At Southern Manufacturing & Electronics, to be held at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre in early February, the worlds of production, mechanical and electronic engineering converge.
The show has grown over the years from a small, regional gathering of industrial companies when it started in 1998 to one of
international significance, now attracting hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors from all over the world. This year marks the event's 25th anniversary.
Having in one place the best of production and mechanical engineering combined with high-end electronics, all operating at the forefront of technology and innovating across a multitude of sectors, makes the event a perfect venue for addressing multiple sourcing requirements efficiently.
Despite the variety of technologies and services around the showground, there are no barriers between the different areas. Visitors
are able to move freely between the engineering disciplines and perhaps discover unfamiliar technologies and services that were not on their original shopping list.
The event is an important destination for sourcing subcontract services. Leading practitioners will show examples of parts they have machined from a vast array of materials, from metal billets and castings to plastics.
Traditional subtractive machining specialists will be joined by firms specialising in 3D printing. Further subcontract engineering services will include sheet metalworking, plastic injection moulding, electronics assembly, finishing, test and inspection.
On show will be a wide range of mechanical,electromechanical, optoelectronic and electronic components and assemblies, hydraulics and pneumatics, connectors, sensors, drives and encoders.
Featured also will be machine tools and tooling, workholding systems, additive manufacturing machines and consumables, metrology equipment, finishing machines, laser cutting and marking equipment, and software for both engineering and business.#
Industry 4.0 solutions will be exhibited alongside controls, displays, HMIs, data acquisition systems, virtual reality, robot and cobot machine tending and other automation solutions.
Numerous machine tools will be in evidence this year with the presence of Ajax, AMOB, Bruderer, Chester Machine Tools, Citizen Machinery, Haas, Hurco, Jinan Bodor, MACH Machine Tools, Matsuura, Mills, NCMT, XYZ, Yamazaki Mazak and YMT Technologies.
Traditionally builders of, or agents for, subtractive machining equipment, many now offer additive manufacturing as well, either on the same platforms or separately. There will be many other firms specialising in 3D printing only, some with expertise in scanning, such as Additive-X, Carfulan group company SYS Systems, CDG 3D TECH, CREAT3D, Europac3D and GTX Europe.
The importance of modern workholding systems for efficient production will be stressed by 1st Machine Tool Accessories, Lang, Thame and Roehm, while cutting tools will be promoted by Industrial Tooling Corporation, Guhring, Hoffmann and Mapal.
Zoller UK will demonstrate its tool presetting and measurement equipment, cutting fluids will be promoted by Oemeta and Kernow Oils, and Heidenhain will show its CNC systems, DROs, encoders and touch probes.
