Northern Manufacturing & Electronics Show is bigger for 2014

Manufacturing industry is a major contributor to the region's economy, supporting a large number of tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers, many of which will be exhibiting at the show. Alongside them will be a broad selection of component vendors, machinery manufacturers, subcontractors and specialist suppliers.

A measure of the success of last year's inaugural event is the increase in the number of exhibitors for 2014. The organisers are expecting to be nudging 300 participating firms by the time the event opens its doors on October 1st. Once again, the show boasts an impressive roster of big-name manufacturers, interspersed with a fine selection of smaller firms from across the show's broad catchment area. And, as usual, with such a wide selection of suppliers and subcontract services on offer, there is something to interest most people involved in any aspect of engineering.

Machine safety

Bernstein returns with its comprehensive range of machine safety sensors, this year demonstrating one of its light-curtain machine safety applications. Kabelschlepp Metool will exhibit examples from its a broad range of cable supports found in machine building and automation roles, everywhere from ink-jet printer carriages to oil rigs. LEMO will reveal its most recent sub-miniature connectors at Northern 2014; LEMO has packed five contacts into its very small 00 series for which the plug diameter is just a nominal 6mm, making the product well suited for industrial automation applications where a compact yet robust connector is required.

Pacer will bring its wide range of displays, LEDs, sensors and optoelectronic products to Northern Manufacturing for the first time. Technologies on display include electroluminescent (EL), transparent EL, OLED and TFT LCD, demonstrated alongside robust mobile PDAs and tablets. Pacer's optoelectronic collection incorporates light and colour sensors, high-power and specialist LEDs, thermopiles, pyrodetectors and laser components.

Of Northern's larger international exhibitors, almost all return in 2014, for instance Faro Technologies, Haas Automation, KUKA Robotics, Amada, Bystronic and many others. They will be joined by numerous new names, such as US firm SpaceClaim and Cheshire-Based Colneherne, suppliers of precision plain and white metal bearings. Alongside these firms are literally hundreds of vendors delivering a huge number of subassemblies, mechanical engineering components, machine vision systems, subcontract metalworking and components.

Production equipment, fasteners and consumables

The show is also a great place to see tooling and other essential production equipment. Regular exhibitors such as Nikon Metrology, Renishaw, Faro Technologies, Trumpf and Olympus return for 2014. Other names to look out for include OK International, Mate Tooling Solutions, Quickgrind and welding equipment supplier Schnelldorfer Maschinenbau UK.

Consumables and components are also well represented, with companies such as TR Fastenings, Pneumax and Nord-Lock. There is also a wide range of production-related products on show, such as aqueous component washing machines from MecWash, industrial lighting from EDL Lighting and workshop flooring from Flowcrete. There are materials handling systems from Yaplex and Scaglia Indeva and workshop furniture from Treston. In short, the exhibition organisers believe virtually everything an engineering firm could want is on show. A full list of exhibitors can be found at www.industrynorth.co.uk.

Seminars

The free seminar programme is another reason to attend. Within a busy two-day programme, presenters from a number of leading companies touch on a many diverse technical and operational subject areas in a series of hour-long sessions. The programme has been developed to interest a wide range of industrial professionals from all sections of manufacturing, engineering design and production. As with the show, admission to the seminar sessions is free, making this an excellent chance to get to hear world-class presenters discuss the most recent ideas in manufacturing, engineering and industrial management.

Entry to Northern Manufacturing & Electronics 2014 is free to business visitors, and EventCity provides 3000 free on-site car parking spaces, with easy accessibility by road or public transport. To register online for free tickets, simply visit www.industrynorth.co.uk or call +44 (0)1784 880 890. Visitors can follow all the latest news from the show on Twitter by following @industry_co_uk #northmanf, or on its blog page at blog.industrynorth.co.uk.