Spanning the subcontracting spectrum

The event spans the whole spectrum of manufacturing services, from traditional areas such as machining, turned parts, sheetmetal work and castings to electronics, plastic mouldings, composites and additive manufacturing.

Research commissioned by the event's organisers shows that not only will the volume of work grow in the coming year but OEMs and higher tier suppliers are continuing to take a more strategic approach to the long-term outsourcing of their production.

Rather than just ‘filling in the gaps' when the customer needs extra capacity, subcontract manufacturing has evolved to the stage where it has become a central part of the manufacturing strategies of most large manufacturers.

Almost 90% of the companies surveyed said they planned to increase or maintain their level of subcontracting over the next three years and 36% had brought work that had previously been sourced in low-cost countries back to the UK.

This growth has been echoed in the growth of the Subcon exhibition. Between 2007 and 2011 the number of exhibitors increased by 91% and the number of visitors by 94%. This years' event is expected to be even bigger with around 300 exhibitors taking part.

Subcon event manager Jon Clark comments: “It is quite clear from the exhibitors we are attracting to Subcon that the industry has moved up a gear. We are seeing bigger companies at Subcon, we are seeing more companies offering full one stop shop services, we are seeing more companies with high level accreditations and we are seeing a trend to larger and more impressive stands.

“The scope of the show continues to expand to meet the needs of our visitors,” he continues. “We expect that around 25% of the companies at Subcon this year will be exhibiting at the show for the first time. We are seeing more composites companies, more 3D modelling and design services companies, more electronics companies and more heavy engineering companies. These complement our traditional base of organisations offering machined, moulded and fabricated components, metal treatments, castings and forgings.
“Subcon really is the UK's only place that buyers of contract and manufacturing services can find this breadth, number and quality of potential suppliers.”

Subcon 2012
www.subconshow.co.uk