SIC 3495 Wire Springs

SIC 3495

This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing wire springs from purchased wire. Establishments primarily engaged in assembling wire bedsprings or seats are classified in the Furniture and Fixtures industries.

NAICS CODE(S)

332612

Wire Spring Manufacturing

334518

Watch, Clock, and Part Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The output of the wire spring industry is widely dispersed across industry and sector lines reflecting the great extent to which the industry is dependent not only on the production of manufactures, but on the production of the economy at large. The top ten industries and sectors buying the outputs of the wire springs industry are new construction, repair and maintenance, personal consumption, mattresses and bedsprings, miscellaneous fabricated wire products, non-farm residential structures, exports, motor vehicles and passenger car bodies, maintenance and repair of residential structures, and retail trade.

In 2003 the combined spring and wire product manufacturing industries shipped products valued at $9.1 billion. The previous year shipment values in the wire springs industry alone were approximately $2.4 billion. There were 358 establishments in the industry, most of which employed fewer than 50 people.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The capital requirements for the wire springs industry are generally low, with average investment per establishment around 40 percent of that for the manufacturing sector as a whole. "Someone who gets to be a proficient springmaker may decide he doesn't have to be working for someone else anymore. He will go out on his own and get the financing to get started with a few pieces of equipment. This is going to be as constant a thing in the future as it has been in the past," predicted Rich Chud, president of Wesco Spring Co., during a 1998 Springs roundtable discussion on the future of the spring industry.

Prior to the 1980s, it was rare for firms to cooperate in the production of springs, but this has changed in the last two decades. Firms learned to cooperate on a number of bases. For example, some firms developed expertise in grinding springs at high tolerances, while others developed high levels of efficiency in looping the wire on the ends of springs. Other spring-producing firms found it advantageous to hire these specialty firms for such operations. "We as a small spring company probably couldn't survive if it weren't for other spring companies that we've met through the SMI (Spring Manufacturers Institute) and do work for," Dave Habicht, president of the Kirk-Habicht Co., told the Springs roundtable. "We make parts for about 12 other spring companies. That's our sales force."

The smallest firms have fewer than 25 employees and generally do not design the springs they produce, relying instead on specifications provided by their customers. They typically produce small batches of springs made from larger wires (up to about 3/8 inches in diameter), as well as both large and small batches from smaller diameter wires (up to about 0.08 inches in diameter). These versatile firms typically have one or two hand-operated spring coilers and several automatic spring coilers, in addition to a lathe or two for coiling heavier wires. Furthermore, these small firms typically have a number of machines devoted to the other processes necessary for spring production, including grinders, spring testers, baking ovens, and various machine tools.

"If you look at the SMI membership, I would say...

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