Quality in everything we do
Meeting the demands of the customer
William Hughes sends out millions of parts a year and they all have to be right, to various degrees of accuracy, depending on the application. Aerospace work requires very small tolerances, spring lengths must be right to within a few microns. Automotive work is less demanding, but still around 1mm per 100mm typically. To be able to measure these levels of accuracy, checks need to be performed throughout the manufacturing process in many different ways.
Wireforms & Assemblies
Wireforms can be checked in state of the art gauges that are designed and manufactured in house. For more accurate measurement, we would use a CMM (co-ordinate measuring machine) available in both our factories. The largest of the two machines is capable of measuring parts up to 1500 x 1000 x 800mm in size and is motorized for accurate measurement and repeatability. In the UK we have, in addition to contact CMM probe technology, a system for laser sensing contactless measurement which allows for a complete part to CAD comparison in under 5 minutes.
Torsion & Compression Springs
Checking springs needs a wide range of equipment to be carried out correctly. This includes:
- Imaging tools, from a basic 10:1 shadow projector to CNC vision systems
- Load testers, supplied by the Institute of Spring Technology (IST) and extremely accurate
- Torque testers, CNC or manual.
There are even facilities here for testing and certifying the tensile strength of wire, to make the manufacturing process as accurate as possible.
Quality Certification
Shown below are the certificates of the main quality standards held by William Hughes Ltd (UK and Bulgaria).
Aerospace certificates
1 Nadcap Heat Treatment
2 Heat Treatment Scope of Accreditation
3 AS9100D
4 Nadcap Passivation
5 Passivation Scope of Accreditation
Automotive certificates
1 – IATF 16949:2016. UK
2 – IATF 16949:2016. BG.
3 – IATF-16949:2016. PL Pg1
4 – IATF-16949:2016. PL Pg2
Quality systems certificates
1 – ISO 9001:2015. UK
2 – ISO 9001:2015. BG
3 – ISO 9001:2015. PL
4 – ISO 14001:2015. PL
