Precision-engineered springs remain at the centre of mechanical systems, delivering force, motion control and resilience across multiple sectors such as aerospace, automotive, medical, and nuclear. As a leading UK spring manufacturer with additional factories in Bulgaria and Poland, William Hughes offers full-service support from concept to production, underpinned by advanced CNC coiling technologies, statistical quality control and an integrated automation approach. Recognised as a leading Tier 1 manufacturer by assembly-level OEMs for springs and spring assemblies, we specialise in close-tolerance spring design optimised for performance-critical environments. Our engineers ensure every component meets your specification for load, free length, fatigue resistance and material compliance.
We Engineer Bespoke Springs for Complex Applications
As one of the UK’s longest-established spring manufacturers, our engineering team brings over 100 years of sector-specific expertise, supporting product design from early-stage feasibility to validation and final release. With advanced simulation tools, Institute of Spring Technology design software, in house fatigue testing facilities and CNC coiling capabilities, we reduce time-to-prototype while maintaining full control over the physical dimensions and the load profiles.
Every spring is defined not only by geometry, but by its behaviour in application. That’s why we collaborate closely with R&D and procurement leads across the automotive, medical and aerospace sectors to design prototypes with mechanical integrity, consistent repeatability and the best possible cost-to-performance ratio.
Using our CNC coilers and closed-loop vision systems, we can produce springs with sub-millimetre accuracy, sorting components in real-time with SPC (Statistical Process Control) technology. Whether you’re designing for fatigue, rebound, corrosion resistance or magnetism, we’ll ensure your specification is both feasible and manufacturable at scale.
Types of Spring Manufacturing
Our facility supports a wide range of spring types, suited to specialist use cases and complex manufacturing requirements. Whether for actuation, compression, suspension, or torsion, we manufacture springs to customer drawings or provide full design support based on functional requirements.
Automation in Spring Prototyping and Production
Our investment in automation goes beyond material testing and fatigue analysis, it extends into prototyping methodology, robotic automation, and precision digital inspection. By integrating the entire development cycle within our UK facility, we give clients a flexible route to production.
Our prototyping process blends CNC coiling with automated length and load testing, providing statistically significant validation data before committing to scale-up. This approach is especially beneficial in regulated sectors where early design-stage validation is essential for downstream approval.
Development With High Temperature Exotic Materials
To meet the specifications for high temperature performance, many springs for the aerospace industry are manufactured in exotic materials such a Nimonic, Inconel and Ni-span. These expensive materials are more difficult to work with than conventional materials and William Hughes has the machinery and expertise to use these materials with high accuracy and minimum wastage.
Case Study: Specification Upgrade Achieves 40% Cost Reduction
A customer approached us with a high-volume spring part used in an industrial assembly, a multi-function component with specific loading characteristics. Originally designed with a complex dual-diameter body, the spring was costly to manufacture, prone to variation, and difficult to source in quantity.
Our engineering team proposed a redesign that would simplify the coil profile while maintaining all functional parameters. We provided a working prototype within a short lead time and supported the customer through performance benchmarking and yield analysis.
The revised design reduced raw material usage, improved load predictability and ultimately cut costs by over 40%, all without compromising safety or performance. This case illustrates how William Hughes can not only suggest improvements to technical specifications but also engineer for commercial viability.
Quality and Inspection Techniques
At William Hughes, every spring undergoes dimensional and performance checks at multiple stages of the process. Our CNC coilers are equipped with laser-guided length measurement, load cell feedback and in-line defect detection. Components that do not meet statistical thresholds are automatically rejected or quarantined for rework.
For critical applications, we provide 100% load and length testing, fatigue life analysis, and traceability documentation. Our SPC approach enables us to detect trends before they become defects, essential for customers in the medical and aerospace sectors where margin for error is virtually zero.
We also offer PPAP submission, gauge R&R studies and full dimensional inspection reports to support customer validation processes and regulatory compliance.
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