Southern Manufacturing and Electronics 2017 almost sold-out

With a comprehensive selection of vendors covering both production hardware, such as machinery and tooling, and components, it is an outstanding opportunity to solve multiple sourcing problems in a single visit. The size of the show makes it an important UK showcase for many top machinery manufacturers, such as Yamazaki Mazak, Matsuura, Haas Automation, Bystronic, XYZ Machine Tools, Hurco, Bruderer and CMZ. These firms and more will be running live demonstrations of their latest offerings. Complementing them will be a full range of associated suppliers, providing everything from tooling to workholding and production aids.

Meeting the needs of machine builders

According to the organisers, Southern Manufacturing has no equal as a marketplace for components, sub-assemblies, HMIs, sensors and all the myriad parts required by machine builders. The show hosts numerous global brand names, together with hundreds of smaller suppliers between them catering for pretty much every conceivable need. igus UK returns with live demonstrations of its maintenance-free lightweight bearings and cable management systems. Highlighted will be its new Compact Rotation Module, a system that guides power, signal and fluid power lines through rotational movement. Another well-known name in cable management, Kabelschlepp Metool, showcases an impressive range of products from miniature parts for electronic printers to huge steel carriers for the oil industry. Highlights this year include its TraxLine dynamic cabling systems, and TotalTrax complete turnkey systems. Fluid power component suppliers exhibiting include Pneumax, The West Group and Flow Technology.

Among the most popular attractions for visitors - accounting for almost 50 per cent in 2016 - components and OEM parts are one of the key features of the show. Southern Manufacturing has grown sufficiently important that it now attracts vendors from all over the world, offering an outstanding opportunity to meet companies and products you would not normally expect to see at a domestic show. Examples include Swiss ceramic component specialists, Ceramaret, KS Terminals from Taiwan, Cosel Europe, Yamaichi Electronics, Vexos from Germany and Poland's Transfer Multisort Elekronik, one of central Europe's leading distributors of electronic products and components. Regular exhibitors returning for Southern Manufacturing 2017 include thermal management products from Aavid Thermalloy and G English Electronics; connectors from Molex, Coax Connectors and ODU; springs from European Springs & Pressings and Lee Spring; LCD displays from Craft Data and Midas Components; EMC parts from Kemtron - and literally thousands more.

Engineering subcontract services

The event is also one of the key marketplaces for engineering subcontract services in Europe, offering a similarly wide selection of service providers from fabrication to electronics assembly, together with specialist suppliers such as electroplating, coatings and heat treatments among many others. JJS Manufacturing showcases assembly services including PCB assembly, box build, cables and wiring looms, cabinet build and electromechanical assembly. The firm provides end-to-end procurement, manufacture and supply chain solutions. It is one of only four UK EMS companies with a wholly owned off-shore manufacturing facility. Wiring and cabling suppliers include Industrial Electronic Wiring, Actisense, Automated Cable Solutions and Gem Cable.

The show hosts numerous precision engineering and fine-limit sheet metalwork firms, many of whom have particular experience in demanding sectors such as aerospace and medical technology. Alongside them are a large number of firms offering specialist niche services such as high-tech coatings from Fluorocarbon Surface Technologies, Applied Coating Technologies and Davis Scientific Treatments.

With so much to see, planning a visit is essential. Fortunately, a searchable database of products, services and exhibitors is available online at www.industrysouth.co.uk. Pre-registered visitors get a comprehensive free show guide on arrival, and those registering early enough will also receive a free copy of the show's official preview magazine profiling over 100 exhibitors, plus details of the show's incredible free technical seminar programme. This information and the essential pre-registration is also available on the website.

Entry to the exhibition and the technical seminars is free, and FIVE Farnborough offers plentiful free car parking. There is easy accessibility by road from the M3 or by rail. A free shuttle bus connects the exhibition and both of Farnborough's railway stations.

To apply for tickets, go to www.industrysouth.co.uk. Visitors can stay informed of all the latest news by visiting the event's official blog, blog.industrysouth.co.uk, by following @industry_co_uk and #southmanf on Twitter, or by signing up to the show's official LinkedIn group at LinkedIn at linkedin.industrysouth.co.uk.