The capabilities, diversity and vibrancy of the North East’s engineering and manufacturing industry was demonstrated at our EMCON event on September 12.
EMCON 2024, which was held at Sunderland Live in Houghton-le-Spring, welcomed nearly 900 people through its doors – and featured more than 100 exhibitors from the engineering and manufacturing, education and business support sectors.
Robots, sensor technology, virtual welding software and live machining were all on display, as exhibitors demonstrated their products and services to delegates from OEMs, Tier 1, 2 and 3 manufacturers and the public sector.
EMCON is delivered annually by EMN. It was known as Durham Oktoberfest until 2017 and was held at Glow in Newton Aycliffe until 2022, before moving to the larger venue of Rainton Arena (now Sunderland Live) last year.
Sectors such as advanced manufacturing, advanced engineering, fabrication, security, robotics, software, plastics and training were all represented at this year’s expo.
EMCON 2024 also featured an Innovation Showcase in partnership with Innovation SuperNetwork, the innovation arm of business support organisation UMi. This enabled regional businesses that have been working with Innovation SuperNetwork to demonstrate their most innovative products and services to a wide range of engineering and manufacturing companies. Thirteen new, early stage or developing companies exhibited as part of the showcase.
In addition, several industry-focused fringe events were held within EMCON, to provide further knowledge and insight for delegates.
In a first for the expo, Professor Alan Norbury, Chief Technologist for Siemens plc Digital Industries division, spoke about his career journey in a special episode of the Through the Eye podcast from Engineers Insight, which was recorded in front of a live audience.
EMCON also hosted the North East Maintenance Forum in partnership with the University of Sunderland. Entitled ‘The Development & Future of
Predictive Maintenance’, the session featured presentations from Jarek Rosinski, Founder of Transmission Dynamics – a multi-award winning company which specialises in industrial IoT solutions – and Derek Dixon, Principal Lecturer and Associate Head of Engineering at the University of Sunderland.
And David Nixon, Senior Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners delivered a session on ‘Growth Capital: What can equity finance do for your business’, which explored the funding landscape for engineering and manufacturing businesses, and provided advice on investment
readiness. David was joined by a panel including Clare French, Corporate Solicitor at Ward Hadaway, David Osborne, CEO of shower manufacturer and designer Roman Ltd, Gareth Phillips, Managing Director of CRL Foods Ltd and Michael Dickens, Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners.
Ailsa Anderson, Director of Development at EMN, said: “We were thrilled to see so many engineering and manufacturing businesses come together for EMCON once again this year, sharing their experiences and ideas, making new connections, fostering new relationships and generating the kind of ‘community spirit’ the event has become renowned for.
“It also provided an opportunity for UK companies who want to strengthen their local supply chains to discover the innovative SMEs we have in the region, and for exhibitors and delegates to spark off conversations which could lead to exciting new opportunities.
“EMCON is the biggest coming together of engineers and manufacturers in the North East and in what is still a very challenging national and international
environment for engineering and manufacturing companies, it plays an important role in supporting North East industry – and helping businesses to support each other.
“Our thanks go to all of the delegates, exhibitors, sponsors and speakers who made this edition of EMCON a truly special event for the region and the engineering and manufacturing sector.”
David Land, Chairman of EMN, added: “EMCON’s 16th edition built on 2023’s successful move to the new venue in Houghton-le-Spring, and we were delighted to see such high footfall at the expo last week.
“Attendees were able to see at first hand the skills, ingenuity and strength of North East
Ailsa Anderson, Director Of Development & Kaye Collins, Exhibition Manager
England’s engineering and manufacturing sector, and we’re proud to have delivered an event which year after year, provides a fulcrum for new business growth.”
EMCON 2024 was supported by gold sponsors MEC Machine Tools, Business Durham, Plastic Processing Ltd, Hexagon and Durham University, silver sponsors SMS Technology, Made Smarter, RTC, The Durham Business Growth and Productivity Programme and CMYK, bronze sponsors the North East Chamber of Commerce, Horizon Works, Cirrus Environmental Solutions, SolaX Power and Polymer Compounders, and lunch sponsor Masfix.
EMCON 2025 will be held on September 18 at Sunderland Live – for more information visit https://emcon.show/