Tool Design + Development
Using a combination of engineering expertise and the industry's latest technology, we can develop the right tooling for the job. Through our partnership with a major university, we can rapidly provide plastic models of your design.
Design and Modeling Software
- Solid Works (3-D Modeling and Assembly)
- Solid Works Simulation (FEA)
- Gear Trax
- 2-D AutoCAD & 3-D AutoCAD Inventor
- Gerotor (Maverick)
- Solid Edge
- FEA Analysis
In-House Tooling Capabilities
Symmco develops over 100 sets of tools each year and specializes in tool transfers with minimal adaptation costs, and the same tool room can also produce functional prototypes when a design needs proving before production.
- Master CAM, CNC Programing (Linked to Solid Works and AutoCad)
- Sinker & Wire EDM (Electro Discharge Machining)
- Grinding
- Polishing
Who owns the tooling, and who looks after it
Tooling is usually the first commercial question on a new powder metal part, so the terms are set out here rather than left to the quote. The short version is that a standard size costs nothing to tool, a custom die is the customer's property from the day it is paid for, and the upkeep from then on is Symmco's.
Standard sizes carry no tooling charge
Symmco does not charge tooling costs on any standard tooling product, because it already holds tooling to make over 5,000 standard sized parts. A stock catalogue size is quoted on the part alone.
Custom tooling belongs to the customer
When an order requires custom tooling, the customer owns the tooling. It is built to that customer's part and stays theirs, and a customer who already owns tooling from elsewhere can transfer it to Symmco for quicker production.
Symmco maintains and replaces it
Once the original set of tools is purchased, Symmco maintains all tooling and replaces any broken tools at Symmco's expense, so the upkeep of the die after that first purchase is Symmco's rather than the customer's.
Three to five weeks to tooling, then the first run
Tooling typically takes 3 to 5 weeks to be delivered, and a brand-new part takes six to ten weeks to manufacture once tooling is received.
Tooling can be amortized into the piece price over a one-year term, although this is not the standard ordering process. Buyers who need that arrangement should raise it at the quoting stage so it can be written into the terms from the start.
Explore Our Full Range of Capabilities
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