Smalley

Who we are

WHO WE ARE

As the inventor of the edgewound wave spring and with over 100 years of manufacturing excellence, Smalley is the Engineer’s Choice® in providing wave springs, retaining rings, and constant section rings for all of your application needs.

Smalley stocks over 10,000 standard parts across 30 configurations and 400 sizes, ready for delivery. If a standard part doesn’t meet your requirements, you’ll work with our innovative team of over 30 industry-specialized engineers to quickly create an economical custom part in the material of your choice, all without new tooling. Prototype or production volume, our No-Tooling-Charges™ manufacturing process meets the design flexibility your application, budget, and timeline requires.

While all of our manufacturing is made in our U.S. based 300,000 ft2 facility, our global network of offices, engineers, and distribution partners allows you to quickly receive parts and support from anywhere in the world. Smalley’s dedication to quality and manufacturing excellence has earned us multiple service and quality awards, and the trust of OEMs worldwide.

Standard or custom, we are dedicated to delivering the right part in the right material for all of your applications.

WHAT WE DO

As the inventor of the wave spring, creating innovative products to help our customers in their application designs has been our mission for over a century. Founded in 1918, Smalley is a family-owned company that has grown from 5,000 ft2 into a 300,000 ft2 facility. Smalley is headquartered in Lake Zurich, IL, USA with a network of offices, engineers, and distribution partners around the globe. Find your Global Support Partner.

From everyday consumer products such as the smartwatch on your wrist, to life-saving medical devices such as robotic surgical instruments, to extreme environments like oil wells deep under the Earth's surface, to as high as Mars, Smalley has helped tens of thousands of engineers and professionals create application-specific solutions across every industry. Smalley has paved the way to become the world leader in rings and springs because of our extensive application-support, expertise, and customer-driven commitment.

Explore our Smalley Timewave for more history on our innovations.

Our values

Our Business Philosophy:

Our organization has a different outlook on how to do business. Quality, integrity, precision and reliability are synonymous with our culture. We spend every waking hour committed to bringing ideal solutions to our customers.

Engineering Resources at Your Finger Tips:

Smalley doesn’t have a sales force, we have engineers that work with our customers. We have a global team of engineers available to you to assure flawless execution so that every project you engage us in meets your needs precisely. Each of them strive to understand your needs and execute accordingly.

No-Tooling-Cost Manufacturing Process:

When time is of the essence, our No-Tooling-Cost™ manufacturing process allows for fast prototyping and economical production. Free CAD downloads and a staff of engineers available for design consultations provides our customers with a full range of resources to ensure their application contains the most cost-effective solution possible. With offices throughout the globe, we are certified to ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS9100, ISO 13485, and ISO 14001, Smalley is able to offer customers worldwide unprecedented service and quality.

Every Smalley retaining ring and wave spring is engineered and manufactured to the highest quality standards using skills and processes we have honed over half a century. Our obsession with quality, combined with our near-perfect record of on-time delivery, has earned us an approved supplier status with leading OEM manufacturers around the world. Due to the ceaseless demands we place upon ourselves, Smalley has won the coveted title of Preferred Source in the most demanding retaining ring and wave spring applications: automotive, off-highway, aerospace, oil, medical and industrial.

While we are understandably proud of the recognition we have received, ultimately, it is our products that set us apart. Unlike stamped rings and springs, which are stamped through the metal grain, our edgewound retaining rings and wave springs have a circumferential metal grain structure that gives them exceptional strength, dimensional stability, and predictable performance characteristics.

Finally, every Smalley retaining ring and wave spring is backed by our continued support. We are constantly researching ways to expand and improve our Customer Service and Engineering/Technical Assistance.