Materials & manufacturing
Process suppliers, not parts. Some of the most valuable displays in the building will be capability rather than catalogue: a wall of parts you made, the tolerances you held and the lead time you held them in.
15 shelves
we want filled.
Every line below is a display we would like somebody to own. Several are still completely open.
- 01
CNC machining
Three, four and five-axis milling, turning, mill-turn and Swiss. Publish the tolerance you hold in production rather than the one you hit once, and the quick-turn window you can actually meet.
- 02
Injection moulding
Tooling and production moulding, insert and overmoulding, two-shot and micro-moulding. DFM review before CAD freeze is the service customers value most and ask for least.
- 03
Tooling and mould making
Steel and aluminium tools, hot runners, mould maintenance and transfer. The tool decides the part, and the toolmaker decides the tool.
- 04
Sheet metal fabrication
Laser cutting, punching, bending, welding and assembly. Fast-turn prototype sheet metal is one of the most requested services by Bay Area hardware teams and one of the least well served.
- 05
Casting and forging
Die casting, investment casting, sand casting and forging, with porosity control and the material certificate. Structural parts nobody wants to machine from solid.
- 06
3D printing and additive
SLA, SLS, MJF and metal additive as a production process rather than a prototype toy. Material properties in the build direction, please.
- 07
Extrusion and profiles
Aluminium and polymer extrusion, custom dies, cut-to-length and secondary machining. Low tooling cost and a distinctive cross-section is an underrated competitive advantage.
- 08
Stamping and forming
Progressive-die stamping, deep drawing, spring forming and wire bending. High-volume metal parts where tooling amortisation is the whole quote.
- 09
Surface finishing
Anodising, plating, powder coating, passivation, PVD, blasting and polishing. Colour and texture consistency across lots is what customers get burned on, so bring a sample chip fan.
- 10
Engineering plastics
Resins, sheet, rod and machined polymer parts, including PEEK, PTFE, UHMW and glass-filled grades. Datasheet values are dry values; state the conditioned ones.
- 11
Metals and alloys
Aluminium, stainless, tool steel, titanium and copper stock with mill certificates. Traceability matters more than price for anything aerospace, medical or structural.
- 12
Composites
Carbon and glass layup, filament winding, pultrusion, bonded assemblies and machined composite parts. Process capability matters more than the material specification.
- 13
Adhesives, sealants and coatings
Structural adhesives, potting compounds, conformal coatings, thread lockers and gap fillers, plus the surface preparation guidance that makes them work.
- 14
Contract manufacturing
Box build, final assembly, test and fulfilment. Say plainly which steps are yours and which are subcontracted, because the customer will find out during the first audit.
- 15
Packaging and logistics
Protective packaging, ESD packaging, retail packaging, crating and the freight-forwarding and customs support that decides whether a good part arrives intact.
How to stand out
in this category.
Show parts, not renderings. A wall of real components with the material, tolerance and quantity beside each one is the most persuasive display a process supplier can build, and the fastest route to a first order.
Neighbouring
categories.
Most suppliers fit more than one. Apply against the closest and tell us the rest in your company bio.
Own this shelf.
All year, in San Francisco.
A staffed display on the relevant floor, a US address and phone number, and a listing buyers search. Flat annual fee, no commission.