All set for Southern Manufacturing

The worlds of mechanical engineering and electronics will converge once more from 7 to 9 February at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2023 is the ideal venue for firms looking to find new business opportunities. Undeniably one of the most important engineering shows in the UK calendar, it has been running virtually continuously since 1998, so this year marks its 25th anniversary.

The event has grown from a small, regional gathering of entrepreneurial companies to one of international importance. A large proportion of participants have supported the show since the beginning and the percentage of returning firms is high. Many regular participants have booked stands for 2023 and the show is set to be a sell-out again.

Having in one place the best of mechanical engineering and electronic products and services in approximately equal measure exhibited by companies from around the world gives the event a unique character. It is the go-to place to address multiple sourcing requirements efficiently. An interesting facet of the show is that although the technologies and industries covered are enormously diverse, there are no physical barriers between the areas, allowing easy cross-over between the various engineering disciplines.

Many hundreds of firms will highlight a vast array of mechanical, electrical, electronic, optoelectronic, electromechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic components and assemblies, PCBs, cables and connectors, as well as sensors, drives, encoders, fasteners, pressings, wireforms, springs, plastic and rubber mouldings, gaskets and more.

As usual, there will be suppliers of machine tools and tooling, workholding systems, metrology equipment, test and inspection systems, finishing machines, laser cutting and marking equipment, additive manufacturing machines and consumables, production and planning aids, and engineering and business software. Industry

4.0 solutions will be in evidence alongside controls, displays, HMIs, data acquisition systems, augmented, mixed, and virtual reality, robot and cobot machine tending and other automation solutions.

Additional diverse and no less essential products and services on offer will encompass oil and coolant supply, workshop equipment, dust and fume extraction, humidity control, workplace storage systems, bespoke case and foam manufacture, plastic packaging and injection moulding, hand tools, adhesives, industrial flooring, waste removal and recycling, training, freight services and business consultancy.

The event is also an important destination for subcontractors working in the production / mechanical engineering and electrical / electronic sectors to take stands and explain the scope of their services. Leading practitioners will show examples of components they have machined from a vast array of materials, while 3D printing bureaux will likewise exhibit their additively manufactured parts, and metrology providers will give details of what they offer. Further subcontract engineering services on display will include PCB production, electronics assembly, cable harness manufacture, test and inspection.

On the mechanical engineering side, a host of subcontract companies will be present. CNC milling and turning, grinding and toolmaking as well as wire and spark erosion are variously offered by numerous exhibitors including AJM Engineering, Axiom Product Development, Canal Engineering, DRN Engineering, Machined Precision Components, Mintdale Engineering, RHH Franks, RMA Precision Engineering, Rowan Precision, and Suntium Co in Taiwan, which specialises particularly in gear manufacture.

In the sheet metal and fabrication sector, Barlow Sheet Metal operates from two factory units in Waterlooville, Biz Engineering offers tube and pipe bending capability, EMJ Metals has sheet metal cutting and bending capacity, Fife Fabrications will promote its electromechanical assembly service alongside sheet metalworking, and Wood plc will exhibit sheet metal components, welded fabrications and assemblies that it supplies to the automotive, oil and gas, nuclear, and process and packaging industries.

Orbital Fabrications is a specialist in the field of manufacturing high purity stainless steel manifolds and control systems for use in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, chemical and process industries and will showcase its latest developments in welding and fabricating complex assemblies in stainless and high nickel content alloys, utilising automated orbital welding techniques alongside lathe and turntable TIG welding. Southwest Fabrications will occupy a stand to highlight its experience in CNC punching and folding, laser profiling, aluminium and stainless steel welding, assembly, and surface preparation and finishing.

Additive manufacturing services will be on site. Bowman Additive Production employs industry leading technology for efficient manufacture of 3D printed parts that are traceable, accurate and repeatable. IPFL utilises industrial additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies to produce top quality plastic parts for the medical, defence, motorsport and scientific industries. Services include prototyping and production of microfluidics and pneumatic manifolds, as well as high speed milling and routing, laser cutting and fabrication.

The castings industry will be represented by the MJ Allen Group, a family-owned business established in 1958 consisting of five individual companies with expertise in engineering patterns and castings, CNC machining and laser cutting, architectural and structural metalwork, punch tools and dies, after-market clutch and brake kits, and the design and build of automotive and agricultural transmission systems. MRT Castings will underline its specialism in aluminium diecasting, CNC machining, surface finishing and assembly of components for electronics, medical, communications, defence and aerospace applications. Evtec Aluminium is also a leading firm in the design, manufacture and supply of complex aluminium castings. With in-house casting, machining, testing and assembly capabilities, the company considers quality at all stages of the design process, ensuring the lowest cost solution for customers.

In the area of component finishing, Lapping Services has been offering lapping and polishing services for over 35 years. It has the UK’s largest double-sided lapping capability and has AS9100 Rev D accreditation along with Rolls Royce Nuclear certification. MPE in Aberdare will focus on mechanical polishing, electropolishing, pickling, bead blasting, degreasing and passivation of stainless steel fabrications and assemblies.

Applied Coating Technologies applies decorative and functional coatings in low to high volumes across many industries, supported by extensive manual spray facilities and four robotic paint lines. Twickenham Plating Group's forte is the application of a range of finishes to a variety of substrates including copper, aluminium and ferrous alloys using masking technologies for selective plating, or conventional reel to reel, barrel, vat and rack plating. Finishes available include gold, silver, palladium, nickel, tin, zinc and cobalt. Frost

Electroplating similarly offers gold, silver, tin, nickel, copper and electroless nickel surface conversion coatings, while Corodine provides electroplating and metal finishing services supported by X-ray fluorescence analysis, hull cell testing and wet analysis, allowing immediate live testing of solutions to maintain them at optimum working levels.

Plastic component manufacture will be particularly strong this year, especially injection moulding and assembly services. One such supplier is MGS Technical Plastics, as is Naiad Plastics, which also offers design for manufacture and overmoulding. Nordell, a UK plastics manufacturing and design company, employs over 150 staff primarily in injection moulding, including Class 7 cleanroom, and provides complimentary services including toolmaking and maintenance, ultrasonic welding and testing. Rencol Group offers plastic injection moulding services alongside aluminium component manufacture.

MHP Industries produces vacuum formed plastic components and is a specialist in custom covers and enclosures for markets ranging from medical appliances to wind turbines. Services include toolmaking, CAD/CAM, reverse engineering, 3D printing and injection moulding. Rutland Plastics is another plastic injection moulding company making parts from 1g to 45kg and up to 1.5m in size. It offers toolmaking services as well, as do injection moulding companies S&S, White Horse and WSM. On the other hand, Rochling Industrial (UK)'s speciality is CNC turning and 5axis CNC milling of industrial, engineering and high performance plastics in low to