Southern Electronics/manufacturing, UK Mar 21-23

[mikeselectricstuff]

Anyone going ? I'll probably be there on the 21st, 12-3ish

[kaz911]

hmm - I might go if trains are running. 

[donkey77]

Is that the one in Farnborough? If so I got a pass through in the post, if I have the time I was hoping to get there.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Is that the one in Farnborough? If so I got a pass through in the post, if I have the time I was hoping to get there.

I think so far I've had 2 passes and at least a dozen tickets....

Looking at the exhibitor list I suspect it may be moving more towards the mechanical/metal-bashing end of things, but it's always nice to see crazily expensive CNC machines working.
 
It's a pity that there doesn't seem to be a UK electronics show that attracts all the big-name manufacturers in one show.
 

[coppice]

Is that the one in Farnborough? If so I got a pass through in the post, if I have the time I was hoping to get there.

I think so far I've had 2 passes and at least a dozen tickets....

Looking at the exhibitor list I suspect it may be moving more towards the mechanical/metal-bashing end of things, but it's always nice to see crazily expensive CNC machines working.
 
It's a pity that there doesn't seem to be a UK electronics show that attracts all the big-name manufacturers in one show.

Is there enough electronics industry left in the UK to support such a show?

[donkey77]

I'm based in Basingstoke and was surprised when I moved down here by the amount of tech and fab houses close by.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I think the electronics part of this show has dropped way below critical mass now - lots of last years' exhibitors not there this time.
Still very busy but I think the metal-bashers are taking over - more CNC porn than in previous years.

[Brumby]

Just curious .... Any 3D printing equipment there?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Saw a few but I think mostly from service companies rather than people selling - a Stratasys & a few makerbots

[donkey77]

Hi Mike, do you think it's worth going? I am thinking of heading down there today. Mostly interested in finding local manufacturers (south and even whole of the UK) and industrial products - sensors, controllers etc. Cheers Rich

[mikeselectricstuff]

Hi Mike, do you think it's worth going? I am thinking of heading down there today. Mostly interested in finding local manufacturers (south and even whole of the UK) and industrial products - sensors, controllers etc. Cheers Rich

Worth  a look if you've not been before.

[AndyC_772]

I went yesterday. On the plus side, the roof stayed up, and there's a lot of building work going on which apparently means next year's show will be in a real building with solid walls.

The show felt smaller than on previous years, at least as far as the electronics content. If you want someone to make big chunks of metal into smaller chunks, then there's plenty to choose from. Lots of contract electronics manufacturers and PCB fabricators too.

With a few notable exceptions, there wasn't much to see that I'd describe as interesting in its own right, though. If you have a business need for cable assembly, or software to help you manage stock control more efficiently, then the right people were definitely there to talk to.

Not much by way of cool components, T&M or tools, though.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I think the overall size was about the same but definitely less electronics.

I think a mistake they've made over the years is not to segregate the electronics & mechanical stuff better. When it started it was pretty much one end electronics, the other mechanical, but they've become increasingly mixed up over the years, so anyone wanting to go for a quick visit to cover just the electronics part  has to walk past a lot Northerners selling bearings & gears etc. 

The other very noticeable thing was there were a lot more big CNC machines - this is clearly a significant expense to exhibit, so the manufacturers must be seeing value in it.
 It was very well attended.
A couple of people I know on electronics stands said they were giving it one last chance, and the nonpresence of many long-time exhibitors suggests to me that it will become pretty much a mechanical/manufacturing only type of show within a couple of years unless they do something significant. I also heard comments that electronics shows were dead, though Electronica was as big as ever.
IMO they may do better to do it as 2 seperately branded shows that just happen to be at the same time & place.
I do like looking around shows for other industries when I had time but having them all muddled up can't be a good idea.