As I mentioned in last week’s blog, product development and design can be time consuming and costly – but for good reasons. Today, we’ll learn more about a part of the process that keeps designers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs on their toes. Widely variable, tool design can be simple and cost-saving or it can exceed the bounds of your budget. what is tooling and why does it matter? Let’s take a closer look.
What is Tooling or Tool Design?
New products can’t be built overnight. Every part that a manufacturer must create requires specific equipment to be made – and that equipment is known as tooling. Tools are made to help create parts or components needed for manufacturing a product, and thus, they can be drastically different. All things considered, when products become more complex or need more individual components, the tooling process takes more design, analysis, and time.
Tooling by Type
Milling tools: Tools that fabricate non-axially symmetric objects using milling machines, fixtures, and cutters, along with the workpiece itself.
Holding Tools: Machinists use these tools for holding the workpiece or project in place, such as jigs and fixtures.
Press tools: These tools determine how a material (often metal) is cut or bent with complex shapes, grooves, or folds.
Cutting tools: These tools cut materials into predetermined size and shape (drills, milling, broaches, saws, shears).
Turning tools: These tools cut the outer diameter of a product with a lathe operation .
Drilling tools: These tools make small, precise holes the size of the drill bit or tool used to drill.
Grinding tools: These tools remove unwanted materials from the workpiece surface and create a desired finish.
Dies: These tools performing cutting, molding, and shaping materials like wood, metal, and plastic with predetermined shapes.
Molds: These tools shape liquid or pliable raw material into the desired form using a “rigid frame” called a mold (casting, injection molding, extrusion molding, etc.)
Gauges: These tools make physical measurements to display information about dimensions (quantity dimensions).
Why Does Tool Design Matter to You?
Every project needs specific tools, and product manufacturing is no different. Imagine if you put a screw-filled desk together and you all you had to work with was a wrench? That’s what it would be like to get improper tooling to create a new product.
Think of it this way. If quality and precision matter for your final product, tooling should matter just as much. Tooling production processes affect the finished parts’ final quality, production speed and accuracy, and ease of high volume production manufacturing runs. That means for your finished product to be market-ready, your tooling needs to be made well. Depending on your designers’ suggestions and your project complexity, you could end up spending a good bit of your budget on tooling – or you could cut costs here substantially. Either way, you’re in a good spot if you have quality tooling. You’re likely to deal with less errors this way, and your manufacturers can produce your product more intuitively. All in all, tooling saves you money in the long run even if you have to bare upfront costs .
Why Can Tooling Cost So Much?
Tooling has several variables that attribute to its price tag. Some of these include the mechanical strength, cutting strength, tool rigidity, materials, quality, and ability for repeated tool use. Well-made tools take these attributes into account to create a more efficient final products with less mistakes. While tooling seems like a big expense to take on, it’s worth it because tooling determines how you can lower costs throughout the project. In reality, you’re spending money now to avoid spending more on mass production later. Plus, adequate tooling increases safety for your customers and decreases your product liability. That’s a win for everyone.
How Can a Design Expert Help?
Design experts understand how to make functional parts with only the necessary tooling. For instance, the way you created your product, it may require 5 components to make up its whole. However, if your industrial designer focuses on function and feasibility, they may figure out a way to create your product with only three parts. As a result, your tooling costs would decrease and potentially make mass production easier.
In addition, your design partners can also assess material costs and consider your project goals and budget while designing tools for manufacturing. Take your time with tooling and trust your experts. Quality equipment – no matter how expensive – may just be your ticket to successfully reaching the market.
Do you want us to dive deeper? Have any questions for our design team? Contact us, or reach out on social media!
info@flyingpigdesignsllc.com
720-470-9122
75 Waneka Parkway, Lafayette CO 80026
Katrice Stover is a passionate writer and the Community and Office Manager for Flying Pig Designs LLC. Combining her love for knowledge, growth, and a good read, it’s her mission to provide informative, engaging content for inventors, creatives, engineers, and industry professionals alike. In her spare time, you can find her dancing with her daughter, playing video games, and dying her hair vibrant colors.
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