Bringing total tube technology and fibre laser cutting to Southern Manufacturing

Unison Ltd, the UK-based inventor of all-electric tube manipulation, will present the capabilities of its full range of tube bending machines, Pneuform wire bending machines, and Opt2Sim Scan tube measurement system at Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2026. In addition to tube and wire manipulation technologies, visitors to Stand G270 will also learn more about the high quality, intelligently priced fibre laser cutting machines available from Unison’s sister company, Nukon Lasers UK.

Unison offers all-electric benders for tube diameters from 4 to 275 mm. Available in single-stack, multi-stack, left/right, pinball and twin-head versions, the machines provide rapid, automatic set up, fast tool changes and right-first-time repeatability – all supported by high power and rigid mechanical design. Also available, Unison’s hybrid-electric, dual-stack machines were developed to make the company’s quality and reliability accessible to even more businesses involved in tube manipulation. 50 and 80 mm maximum tube diameter hybrid-electric models are available.

High-accuracy CNC-controlled manual tube bending

On show and operational will be one of Unison’s EvBend 1000 manually operated, CNC-controlled tube bending machines. Designed for low volume, high-accuracy prototyping and production, Unison EvBend models are used across aerospace and MRO, Formula 1 and the oil & gas industry, where they provide three-axis mandrel, multi-plane bending at a fraction of the cost of fully automated machines.

In addition to the EvBend 1000, which is designed for bending tube of up to 16 mm in diameter (22 mm in copper), the larger EvBend 2000 is also available. Built to bend tube up to 50 mm in diameter, its bending function is servo-assisted. Both EvBend machines feature a 15-inch PC-based touchscreen controlled by a CNC that is capable of processing up to 100 bends per component, storing infinite parts and connecting to CAD and most tube measuring systems.

Laser cutting and wire manipulation

Renowned for its high quality, highly accessible European-built fibre laser cutting machines and press brakes, Nukon Lasers UK has recently launched a range of high-performance machines, priced to make fibre laser metal cutting available to even more UK subcontractors and in-house manufacturers. Since acquiring Pneuform – a leading name in the manufacture of wire forming and small-bore tube bending machines – in autumn 2023, Unison has worked hard to ensure the brand continues to lead the way in the wire bending machinery market. All Pneuform machines are equipped with Yaskawa drives and Unison’s user-friendly software for easy programming and operation.

Opt2Sim Scan – for rapid, precise and consistent results

Unison’s Opt2Sim Scan handheld tube measurement system combines rapid scanning of tube geometry with easy extraction of tube data. Teamed with a Creaform handheld 3D scanner to measure the tube or component they wish to replicate or measure, operators need only enter the bending data into Opt2Sim Scan, then compare measured tube dimensions to master file data and send any corrections directly to the bending machine. Offering a high number of scan points without compromising speed, the constant reference geometry provided by Opt2Sim Scan ensures highly accurate results.

Quality, service and support

“Southern Manufacturing & Electronics is incredibly important to us,” says Unison Ltd’s Joint Managing Director Alan Pickering. “At the 2026 event we look forward to showing even more UK subcontractors and manufacturers how all their tube and wire manipulation and laser-cutting needs are available from a British-based company that is renowned for providing uncompromising levels of service, support and aftersales care.”