Southern Manufacturing and Electronics returns again to Farnborough for 2023
Southern Manufacturing & Electronics returns to Farnborough from February 7th to 9th 2023. The event, the UK’s longest running annual engineering exhibition and its largest dedicated electronics show, will fully occupy the 20,000m2 Farnborough Exhibition Centre in Hampshire, with firms from all over the UK and a significant number of off-shore exhibitors from across Europe, Asia and the far East participating.
Southern Manufacturing 2022 was the first UK event to take place after the restrictions for the pandemic were lifted last January and despite all the damage wrought on the manufacturing sector in the previous 20 months, the show and many of its long-standing supporters showed strong positive signs of a post-Covid bounce-back. Visitor numbers exceeded expectations and there was a buzz in the hall created by the highly charged environment that only a live exhibition can generate. It certainly celebrated a long-awaited return to “business as usual.”
With a record number of companies scheduled to exhibit at the 2023 exhibition, potentially the biggest show in its history, it once again brings together an exceedingly wide range of exhibitors covering the full range of engineering activities, from high-tech machine tools and automation to mechanical and electronics components, electronics production, business and subcontract services.
Farnborough, the birthplace of the British aerospace enterprise, occupies a special position within UK manufacturing. Centrally located in one of the UK’s primary regions for aerospace manufacture, almost 25 percent of the UK’s £35bn aerospace sector is situated within a 50 mile radius, together with a substantial number of significant global aerospace manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream and Airbus Space & Defence. Add to these substantial levels of automotive, medical technology, marine and high-tech manufacturing activity all over the south east, and the significance of the show to the engineering supply chain is self-evident. In addition, since most of suppliers engaged with these industries are SMEs, Southern Manufacturing’s uniquely inclusive format, which encourages participation from a wide selection of specialist businesses, results in an event with a distinctively buoyant atmosphere and extraordinarily wide appeal.
The show is split roughly equally between manufacturing and electronics. In the former, the Machinery area is one of many most widely visited, offering visitors the chance to look at the hottest offerings from many of the UK’s top distributors in action. Machinery firms confirmed for 2023 include Haas Automation, Hurco Europe, Laser Lines, Mills CNC, Matsuura Machinery, TLM Laser, XYZ Machine Tools, NCMT, Lehmann Rotary Tables and Yamazaki Mazak. Other well-known names include Brady, Guhring, Mitutoyo (UK), Boxford and many more. Engineering service providers exhibiting include Fife Fabrications, FB Avak, Perfect Bore, Rose Plastic, Havant Sheet Metal, Southern Springs & Pressings, MJ Allen amongst many others.
The electronics aspect of the show offers a great deal of production and inspection equipment from firms including Blundell Production Equipment, Mycronic, ASK Technology and Cupio to name a few. There are components from ESI Technology, Wurth Electronics, TDK Lambda, Delta Impact, Midas Displays, G English, Easby Electronics and Yamaichi. The scores of service providers taking part include full contract manufacturing from businesses such as DRN Engineering and Nemco to Corintech and Electronic Manufacturing Solutions, to PCB production from European Circuits and The Eurotech Group to RJS Electronics and Shenzhen-X-Mulong among many others.
The show’s popular free seminar programme is in itself an outstanding reason to attend. Spread over the three days and dealing with a wide variety of technical and business-oriented issues, they will appeal to anyone with an interest in engineering, technology or management. The 2023 programme provides its customary high standard of presenters drawn from both the business and academic worlds. All of the sessions are free of charge and open to all, although pre-booking is highly recommended. A complete list of sessions, as well as the online reservation form is available at www.industrysouth.co.uk
Farnborough International Conference and Exhibition Centre offers free car parking for 3,500 vehicles and the site is well-served by road and public transport links. A regular free shuttle bus service operates from both of Farnborough’s mainline railway stations directly to the exhibition. The venue itself provides a high standard of facilities including a complimentary WiFi service in the foyer area as well as high quality catering outlets.
Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2023 opens from February 7th to 9th. Admission to the exhibition is free of charge. More information and tickets are available from www.industrysouth.co.uk
