Product category:
Subcon Exhibition
News Release from: Subcon | Subject: Subcon - exhibitors' reports
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 March 2008
UK subcontracting show is international
Exhibitors experienced high levels of serious enquiries from companies genuinely interested in their products and capabilities at the 2007 event - the Subcon 2008 event will be even more important.
The annual UK exhibition for international buyers of subcontract manufacturing - Subcon - will take place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, April 22-24, 2008 Subcon will enable visitors to compare and source subcontract manufacturing services under one roof
Exhibitors will be there from the UK, Europe and around the world.
Apart from exhibiting a wide range of machined parts, electronic assemblies, castings, plastics mouldings and metal fabrications, many exhibitors offer full manufacturing services.
Such services include design, rapid prototyping and managing full 'turnkey' projects.
Subcon 2008 event director, Jon Hughes, said: "As an annual event, Subcon is a 'must-see' show in its own right, but with the added benefits to visitors of taking a broader look at their whole make/buy strategy this will be the highlight of the 2008 calendar for anyone in manufacturing".
The 2008 event will be co-located with several complementary events at the NEC, such as the MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition and Design and Controls.
It will help visitors to make a decision about manufacturing in-house or subcontracting out.
* MACH 2008 - organised by the Manufacturing Technologies Association, MACH 2008 is attracting over 500 exhibitors and expects over 22,000 visitors.
* The 'Drives and Controls' show, organized by DFA Media and running during April 22-24, 2008, covers automation, drives, power transmission and motion control.
* Subcon 2007 generated high levels of serious enquiries - information gathered from 100 telephone interviews with buyers and technical specifiers indicated that exhibitors experienced high levels of serious enquiries from companies genuinely interested in their products and capabilities.
Some visitors, on the other hand, were disappointed with the numbers of suppliers, especially UK suppliers, who participated.
Richard Brinley of Spirax Sarco said: "I spend half a million a year on CNC machining alone and millions on presswork and fabrications and I can't understand why so few local suppliers turned out".
Buyers in all sectors said they were disappointed with the number of companies - particularly UK companies - that had 'general engineering' skills.
These are suppliers who can provide a 'one-stop service' to supply a finished or semi-finished component or sub-assembly from start to finish, that is, buy the material, cut it, machine it, treat it and finish it.
In practise they found few suppliers that were able or willing to do more than one process.
This trend is apparently driving more and more buyers to source from Eastern Europe.
* Volumes and values - volumes reported were mainly small to medium (hundreds and thousands of units rather than hundreds of thousands and more) but there were some high volumes too - one company spent GBP 40 million in UK on castings alone.
Spends of GBP 3 million, GBP 5 million, GBP 10 million and GBP 25 million were not uncommon, said those interviewed.
* Global sourcing trends - the trend seems to be towards sourcing more from Eastern Europe.
UK suppliers and those in China and India are losing business to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, CZ, etc.
Manufacture for export of components and assemblies for oil, gas and power is booming.
1 - Sector reports - automotive and motor sport - buyers who visited Subcon 2007 were interviewed from: Leyland Trucks, Denso Marston, Dennis Eagle, King Trailers, Hendrickson, KV Systems, Hexadex, WH Smith Automotive, Hindle Group, Bentley, Wicke UK, Triumph Motorcycles, Zytek, AP Driveline, B.
Hepworth and Co, NSK, Carlisle Brakes, FCC Europe, Hartridge, Vepro, Cosworth Racing, Talon Engineering, Mercedes Benz High Performance.
* Volumes, spends and sources - volumes vary widely, with lots of small batch work.
Outsource values quoted up to GBP 40 million.
Many buyers said that they would like to rely on a local supplier base (and they are comfortable about paying 10% to 20% more for parts sourced in the UK).
However, many are finding it hard to locate a UK supplier who is able to do more than one process, such as a producing and plating a metal fabrication.
Many buyers said that they want partners who can 'buy it, cut it, machine it, grind it and treat it'.
Some buyers are sourcing only in UK and central Europe, some have suppliers in China and the Far East or India, but the trend appears to be towards switching to Eastern Europe - Hungary, CZ, Slovakia, Latvia, Poland and Turkey.
* Items outsourced: heavy duty fabrications for trailer assemblies; chassis and suspension units; aluminium castings and engine components; machined castings in aluminium, grey iron, steel, steel graphite; major castings with circuit boards, bearings, gaskets and shafts in; prototyping; power press tooling; small batch CNC machining; small turned parts, bearings; springs; fasteners; laser cutting; milling; gun drilling; honing; plating; plastics extrusion; injection mouldings; tube work; plastics and rubber injections; resins; rubber/metal bonding; assembly work and electronic conversions.
Priorities were seen by those interviewed as follows.
* Quality.
* On-time.
* Process control.
* Cost.
* Dependability: stable businesses - be there long term.
* Local.
* Accreditations.
Service reported as being hard to find are as follows.
* Heavy duty fabricators that do machining.
* Subcontractors that offer more than one process or who can subcontract and manage a supply chain.
* Bespoke engineering: supply finished or semi-finished sub-assemblies from 'scratch'.
2 - Oil, gas, power and utilities.
Buyers were interviewed from: Halliburton, RWE NPower, Oilfield Production, Haigh Engineering, Delta Fluid Products, Goodwin International and Brush Electrical machines.
* Volumes and spends - there is a boom in the export market in the oil and gas industries and buyers are looking for extra capacity.
A lot of the work is in heavy engineering with high value components.
* Outsourcing - Taiwan, China and Asia are popular for sourcing castings and forgings - some have their own production sites in India and China, but most of the fabrication and machining is sourced in the UK, Europe and Eastern Europe * Items outsourced - heavy steel fabrications between 6 tonnes and 35 tonnes; turbo generators requiring precision work using vertical and horizontal lathes and floor borers; CNC machining in hard metals for well-heads; high temperature steels and brass castings with bores in; stampings, pressings and forgings; laser cutting, folding and welding; CNC and conventional milling and turning of non-ferrous and high quality stainless steel castings up to 5 tonnes; machining of small components in exotic materials to tight tolerances for measuring equipment; electronic assemblies and PCBs, Priorities are as follows.
* Cost and quality.
* Skill base and commitment.
* On-time delivery.
* Robust systems, project management.
* Accreditations (ISO 9001).
Hard to find are the following.
* Suppliers who can machine castings.
* Heavy engineering suppliers with the capacity to machine large components.
* Suppliers who can machine hard metals.
* Skills and commitment.
* Metal-working companies - suppliers who can supply pressings, stampings, castings or forgings and who can also machine them.
Some interviewees found good contacts at Subcon 2007, but would have preferred to see more.
There was big interest in Eastern Europe - many said they had talked with the Hungarian, Slovak and Czech stands, but would have liked to see more of the actual engineering companies rather than trade delegation people.
3 - Industrial machinery and equipment.
Buyers were interviewed from JCB, Mono Pumps, Whichita, Spirax Sarco, Thermal Engineering Systems, VES, Linde (forklifts), Neuson, Wickens Engineering, Komatsu, Sulzer, Honeywell Hymatic, Ruskin Air Management, Holophane, Hawes Signs, Lincat, Vicraft, Tetrapak, 3M, Thomas Walker, Manesty, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Princess yachts, Ocean Yacht systems, Sonardyne, Leafield Marine, Trelleborg Industrial, Timken Rail and Bombardier.
* Volumes and spends - a huge amount of work is available, with companies reporting projects like sourcing machining for 900 of 2 tonne chasses/year.
Spends of GBP 10 million to GBP 40 million are common.
* Outsourcing - aluminium extrusions, steel fabrications and castings are being sourced in China and India, but many buyers are interested in developing contacts in Eastern Europe.
This is mainly for 'convenience', but there are also some machining issues with castings from China due to the content of perlitic (glassy igneous) rock in the mix, which makes it more difficult to work.
Metal forming and machining is sourced worldwide.
* Items sourced - sheet metal work including tubing, bending, metal spinning, large and medium sized steel fabrications; sand castings in carbon steel, stainless steel and super duplex; 2-axis machining of large capacity steel castings and forgings (greater than 1.5m) and fabricated chassis up to 5 tonnes (light end as well); live tooling and presswork with CNC machining, grinding and heat treatment in a package deal; simple and complex machining in a variety of materials; manual small turning in exotic metals; laser cutting; gear cutting; stainless steel pressings; fasteners; spring steel; pipe work; grinding; finishing work including zinc coating and chrome plating; electronic assemblies; plastics components; rubber mouldings and contract assembly of finished units.
Priorities include the following.
* Price.
* Delivery: quick/on time.
* Supply chain management and logistical Support.
* Quality.
* Close long term relationships.
* Services that are hard to find include the following.
* Foundries and forge masters.
* Heavy engineering - suppliers with the capacity to machine large components.
* General engineering - companies that can bend turn and mill or can combine presswork with CNC machining, etc.
* UK companies that can supply cost-effectively.
4 - Aerospace and defence - buyers interviewed from: Smiths Aerospace, Thales MESL, Magellan Aerospace, EDO, Agusta Westland, Callender Aeropart, Doncaster Aerospace, Eaton Aerospace, VBC, Selex, WA lewis, Penny and Giles, Linread, and Visioneering.
* Volumes and spends - typically, these buyers outsource between GBP 1 million and GBP 40 million/ year.
Volumes vary from small batches to volume work (2000 units/week).
* Outsourcing - some companies are still sourcing only from UK and will continue to do so.
The trend is towards low cost sources - Far East, Asia and Eastern Europe.
One respondent had problems with India - not machining to the drawings and not telling anyone.
* Items sourced - steel fabrications; fixings; cutting; splining; dip brazing and welding; complex machined castings; manifolds and shafts; prismatic machining in medium to high complexity range combined with grinding to extreme tolerances; treatments, finishing and plating; CNC machining and turning up to 1m diameter - multiple sets in aluminium from extruded billets; titanium forgings; monolithic machining in 4- and 5-axis; turning and milling from bar to close tolerances in a variety of metals and materials; electronic sub-assemblies, cable assemblies and PCBs; optical assemblies and mould tools for plastics.
Priorities are as follows * Precision/quality.
* Cost.
* Accreditations (minimum ISO 9001 preferred AS9100), NADCAP, Rolls Royce (some aerospace and defence buyers insist on accreditations and quality approvals, but some of these first tier suppliers, such as Doncaster and Eaton, will sponsor partners without approvals to get to the higher levels.
* Systems and procedures/traceability.
* Supply finished assemblies.
Services that are to find include the following.
* UK Suppliers with good communications, sophisticated planning, procurement and supply chain management.
* UK suppliers with a presence in a low cost economy or access to low cost routes.
* UK Suppliers who can offer the whole scope of machining - including turning, milling and die cutting.
* UK Suppliers with good general engineering capability, such as, to take a piece of metal and bend/cut/weld/machine and treat it.
* UK Suppliers who can make the piece parts and assemble them.
Some respondents found good new contacts at Subcon 2007 but many were disappointed by the number of UK subcontractors on show.
5 - Electrical, electronic and telecomms - buyers were interviewed from Apollo Fire Detectors, Herga Electric, Integration Technology, Dewhurst, E2V (Marconi), Hosiden Besson, Siemens protection Devices, Siemens VAI, Varian Medical Systems, Magstim.
* Volumes and spends - small, batch and volume work reported.
Values up to GBP 40 million.
* Outsourcing from - Japan, China, India, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Canada.
* Items sourced - plastics mouldings and cable assembly; PCBs - including box-build and final assembly; thermo-forming and injection moulding; plastics machining - Peek; precision CNC milling and turning; tooling; zinc die castings; aluminium extrusions and pressure die castings and machining of castings and components in molybdenum, copper, brass and stainless steel.
Priorities are as follows.
* Price.
* Complete service - finished components and assemblies.
Services hard to find are as follows.
* UK suppliers who are price competitive.
* UK supplier of radio metal and BP sheets (Bakelite Paper).
6 - Consumer products (such as bathrooms fixtures, kitchen equipment, bikes, beds, chairs, etc) - buyers were interviewed from Tomcat SNI, Vicraft, Samuel Heath and Sons.
* Volumes and spends - small, batch and volume work.
* Sourcing from UK and worldwide.
* Items sourced: metal forming; tube manipulation; welding and fabrications.
Priorities are as follows.
* Price.
* Delivery.
A number of Subcon 2007 exhibitor testimonials were rceived as listed below.
* Castings and forgings - Pat Mcvey, P P Mechanica Industrial Buelna and Fastenex, said: "Some very good quality enquiries - relevant and focussed on what we do.
More enquiries than expected; we will go away satisfied".
John Lissenden, Rical Group, reported: "Overall a very good Show: 37 enquiries, eight worth following up - of which two or three are already looking very good.
I will recommend re-booking for next year".
Madame S Diquelou, Inoforges, France, commented: "C'etait bon! We had lots of good contacts.
It was a good exhibition, very well organised".
Wendy Bennett, Lost Wax Developments, said: "We got lots of enquiries and potential that could be very good for us.
It can take 18 months for these projects to come off and we've now got customers that we met at last year's show.
It's very cost effective way to see your market place - it would take a lot of time and travelling expenses to go and see all those people".
Roy Harris of Newby Foundries, said: "We anticipate business up to the value of GBP 500,000 from the 2007 Show".
Kevin Pritchard, MSI Quality Forgings, said: "We've got a couple of opportunities out of it - these are long term projects and the customers are carrying out site visits - so there's potential there." .
Cezary Jacubowski, GUSS-EX, informed: "We came away with 16 enquiries, which we think is a good result for this year".
Keith Statham, China Industry Components, said: "It's been a very good show for us; we have made a lot of new contacts and have a lot to follow up".
* Turning, milling and machining - David Ross, Sales Director, Arterial UK, said: "We are very happy with the quality of the contacts we made at the Show, no doubt about it.
We secured three orders to a value of GBP 150,000 in oil and gas, medical technology and industrial equipment - with more to come.
In addition, a tier one aerospace contractor is now talking to us about joining their supplier development programme".
Martin Beer, PTG precision Engineers, commented: "It's been good.
It's been exactly what I wanted - good tangible leads." Roy Bertie, JA Harris, reported: "We made 38 new contacts and 23 of those gave us genuine enquiries.
Half of those will go to written quotations and we'd expect to get a couple of those.
We have rebooked for 2008 so you could say we were fairly satisfied".
Peter Everitt, PowerKut, said: "We have had 10 high quality leads from people who are genuinely interested in what we produce and what our capabilities are.
We will be coming back next year with a bigger stand".
Andrew Hodges, Drilling and Tapping Services, said: "It was good.
We got a lot of useful enquiries and we have already quoted on a few of them".
* Fabrications and sheet metal working - Ray Newton, Syspal, commented: "We've been seeing actual buyers at Subcon - not the time wasters we meet at other events.
We collected several strong leads on the first day.
It's always quieter in the afternoons but the mornings keep us busy enough to be satisfied with exhibiting here every year".
Ian Faier, Precimax, said: "We have had 16 enquiries so far (on the morning of day 2 of Subcon 2007), of which four are seriously good." .
Terry Adams, Stockfield Manufacturing Company, enthused: "We had 34 positive enquiries, which was better than our original perception.
If two or three of these convert we will definitely be back next year".
* Springs and fasteners - Ib-Neustrop Simonsen, Hagens Fjedre, said, in 2007: "Excellent contacts and enquiries.
We will re-book for next year".
Keith Palmer, Baumann Springs, reported: "The quality is remarkable - the right people are visiting and we have got some very interesting leads".
Mark Daker, Fastener Network, said, in 2007: "It was very good.
We made a large number of meaningful contacts and we have already secured some orders.
We rebooked for next year and we wouldn't have done that if we weren't very comfortable".
Noel England, MLM Fasteners, said, in 2007: "We had some very good quality on the stand and we are interested to know if there will be funding available next year".
* Metal forming - Kenny Macfarlane, Gilmour Extrusions, commented: "Some good genuine leads and enquiries - and some reasonably good ones as well".
Kenneth Broughton, Goodwood Metalcraft, said: "I've had five tangible enquiries with information and specifications from companies genuinely interested in our products".
Sherry Ng, Kobay Technology, informed: "135 visitors stopped to talk.
25 were quality customers.
We got 18 genuine enquiries, four with drawings and three are progressing already".
* Surface engineering - Paul Hopkin, Tecan, commented: "Fewer time wasters than usual and some quite decent enquiries - we have got one order already and the possibility of more to come".
* Laser cutting - Alec Stretch, MTP Laser, reported: "I think that the show is going to be very beneficial for us.
The people we have had on the stand have been the right kind of people.
We have done trade shows in the past where you get a lot of what you might call dross.
Here we have taken enquiries and been given CAD files to look at.
There was lots of interest from the Birmingham area as well as further afield in the UK.
We had six strong enquiries with specifications and made about 30 meaningful contacts.
It was great; we were happy with the set up, the stand, the way it was run, we are very satisfied".
Dee Wild, The Laser Cutting Company, said: "We had 64 enquiries - of which a third were really meaningful.
We are happy with the Show and have rebooked for 2008".
* Water-jet cutting - Bob Phillips, Nuclear Engineering Services, said: "We did well and we'll be coming back in 2008".
* Electronics - Pierre Mounzika, Eolane, France, said: "Subcon was a great exhibition.
We had good contacts with both suppliers and customers It was a good show, some of the contacts we made have already been successful - we are happy about the show".
Mark Howitt, AWS Electronics, commented: "The quality of leads was very good - we won a major relationship - potentially over GBP 1 million per annum - with a contact from the show".
Andrew Sandland, Daniel Josefsson, informed: "We got 28 expressions of interest.
We have quoted on one very good enquiry already".
Duncan Game, IEW, commented, in 2007: "We had a good show.
Please book us in again for next year".
Paul Butler, SEM technologies, said: "We made many contacts and took 10 or 11 quality enquiries".
Graeme Wands, TFC Cables, opined: "If it was up to me I'd book for 2008 straight away.
We are very choosy about the people we do business with.
We got 26 enquiries and we'll probably quote on five or six of those and get one or two".
* Design and rapid prototyping - Debbie Ghigi, DSM SOFT (design/ rapid prototyping), commented in 2007: "My general manager was very sceptical about exhibitions but this Show has changed his mind.
It has generated really good leads for us and we would like to confirm our stand now for next year".
* Plastics and rubber - Kavin Hackett, Arnold Engineering Plastics, enthused: "It was absolutely fantastic".
* And finally, some general industry comments - Gareth Evans, CNC CAM, said: "We are quite specialised in what we do and it can take up to two years for the sale.
The show was well worthwhile going to.
The mornings were good.
We had 25 enquiries and we could have as many as five medium to large sales".
Timea Nagy, ITD Hungary, commented: "We have had good enquiries, everything is good".
Dave Townsend, H E L P, said: "It has been an excellent show, with people from far and near.
At the end of the first day we have already pulled in enough to make a good show of it.
The thing with exhibitions is that it is the quality of visitors that matters more than the quantity - and quality is what we got". Request a free brochure from Subcon ...
David Dye, of BEMA, said: "Some of our members missed an opportunity by not being here.".
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