1 - Sector reports - automotive and
motor sport - buyers who visited Subcon 2007 were interviewed from: Leyland Trucks, Denso Marston, Dennis Eagle, King
Trailers, Hendrickson, KV Systems, Hexadex, WH Smith Automotive, Hindle Group, Bentley, Wicke UK, Triumph Motorcycles, Zytek,
AP Driveline, B. Hepworth and Co, NSK, Carlisle Brakes, FCC Europe, Hartridge, Vepro, Cosworth Racing, Talon Engineering,
Mercedes Benz High Performance. * Volumes, spends and sources - volumes vary widely, with lots of small batch work. Outsource
values quoted up to GBP 40 million. Many buyers said that they would like to rely on a local supplier base (and they are
comfortable about paying 10% to 20% more for parts sourced in the UK). However, many are finding it hard to locate a UK
supplier who is able to do more than one process, such as a producing and plating a metal fabrication. Many buyers said that
they want partners who can 'buy it, cut it, machine it, grind it and treat it'. Some buyers are sourcing only in UK and
central Europe, some have suppliers in China and the Far East or India, but the trend appears to be towards switching to
Eastern Europe - Hungary, CZ, Slovakia, Latvia, Poland and Turkey. * Items outsourced: heavy duty fabrications for trailer
assemblies; chassis and suspension units; aluminium castings and engine components; machined castings in aluminium, grey
iron, steel, steel graphite; major castings with circuit boards, bearings, gaskets and shafts in; prototyping; power press
tooling; small batch CNC machining; small turned parts, bearings; springs; fasteners; laser cutting; milling; gun drilling;
honing; plating; plastics extrusion; injection mouldings; tube work; plastics and rubber injections; resins; rubber/metal
bonding; assembly work and electronic conversions.
- uebueb4
- 17:44
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