Can Robotic Welding Improve Repeatability and Delivery in EV Sensor Mounts and Brackets Supply?

As the automotive industry accelerates its transition to electric vehicle (EV) manufacture, procurement officers and technical buyers are under growing pressure to replace legacy suppliers with those capable of meeting the demands of EV component manufacturing. In EV modular manufacturing, even minor weld variances or dimensional drift in cable guides, spring assemblies or insulation brackets can lead to QA rejections, wiring harness delays or thermal instability. This is particularly evident in the production of springs and wire forms for EV manufacturing, where new thermal, spatial and fatigue parameters challenge traditional fabrication processes.

With component requirements being redefined and greater demands placed on internal process agility, many internal combustion engine (ICE) supply chains are now being recalibrated to support component validation and increased automation, particularly for high-volume, low-tolerance manufacturing. As a result, this shift brings a key strategic priority, that OEMs and Tier 1s must source component partners capable of delivering advanced automation and end-to-end process control, from prototyping through to high-volume production with repeatable standards. William Hughes meets this requirement through its UK-based robotic welding and CNC wire forming facility, purpose-built to support the precision, speed, configurability and sustainability needed in EV modular manufacturing.

As a proven ICE and EV OEM supplier, William Hughes provides a vertically integrated process model that includes coiling, forming, welding, ultrasonic cleaning and in-process validation. Importantly, this is achieved while aligning with the principles of sustainable EV manufacturing, integrating low-impact and circular production practices across operations.

Engineering for Electric Vehicle Component Manufacturing

In electric vehicle applications, wire forms and spring-based assemblies for sensor mounts, HV contact components, battery module brackets and retainers now have new engineering criteria and must comply with EMI/EMC containment standards and fit within space-constrained battery housing. Where in ICE vehicles minor dimensional variation had minimal impact on downstream integration, in EV’s, the electrical, thermal and vibrational loads present have redefined the acceptable margin for variation. Robotic welding provides the process stability and positional accuracy required to meet these revised tolerances. For EV production teams, this means sourcing suppliers that can offer validated, scalable solutions compatible with high-spec EV architectures.

Wire forms and spring assemblies used in these systems must be manufactured to exacting dimensional tolerances, often within ±0.1mm, and joined with welds that meet both mechanical and conductive performance thresholds. Manual welding, still widely used in legacy component supply, often fails to meet these criteria as a result of irregular heat inputs, inconsistent bead geometry or positional error. William Hughes addresses this risk through an automated process cell combining:

• Vision-guided robotic welding with adaptive joint targeting
• Custom modular jig design to eliminate thermal distortion
• Full digital parameter control and process logging for each weld cycle
• CNC wire forming and spring coiling in-house, optimised for EV-specific materials and load profiles
• Ultrasonic cleaning using a closed-loop filtration system, supporting sustainable EV manufacturing by reducing water waste and chemical disposal

This allows for consistent production of wire forms for EV manufacture with verifiable compliance to customer specifications and OEM approval standards.

 

Proof of Concept in Engineering Repeatability and Reducing Defect Risk in EV Wire Form Assemblies

William Hughes’ robotic welding capability can be calibrated for EV modular assemblies providing a validated process framework that redisks this stage of sub-assembly. Our UK-based robotic cells combine vision-guided cobots with custom-engineered jigs to eliminate weld variation maintaining ±0.1mm tolerances.

A PoC Scenario for Evaluation:

Output: A sensor retention bracket consisting of a 3D-formed stainless wire structure with a positional mounting point. It must achieve ±0.1mm accuracy across three axes.
Challenge: Manual welds frequently exceed this due to human-induced variability, inconsistent clamping and thermal drift.

 

William Hughes' integrated solution:

1. Digital Reverse Engineering

The component is scanned and digitised using coordinate metrology to capture real-world geometry and dimensional variance. This informs both jig development and DFM iterations for structural reinforcement or thermal load management.

2. In-House Jig Design and Simulation

Jigging is developed using modular base plates and tolerance-compensated fixtures, with design-for-welding (DFW) principles applied to control distortion and optimise joint accessibility. Weld sequencing is simulated to reduce thermal accumulation and residual stress.

3. Vision-Guided Robotic Welding

Using a 6-axis cobot fitted with a vision system, weld paths are corrected in real time based on component positioning within the jig. The system maintains a ±0.05mm variance window, with weld parameters (voltage, feed rate, dwell) logged per component for PPAP traceability.

4. Weld Integrity and Process Control

All welds are validated using destructive and non-destructive techniques (macro-etching, tensile testing, profilometry). The repeatability standard across pilot batches achieves a CpK > 1.67 for critical dimensions.

5. Post-Weld Cleaning and Final Inspection

Assemblies are passed through an ultrasonic cleaning cell using sustainable, closed-loop water systems, preparing components for HV systems and insulation-sensitive enclosures while minimising resource use.

Strategic Outcomes of this PoC Model:

• Dimensional consistency maintained within ±0.1mm across production runs
• Weld rejection rates statistically reduced by over 70% compared to manual methods in similar EV assemblies
• Lead time compression of 3–5 days per iteration cycle due to in-house jig design and tool-less adaptation
• Full parameter traceability supports FMEA, PPAP, and ISO 9001/IATF documentation standards
• UK-based process cell enables sub-10-day prototype-to-line delivery, reducing reliance on offshore suppliers and aligning with OEM sustainability KPIs
• Solar-powered production lines further reduce CO₂ emissions in the manufacture of wire forms for EV manufacturing

This approach directly supports procurement tasked with risk reduction, timeline control and demonstrable quality improvement in the EV supply chain.

 

Supporting the Strategic Goals of EV OEM Supply

During this transition phase, many Tier 1s and EV OEM teams have needed outsourced development and design support for new prototypes in meeting strategic criteria. We offer cross-functional engineering insight, pre-production testing and expert advice for component validation often borrowing engineering design from adjacent sectors such as aerospace. We have a leading team of design engineers and this shift towards partnership-led manufacturing is where our technical design and process flexibility are valued as highly as output.

William Hughes can provide engineering design support in :

• Springs for EV manufacturing, including torsion and compression variants for actuator systems and HV contact modules
• Wire forms for EV manufacturing used in sensor retainers, restraint systems and EMI shielding applications
• In-house toolmaking to accelerate jig development and variant changeovers
• Support for iterative prototyping with DFM feedback loops
• Ultrasonic cleaning and QA inspection suitable for HV systems and battery enclosures

This end-to-end service removes the complexity of managing multiple suppliers for wire forms for EV manufacturing, while also supporting ESG goals with UK-based production, reduced freight emissions, and streamlined traceability. By consolidating these services, William Hughes acts as a strategic supplier capable of fulfilling both low-volume, high-complexity R&D builds at high-volume production meeting quality standards suitable for global EV deployment.

What Strategic Questions Should be Raised with Your Current EV Supply Chain

If you, or your technical procurement team, are increasingly finding that inherited suppliers struggle to meet the standards required for EV component manufacturing, it may be time to re-evaluate. At William Hughes, we’ve developed a clear set of competency questions that can help you assess whether a supplier is equipped to support the standards required of electric vehicles. A reliable partner should be able to answer these with confidence and we’d be happy to demonstrate how we measure up.

• Can your existing supplier handle wire forms for EV manufacture with robotic repeatability?
• Is inconsistent welding slowing down delivery or increasing QA costs?
• Do they support UK EV manufacture with local prototyping and low-volume flexibility?
• Are they equipped to handle the transition to EV production with short lead times and adaptable jigging?
• Can they act as a cost-effective EV OEM supplier across forming, welding, and cleaning?

 

Optimising EV Supply Chains to Meet the New Benchmarks for EV Component Procurement

As procurement professionals continue to reevaluate supplier alignment for electric vehicle component manufacturing, increasing value is placed on a faster time-to-market, reduced defect rates, and sustainable sourcing strategies.

William Hughes meets and exceeds this baseline with a partnership-led manufacturing strategy that integrates robotic welding, in-house prototyping and sustainability-led production into a fully traceable and scalable supply model.

For procurement teams seeking a wire form or spring supplier for EV manufacturing, the technical and strategic advantages of partnering with William Hughes include measurable defect reduction, shorter development cycles and proven readiness to support both prototype and production requirements.

>>Learn more in the second blog of our EV Series, where we explore how sustainable, closed-loop ultrasonic cleaning helps de-risk the EV manufacturing supply chain.

Talk to our team about how robotic welding and integrated EV wire form supply can support your next component sourcing brief.