Subcontracting drives UK success

More and more UK manufacturers are turning to subcontracting to build their business and expand their markets, says a leading Subcon exhibitor.

Tony Hague, chairman of the Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), says: “MAN has been exhibiting at Subcon since 2010 and, in that time, we have seen a trend for people to subcontract more of their activities.

“This has been key for UK manufacturers to compete globally, allowing them to invest in core competencies and sub out none-core activities and skills.”

This is good news for MAN, says Mr Hague: “Our business model is one of collaborative and complementary engineering and production skills and therefore is suited to this trend.”

UK excellence in innovation and technology

An exciting new conference will feature some of the biggest names in UK manufacturing and highlight excellence in innovation and technology.

The Engineer Conference will include high-level speakers from blue chip engineering organisations – including Jaguar Land Rover, Astrium, BAE Systems and Airbus – and pioneers and innovators in fields ranging from additive manufacturing and plastic electronics to manufacturing in space and the creation of Team GB’s Olympic-medal-winning carbon fibre bikes.

The Conference runs alongside the Subcon and Advanced Manufacturing Shows on 4 & 5 June at the NEC, Birmingham. It will provide a unique snapshot of the diversity of UK industry and give visitors valuable insight into the manufacturing and innovation strategies of some of the UK’s most exciting engineering organisations.
Each day starts with a keynote address setting the scene for the following sessions.

Award winning exhibitors

SJC Hutchinson Engineering have been awarded the Most Dynamic Sub-contractor at the Manufacturing Technology Association 2013 Manufacturing Industry Awards.

The company was 1971 and have been at the forefront of the laser cutting subcontracting market for nearly 15 years, ensuring its leading position by implementing strategies such as intense personnel training, both in-house and externally, Lean manufacturing and investing in the latest equipment available to the sector. This has lead to a 51% growth in the last 2 years despite the challenging economic conditions.

Coming back for more business

WLR returns to Subcon having developed two new customers a direct result of last year’s show – and is still in discussion with several more contacts who visited its stand.

One of the new accounts is specifically related to WLR’s ± 1 micron capable machine, the KERN Pyramid Nano 5 Axis, with 75 Tools, 42,000 rpm spindle, which was installed prior to Subcon and is now very busy with ultra-precision work.

Cleaner, better parts

Turned Part specialist Wealdpark Ltd will showcase its new solvent cleaning capability that allows it to provide customers with higher quality components.

The £60,000 Firbimatic system ensures a high degree of cleanliness and complements an aqueous cleaning system that was installed last year.

Large scale silver plating

Exhibiting at Subcon for the first time, Silchrome Plating will be showing off its new semi-automatic silver plating capabilities.

Offering a comprehensive range of metal finishing services from chrome, nickel and zinc to specialist silver and gold finishes, Silchrome is often called upon by oil and gas companies to apply silver plating to seal rings.
These can be quite large and were sometimes beyond the capacity of its existing plating lines.  With demand increasing, Silchrome decided to install a new state-of-the-art silver line with the capacity to handle much larger components and meet all the requirements of the major oil and gas companies.

Precision cabling from SIC

A new state-of-the-art cable machine at SIC can produce cables down to 30 awg – vital for products and builds that need precision cabling.

The introduction of this machine will give customers a number of benefits. As well as increasing SIC’s production capabilities it will also give greater flexibility to meet our customers’ needs whilst maintaining the levels of quality production that they have come to expect from SIC.

UK and offshore sourcing

Shakespeare Engineering has expanded its UK manufacturing to over 100 CNC machines, set up a fast-track service and made major savings for a UK luxury car maker through its offshore sourcing division.

Latest additions to its UK facility include more 5-axis capability and more EDM wire erosion machines. To cope with these it has expanded its factory space – adding a further 20,000 sq ft in the last 18 months. Growth areas include assembly, in-house heat treatment and vacuum brazing.

3D printing builds on moulding success

At last year’s Subcon Phoenix Dynamics launched its low pressure moulding service for complex ruggedised cable assemblies. Now it is looking to build on that by adding 3D printing.

The low pressure moulding technology allowed Phoenix to produce bespoke moulded shapes that complement the electrical cable assemblies it designs and manufactures and proved to be a great success. Its uses include the ruggedisation of cables, ensuring precise control of cable routing, encapsulating electronic components, bespoke connector systems and moulding in mounting features.

Coating installation in just 12 weeks

Finishing specialist Junair has just completed a £2.5 million installation at Magna Exteriors & Interiors that was up and running within just 12 weeks.

Magna Exteriors & Interiors is a world leader in the design and manufacture of products for the automotive, commercial transportation, renewable energy and industrial markets and the new facility, designed, supplied and project managed by Junair, is largely dedicated to producing high quality ‘technical finishes’, with basecoats as little as 4 microns thick. 

Spray coating versatility

New at fluoropolymer, polyurethane, plasma coating and zinc thermal diffusion specialist Impreglon is a tiltable turntable for arc spray work.

The company offers a comprehensive range of sprayed metals and ceramics, including Teflon and Xylan. Its products are used wherever there is a need for low friction, non-stick, traction, high friction, easy clean, chemical resistance, corrosion resistance, solvent resistance, impact resistance, sound deadening or insulation. Food and medically safe coatings are available for all of these applications.

Engineered structures up to 200t

Fives Industries has added to its capabilities for heavy engineering with
 the installation this year of a TOS 20t CNC boring machine with automatic tool changing.

It has also carried out a major rebuild of its 120t Innocenti boring machine.

Mumbai express for next day parts

If you need next day service on a machined and anodized one-off part DNL Exports (India) Pvt Ltd can help, with the parts made in Mumbai and delivered by courier to London by noon.

As well as one-offs and prototypes, where DNL’s fast turnarounds speed the development process, it also offers batch manufacturing capacity.

Tap into a global market

From castings to machined components, Darian Global Sourcing UK helps manufacturers tap into a global supplier base.

At this year’s show Darian will be showcasing machined castings, pressure diecastings, precision machined items, pressings and stampings.

With almost 30 years’ experience, Darian is a leading supplier to the UK and German markets. It has a proven track record for delivering quality components to both large and medium sized manufacturing companies, at the right price and on time.

Global Connections winner heads for Subcon

Birmingham-based precision presswork and stamping company Brandauer is heading to Subcon 2013 on a high after being announced as the winner of HSBC’s Midlands Regional Global Connections Award.

It marks the culmination of a successful twelve months that has seen it celebrate 150 years in business, host a Royal visit and increase sales in export markets including the US, China and South Africa.

The company, which employs 52 people, has also invested nearly £1m into state-of-the-art facilities, including a new laser marking capability and two new high-speed Bruderer presses.

Metal Injection Moulding for advanced materials

Sheffield-based William Beckett Plastics is launching a new Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) company, Beckett MIM, at Subcon.

MIM technology allows customers to use designs that are difficult or even impossible to create with traditional metalworking technologies. What is more, 100% of the material is utilised, with no waste, a key strength of the process that significantly reduces the cost of metal parts – especially when using titanium or other high-value alloys.

Higher quality etched parts

At Subcon ACE (Advanced Chemical Etching) is launching its new ACmE and TiME etching processes that give new levels of quality, smoother edge profiles and smoother surfaces.

The ACmE (Aluminium Compliant Molecular Etching) process is kinder to the environment; it produces considerably less waste product, compared to etchants currently being used.  The TiME (Titanium Molecular Etching) process has been developed without resorting to the traditional and potentially hazardous Hydrofluoric acid chemistry.

UK launch at Subcon

Stainless steel Fabrication specialist AB Term is launching its subcontract manufacturing service to the UK market at Subcon.

The family-run Bulgarian manufacturer,  has undertaken a massive investment programme to increase its subcontracting manufacturing capability.  With new state of the art machinery and increased factory capacity it is are now ready for a major launch across the UK using Blue workshop Ltd, a Livepool based company,  as its UK agent to ensure that its capability matches UK requirements.

£3m fabrication facility

With its new £3m purpose-build manufacturing facility A&J Fabtech can build fabrications up to 4m in diameter and 10m in length.
A major current project is for Picow Farm in Cheshire, which is set to become the UK’s largest energy-from-waste plant, where A & J is supplying feed hoppers and chutes worth in the region of £750,000. The plant will potentially generate 100MW of power and 360MW of heat energy by burning municipal waste from Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

The project work covers the supply of materials, manufacture to customer design, non-destructive testing, hydro testing, painting, trial assembly and delivery to site in accordance with customer Keppel Seghers’ manufacturing specifications and construction schedule.

From the smallest bench fabrications to single pieces and full turnkey packages in excess of 30 tonnes and multi-part on-site assemblies, A&J Fabtech provides a complete concept to commissioning service. Projects can be fabricated to customer drawings or designed by A & J’s own engineering team.
The company’s tube bending and welding skills come to the fore with specialised fabrications and pressure parts. A & J can carry out radiography on site – which helps cut lead times – as well as ultrasonic and hydrostatic testing.


You can see A & J Fabtech on Stand K35

Three cutting-edge manufacturing events in one this June

Three unrivalled brands come together to create the most anticipated manufacturing event of the year when leading industry exhibition Subcon returns to the NEC on 4 to 6 June alongside the Advanced Manufacturing Show, a new event from the UK’s leading production magazine MWP, and The Engineer Conference, highlighting new ideas and ground breaking technologies.

Grant Burgham, Business Development and Portfolio Director at Centaur Exhibitions, said: “These events will provide a clear focus for excellence in manufacturing technology and services. They will be a critical destination for engineers, sourcing teams and manufacturing management across all sectors and disciplines.”

The Engineer Conference will showcase some of the most compelling and inspiring examples of manufacturing technology from both the UK's established and emerging engineering sectors.