Subcontracting shows its strength

Against the backdrop of a gloomy economic climate, the evidence shows that subcontracting is going against the flow. More and more companies seem to be turning to subcontractors to take cost and risk out of their own manufacturing operations. The strength of this year’s Subcon exhibition underlined this trend – with over 200 exhibitors signed up so far it is set to be one of the biggest and best shows for years.

Subcon, which takes place from 9 to 11 June at the NEC, is the UK’s national and international showcase for subcontract manufacturing services. Its exhibitors cover all aspects of mechanical and electronic manufacture, such as machined parts, plastic mouldings, circuitry, fabrication, profiling and castings.

Visitors range from large OEMs and smaller companies that have their own products to higher tier suppliers – the one thing that they have in common is that they want an outside supplier to make components for them rather than manufacturing them in-house.