Northern Manufacturing & Electronics 2013, Manchester

There have been regional manufacturing shows in the north before, but nothing to match the scale or ambition of Northern Manufacturing 2013. Following the highly successful format of its southerly sibling, the show aims to become the focal point of manufacturing technology for the entire northern and western halves of the country, including Scotland, North Wales, northern Midlands, Eire and Northern Ireland. Key to achieving this objective is the show's prime location close to the heart of Manchester, delivering easy access from across the UK. Event City is the UK's newest major event venue and, at 28,000m2, the second largest in the country outside London. Its combination of superb modern facilities and excellent communications is said to put it in a class of its own.

Along with location, the other crucial factor in a show's success is the quality of companies taking part. Here again, Northern Manufacturing & Electronics is breaking new ground. The diversity of suppliers and disciplines represented under one roof means the show will appeal to virtually anyone involved in industry, from electronics to fabrication. With the strong track record of the Southern show behind it, Northern Manufacturing has enjoyed unprecedented support from the start.

Rather than restricting itself to any one sector, the show takes in the whole spectrum of UK industrial activity, meaning that it is possible to meet companies from a wide variety of engineering-related industries, and resolve multiple production issues in a single visit. While the event is big enough to attract major international companies, it retains its accessibility for smaller firms, allowing them to take part without being dwarfed by larger exhibitors. Many of the smaller firms taking part do not exhibit anywhere else, giving the event a real local relevance.

Exhibitors and seminar programme

Some of the larger firms taking part in the inaugural event include international names such as Amada Machine Tools, Bruderer UK, Bystronic and Yamazaki Mazak. They will be joined in the live demonstration Machinery Area by other machinery firms such as XYZ Machine Tools and C. Duggard. Other familiar names include Fronius UK, Nikon Metrology, Faro, Renishaw and Brother UK.

Machine builders will find much of interest from firms such as Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, WMH Transmissions, Deltron Enclosures, sensor manufacturer Bernstein, Maxmag Moulded Magnets, i4Innovation, IEC anti-vibration fixings, Lee Springs, Component Force, Quadrant Connections, together with numerous specialists such as humidity control experts, Brownell and cable management systems manufacturer Kabelschlepp Metool.

Sub-contract services are also a hugely important aspect of the show, with almost every conceivable engineering or manufacturing activity well represented, from PCB assembly to castings, machining and fabrication. Some well-known names in this area include Brandauer, Hadleigh Castings, Fife Fabrications, Aerotech Precision Manufacturing, Jenks & Cattell Engineering, DJJ Precision Engineering, Serious Engineering and SIC. Other areas of advanced manufacturing are also on show, including composites, engineering plastics and additive manufacturing. The learning opportunities continue through an impressive free technical seminar programme running over both days of the show. The presentations cover a broad range of business and technical topics, each delivered by expert speakers in their respective fields.

Entry to Northern Manufacturing & Electronics 2013 is completely free to business visitors, and Event City offers 3000 free car parking spaces and very easy access by road, rail or air. To register online for tickets, or to find out about exhibiting at this event, go to www.industrynorth.co.uk or call +44 (0)1784 880 890. Visitors can follow all the news from the show at www.linkedin.com, or on the show's blog page at blog.industrynorth.co.uk.