Subcon 2011 Visitor Testimonials

A summary of comments collected from a sample of visitors

We subcontract 70% of our output – that’s around $700million a year. My focus is on advanced technology, I’m always on the look out for new gems of ideas and I found them at Subcon. I will be placing orders worth £1.5 million for conical disc springs and lost wax castings.
Sourcing Specialist, Cummins Turbo Technology

I’ve been going to Subcon for several years. It is a really good show. We spend around £10million on electronics and mechanical suppliers and we will be doing business with several of the exhibitors we met this time round.
Design Technician, Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering

I found the visit both useful and interesting for the availability of specialist knowledge at many of the exhibits which may relate to our business particularly for the supply of plastic materials, cleaning technology and precision machining. I have initiated a dozen contacts from the show that appeared to have the potential to provide a service and I have passed the information on to our Manufacturing Engineer and procurement.
Rolls-Royce Naval Marine

It was a successful show for me. I have already placed an order for splined shafts and I’ve got more suppliers visits lined up.
Buyer, Kawasaki

Subcon was very successful for us. We are doing a lot of work with composites and our existing suppliers are running out of capacity. We found 5 or 6 new suppliers at Subcon and will be asking them for quotations.
Chief Buyer, Lola Cars

We are spending £100,000 on wiring and connectors with an exhibitor we met at the show.
Buyer, Jaguar Cars

We came to Subcon for castings and found what we were looking for. The seminars were very good too.
Design Manager, GE Aviation Systems

A very good show. We spend £20million to £30million a year. Subcon gave us lots of opportunities to meet our existing suppliers and talk to new ones.
Commodity Manager, Terex Construction

I have a budget of around £20million a year for subcontracting. I came to Subcon to find machine shop welders and fabricators and catch up with one of our suppliers. It was well worth the visit.
Buyer, Hamworthy Combustion

My division outsources around £7-8million a year and we came to Subcon for fabrications suppliers. We are very satisfied with good quotes we have had on a wide range of requirements. We will definitely be working with one or two of them.
Buyer, JCB Attachments

We placed enquiries for assembly work and added some new suppliers to our list.
Production Engineer, Teledyne TSS Ltd

We placed several orders for machined components following the show.
Senior Production Engineer, Denso Marston

I was looking for small batch heavy fabrication work and I think I have found a supplier we can work with.
Technical Planner, Qinetiq

It was a very good show. We make high pressure pumps for the mining industry. I came to Subcon to expand our supplier list for CNC milling and grinding and feel I have achieved that.
Supply Chain Manager, RMI Pressure Systems

We are sourcing large thin-walled tubing and found a couple of suppliers we could use.
Project Manager, Converteam UK Ltd

It was good. I liked the variety of suppliers. The objective was to find fabrications, press work and sand castings but I was also impressed by the machining suppliers.
Prototype Buyer, Triumph Motorcycles

We manufacture ultrasonic cleaning equipment and I thought Subcon was a great show, really good. I am requesting quotes from six suppliers I talked to at Subcon.
Purchasing Manager, Medisafe

I went to Subcon to find plastic injection mouldings. We will be following up with three of the exhibitors.
Purchasing Manager, Cooper Lighting

It was well laid out and I was pleased to find a number of relevant suppliers.
Purchasing Supply Chain Manager, Klicklock International

We have arranged meetings with a couple of the exhibitors.
Quality Manager, Tyco Telecommunications

I have already placed an order with a Subcon exhibitor.
Senior Buyer, Chemring Countermeasures

It’s a long time since I last visited Subcon and there were certainly one or two suppliers there who we will be working with in the future.
Supply Chain Quality Manager, UAV Engines

I am looking for machined components and have had a good response from 4 or 5 of the exhibitors. We will be coming back next year.
Supply Chain Manager, Voith Turbo

I liked the show and my colleagues did too. We got a good quote on a PCB order worth £150,000 which we will most probably accept.
Supply Chain Manager, Grant Instruments

My first time at Subcon and I liked it. We are talking to three suppliers we found there.
New Resource Controller, Parker Hannifin

We came to Subcon for castings and machining. We made several contacts and we are happy with the responses we have had from them.
Senior Buyer, Napier Turbochargers

I come every year to Subcon and find it eye-opening. This time we were looking for laser cutting and measurement technology and we visited several suppliers.
Quality/ Supplier Engineer, Senior Flexonics

We are sourcing castings and gear making and we are following up with 10 or 11 companies we met at Subcon
Supply Chain Manager, Street Crane ltd

We came to Subcon to find low cost countries for castings and tubes and we found some useful contacts.
Strategic Purchasing Manager, SPI materials

We had been trying to identify a supplier for a revision to one of our existing processes for several months without success. The process revision is novel and requires the application of current technology with a refinement that we were told was not available. We found 5 potential suppliers at Subcon 2011
(Anon)

A really useful day. We achieved our objective and found the whole event very well run.
Director, Pulse EMS Research Ltd

I find Subcon a great showcase for UK manufacturing, a good source of contacts within industry, and being at the NEC means centrally located
Cabletree UK

I have now attended the Subcon shows as: an exhibitor; a company seeking potential supply chain; and now a service provider - and at each stage I have found value and great satisfaction in attending.
Director, UKQMS

Subcon gave us a chance to query subcontractors face to face, build relations, get a feeling of what to expect from their services and what their capabilities are. It has also provided us with useful contacts for future ventures.
Director, OLAER Fawcett Christie

A couple of really good leads. It was definitely worth the trip. I will be requesting quotes from some of the suppliers we met at Subcon.
Buyer, Contour Aircraft Seating

I will be placing orders for metal enclosures with a precision milling contractor I saw at Subcon.
Buyer, HMGCC

It was great for networking and I met some new suppliers. A very productive day.
Production Control Analyst, Ricardo UK