SIC 3493 Steel Springs, Except Wire

SIC 3493

This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing leaf springs, hot wound springs, and coiled flat springs. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing wire springs are classified in SIC 3495: Wire Springs.

NAICS CODE(S)

332611

Steel Spring (except Wire) Manufacturing

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistics of U. S. Businesses, 128 establishments operated in this category for part or all of 2001. According to the 2001 Annual Census of Manufactures, the specific segment of the industry covered by SIC 3493: Steel Springs, Except Wire employed 5,400 people and had a payroll of $201 million. Of these employees, nearly 4,000 worked in production. Industry shipments were valued at $480 million. Projections for 2004 indicated a small decline, with 5,100 employees in 121 establishments. For more information on the spring manufacturing industry as a whole, consult the essay on SIC 3495: Wire Springs.

Tuthill Transport Technologies of Springfield, Missouri, led the industry with 2001 sales of $95 million and 400 employees. In second place was Hilite Industries of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, with $35 million in sales and 300 employees. Rounding out the top three was New Mather Metals Inc. of Toledo, Ohio, with $33 million in sales and 200 employees.

The automotive industry is the largest consumer of steel springs. The Spring Manufacturers Institute Inc. (SMI) reported that sales to automotive customers accounted for the largest portion—41.3 percent of industry sales in 1992—followed by industrial equipment customers, which accounted for 8.8 percent of sales. Alloy, carbon, and stainless steels were the most commonly used spring materials because of their strength. Titanium, however, was gaining popularity in the early 1990s because of its superior strength, light weight, and resistance to corrosion. Titanium's high cost was once prohibitive, but new, less expensive titanium alloys expanded its use.

Advances in technology have boosted the production capabilities of some spring manufacturers, but this is not a requirement for survival in the industry. In Springs, George Keremedjiev, president of Tecknow Education Services Inc., noted that spring manufacturing companies were using anything from "state-of-the-art electronics in tooling to machinery and tooling that seemingly is frozen in time back in the 1950s." In other words, the technology employed in spring...

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