# Spring Manufacturers Institute and spring makers: processes, standards and ERP realities > Source: https://netray.co/manufacturing/spring-manufacturers-institute-smi-spring-makers > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Manufacturing Hubs ## Short answer The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) is the North American trade association for spring makers and their suppliers, known for its Handbook of Spring Design and technical resources. Spring shops produce compression, extension and torsion springs, wire forms and stampings, usually in high volume repeat work with tight customer drawings. ## Kind association ## Country United States ## Area Springs and wire forms ## Intro The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) is the North American trade association for spring makers and their suppliers, known for its Handbook of Spring Design and technical resources. Spring shops produce compression, extension and torsion springs, wire forms and stampings, usually in high volume repeat work with tight customer drawings. ## Industries ### Automotive and transportation springs **Detail:** Valve, clutch, brake and seat springs and wire forms made in volume to PPAP and customer drawings. ### Industrial and machinery springs **Detail:** Compression, extension and torsion springs for valves, actuators, tooling and machinery, in custom and stock designs. ### Medical and electronics springs **Detail:** Small precision springs and wire forms in stainless and specialty alloys for devices, connectors and instruments. ### Aerospace and defense springs **Detail:** Springs in high strength and corrosion resistant alloys with certified material, special testing and traceability. ### Wire forms and flat springs **Detail:** Formed wire, clips, retainers and stamped flat springs made on CNC wire formers, multi-slide machines and presses. ## Ecosystem ### Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) **Type:** association **Note:** Trade association for spring manufacturers and suppliers in North America, publisher of the Handbook of Spring Design. ### Handbook of Spring Design **Type:** reference **Note:** SMI's design reference covering spring types, materials, tolerances and stress calculations. ### ASTM International wire specifications **Type:** standard body **Note:** Publishes spring wire standards, for example ASTM A228 for music wire, A313 for stainless spring wire and A401 for chrome silicon wire. ### AIAG PPAP **Type:** standard body **Note:** Production Part Approval Process manual used by automotive customers to approve supplier parts. ### IATF 16949 **Type:** standard body **Note:** Automotive quality management standard commonly required of spring suppliers to vehicle makers. ### SAE International AMS **Type:** standard body **Note:** Publishes aerospace specs relevant to springs, including shot peening in AMS 2430. ## Requirements - IATF 16949 and PPAP for automotive customers - ISO 9001 and AS9100 for industrial and aerospace work - ISO 13485 for medical device springs where the customer requires it - Wire material certifications to ASTM or customer specs - Load, free length and dimensional inspection plans - Shot peening and stress relief controlled to customer or AMS specs - RoHS and REACH material declarations ## Sections ### What spring shops make and for whom **Body:** A spring shop turns coil of wire into parts that must hit a load at a given length, not just a dimension. Compression, extension, torsion springs and wire forms are made on CNC coilers and formers, then stress relieved, ground, shot peened, plated or coated as the drawing requires. Customers range from automotive tier suppliers to appliance, medical and industrial makers. Many parts run for years as repeat orders, so setup data and tooling history matter more than for one-off jobs. ### Quoting and estimating realities **Body:** Spring quotes depend on wire cost, setup, machine speed, secondary operations and scrap. Wire price swings and minimum wire purchase quantities can change the economics of a small run. Estimators also need to judge which designs will coil reliably at the specified tolerances. Costly mistakes come from underestimating setup and trial-and-adjust time for load tolerances, and from forgetting secondaries such as grinding, peening and plating done by outside vendors. Annual volume and release schedules should be part of the quote, not an afterthought. **Bullets:** - Price wire by weight and include scrap allowance - Quote setup and secondaries separately - State the volume and release assumptions ### ERP and systems in spring shops **Body:** Spring shops use JobBOSS, E2 Shop System, Global Shop Solutions, Epicor Kinetic, Infor SyteLine, Plex, DELMIAworks and similar systems, with automotive suppliers leaning to ERPs that support lot traceability, EDI releases and PPAP documents. Smaller shops often keep coiler setup sheets and inspection data in spreadsheets. Common gaps are linking wire lot and heat numbers to finished lots, tracking outside processing, and keeping control plans, setup sheets and inspection results tied to the current drawing revision. ### Compliance and data handling **Body:** Automotive customers expect PPAP packages, control plans, FMEAs and measurement system records. Aerospace and defense customers expect certified material and process records, and some drawings carry export control. Medical customers add change control and device-related documentation. A private AI deployment inside the shop network lets engineers and quality staff search drawings, control plans and past nonconformance reports without moving customer drawings to outside services. ### Where private AI helps and where it does not **Body:** Good fits: finding the last setup and tooling used for a part, searching customer drawing revisions and PPAP files, answering questions about wire lot usage from the ERP, and summarizing scrap and rework causes. A read-only assistant is enough for these. It does not design springs or replace load testing. Spring design calculations, tolerances and approval stay with engineers using SMI references and customer requirements. For a small shop with a few part numbers, a clean binder and a spreadsheet can still be enough. ## Faq ### What is the Spring Manufacturers Institute? **Answer:** SMI is the North American trade association for spring manufacturers and their suppliers. It is known for the Handbook of Spring Design and for technical and industry information that spring makers and buyers use. ### What wire standards do spring makers use? **Answer:** Common examples are ASTM A228 for music wire, ASTM A313 for stainless spring wire and ASTM A401 for chrome silicon wire. The right choice depends on load, temperature, corrosion and fatigue needs stated by the customer. ### Do spring suppliers need PPAP? **Answer:** For automotive customers, usually yes. PPAP is the automotive production part approval process and spring suppliers commonly provide dimensional results, material certifications, control plans and capability data with it. ### Which ERP works for a spring manufacturer? **Answer:** Several job shop and manufacturing ERPs work. Look for wire lot traceability, routings with outside operations, EDI releases for automotive customers and document control tied to drawing revisions. ## Search terms Spring Manufacturers Institute, SMI spring manufacturers, spring manufacturing ERP software, compression spring manufacturer, Handbook of Spring Design, ASTM A228 music wire, spring maker quoting software --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json