Southern Manufacturing & Electronics, the UK’s top annual manufacturing show, returns to Farnborough from February 5th to 7th 2019. The move to a new permanent location in 2018 proved a landmark in the show’s two decade history and the drive for further enlargement in 2019.
Exhibitor bookings for February’s event are presently more than 20% ahead of last year and on course to comfortably reach its maximum capacity. Many familiar names from the electronic components world return for Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2019, such as CamdenBoss, Wurth Electronics, Cosel Europe, EC Electronics, Lemo UK, Pace Europe, Hammond Manufacturing, Selwyn Electronics and Shenzhen X-Mulong Circuit, plus some notable returnees to the event. Rapid Electronics will exhibit for the first time since 2008, joined by other significant former participants for example, Citizen, Mitutoyo (UK), Schmidt Technology, LNS Turbo and many others. New exhibitors taking part in 2019 for the first time include display technology specialists Canvys.
Along with a record number of exhibitors predicted, the event has taken the important step of partnering with several influential industry organisations, including the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium among several others. These partnerships will enable the roll-out of a host of new show features and the feed-in of authoritative technical expertise via the show’s comprehensive free technical seminar programme, which is open to all visitors and exhibitors. A series of hour-long sessions run in two separate seminar rooms over the three days of the show, with one room dedicated solely to electronics and related topics. A full list of sessions is available at www.industrysouth.co.uk/book-free-seminars/.
The show’s venue, Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, opened in 2018, and at 20,000m² is the biggest purpose-built exhibition venue to open in the UK for two decades. Now fully open, Farnborough International offers a high standard of facilities including a free WiFi service in the foyer area and high quality catering outlets. The venue is conveniently located for the band of high tech industries distributed across the South East and extending along the M4 corridor. Sharing the site with one of the UK’s foremost global showcases, the Farnborough Air show, has bought Southern Manufacturing to the attention of an ever-rising cadre of international exhibitors over the last few years. That pattern has seen an encouraging, Brexit-defying upturn for 2019 with a remarkable 26% increase in bookings from overseas firms, considerably enlarging the international aspect of the event and the collection of expertise on display. Near-shore CEMs are particularly well represented, offering the intriguing combination of competitive pricing with short supply chains.
Electronics is just one ingredient of a much wider show that features just about everything else relevant to manufacturing enterprise. Technology trails assist delegates throughout the show, allowing them to really make the most efficient use of time at the exhibition. Specialist areas like the live Machinery Demonstration Zone enable visitors to expediently find what they require. A brief run-down of the products and services presented in 2019 includes CNC machine tools and machining centres, CAD/CAM tools, advanced adhesives, fasteners and joining technology, laser cutting, packaging solutions, labelling and marking, pressings, fabrications and enclosures, metrology and test equipment, coating and finishing, motors, drives and controls and handling and storage solutions.
Farnborough International Conference and Exhibition Centre offers free car parking for 3,500 vehicles and 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 show.
Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2019 opens from February 5th to 7th. Admission to the show is free. More information and tickets are available from www.industrysouth.co.uk
