RPK Technological Center
We co-engineer your component before we ever manufacture it
The RPK Technological Center is the engineering hub behind RPK Group and RPK Medical. Twenty engineers simulate, prototype, test, and industrialize precision springs and metal components, working alongside your team rather than waiting on a spec sheet.
A spring or a dynamic metal part is rarely the problem. Specifying it alone is
If you design applications and devices, you already know how this goes. The spring and dynamic metal parts look like the simplest part of the assembly, so they get treated as an afterthought, and then they decide whether the whole thing works.
Most engineers who come to us are dealing with some version of the same four problems:
- Suppliers can't hold tolerance. Especially at small dimensions, where wire diameters drop to fractions of a millimeter, a part that drifts out of spec can stop the device cold.
- You get a catalog part when you need a designed one. An oversized standard component forced to fit, instead of one engineered around your application.
- The spring or the dynamic metal part was an afterthought. Brought in late, after the surrounding geometry is frozen, so every fix is expensive.
- The project gets handed off three times. Simulation, prototyping, manufacturing, and assembly live in different places, and you lose months in the gaps.
The RPK Technological Center exists to close those gaps under one roof and to move from problem to solution faster.
One engineering hub. Fifty years of accumulated knowledge
The RPK Technological Center is RPK Group's dedicated R&D and engineering unit, based at our state-of-the-art facility in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. At its core is a team of 20 engineers, connected in real time with 40 engineers in our plants worldwide, who develop solutions to real-world engineering challenges and bring new technologies to market.
It is where the scientific and technical knowledge accumulated over more than 50 years comes together, with three clear objectives:
- Acquire new knowledge to develop innovative solutions and be ready for new market requirements.
- Transfer that progress to our clients, so the science shows up in your product.
- Train the next generation of engineers and researchers.
What the Center develops doesn't stay in Vitoria. The knowledge generated here is shared in real time with our engineering teams across Europe, North America, and Asia, and theirs flows back. So when you work with one RPK site, you get the whole network.
The Co-Engineering process. From the function, not the spec sheet
Most suppliers start with the drawing you hand them. We start by discussing how the component must behave within your device. That difference shapes everything we do and, because the entire process sits in-house, we control risk early, when changes are still cheap.
Our engineers work alongside yours to understand how the component operates within your system — loads, motion, environment, cycle life — before any geometry is fixed.
We build digital models of competing proposals and run finite-element analysis to validate forces, stresses, and fatigue before we cut a single production wire.
Rapid prototyping, including 3D-printed parts, lets us test performance and assembly in a real working environment, not just on a test rig.
Our own tooling workshop designs and builds what your part needs. When a geometry is unusual, or a force window is tight, we don't wait on outside vendors.
Full testing against your application conditions: environment, fatigue, relaxation, cleanliness, conductivity, and dynamic behavior.
We design and build machines, tools, and automated assembly lines, then ramp to serial production while maintaining the same standards at high volume as in the first prototype.
Unitary control across production, so every part that ships meets spec.
Simulate, prototype, manufacture, and assemble: one partner, no hand-offs, from first idea to final build.
Laboratory capabilities
A claim is only as good as the test behind it. Our state-of-the-art laboratory and laboratory engineers perform a full range of analysis and testing controls, both to validate your component and to identify secondary issues that improve the final result.
| Test type | What it confirms |
|---|---|
| Environmental | Performance from −40 °C to 190 °C |
| Fatigue | Cycle life under real load conditions |
| Relaxation | Force retention over time |
| Cleanliness & residual | Suitability for medical and sensitive applications |
| Dynamic & electrical | Behavior under motion and vibration |
| Material characterization | Tensile testing to confirm mechanical and electrical properties |
We engineer in standard and exotic materials alike — including Inconel, Elgiloy, and Nitinol — selected for the corrosion resistance, elasticity, and biocompatibility your application demands.Highly demanding requirements for contact resistance and conductivity in new developments. New platings and solutions.
One engineering hub, every demanding industry
The same engineering engine serves RPK Group's automotive and industrial customers and RPK Medical's drug delivery and medical device clients. Wherever a precise, reliable force matters, the Center is behind it, across every demanding industry.
- Medical & drug delivery: autoinjectors, prefilled syringes, surgical instruments, and minimally invasive devices that demand biocompatible materials and flawless repeatability.
- Automotive: components built to survive vibration, temperature, and millions of cycles.
- E-mobility: precise force and power management in confined, high-load environments.
- Electronics & sensors: contact force, tactile feedback, and reliable electrical connection in shrinking assemblies.
- Robotics & automation: joints, grippers, sensors, and actuators, including humanoid robotics, where compact repeatable force enables precise motion.
- Industrial & power tools: durable, high-performance components for heavy-duty applications.
FAQs
- Does RPK co-engineer components from scratch, or only manufacture to a drawing?
Both. We can take a concept and design it from scratch, or improve the performance of an existing part. Our engineers work from how the component must function in your application, not just from a finished spec sheet.
- What simulation do you use?
We run FEA/FEM (finite-element analysis) to model forces, stresses, and fatigue. We build digital models of different design proposals and validate them before any production wire is cut.
- Do you build prototypes before production?
Yes. We prototype quickly — including 3D-printed parts — to test performance and assembly in a real working environment, then validate in our own lab before industrializing.
- Do you make your own tooling?
Yes. Our in-house tooling workshop designs and builds the tooling your part requires, so we don't wait on outside vendors for unusual geometries or tight force windows.
- What testing can you perform in-house?
Our laboratory runs environmental tests (−40 °C to 190 °C), fatigue, relaxation, cleanliness and residual tests, conductivity tests, dynamic tests, and material characterization including tensile testing.
- Which materials do you work with?
From standard spring steels and stainless to exotic alloys such as Inconel, Elgiloy, and Nitinol, chosen for corrosion resistance, elasticity at small scale, and biocompatibility.
- Where is the RPK Technological Center located, and does it support sites outside Spain?
The Center is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, North of Spain. Its knowledge is shared in real time with RPK engineering teams across Europe, North America, and Asia, so you get the full network regardless of which site you work with.
- Can you handle both prototyping and high-volume serial production?
Yes. We take components from prototype through industrialization to serial production, holding the same quality standard at volume as in the first prototype, with 100% unitary control.
Wave Springs
Compression Springs
Sheet metal bending and stamping
Tension Springs
Torsion Spring
Canted Coil Springs
Bus bar
Constant Force Spring
Power Spring
Contact Springs and Contact Parts
Accordion Springs
Spiral Springs
Wire forms
Ring and seals
Arc Springs
Copper coils
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