What is in this group
| Route | You provide | We provide | Typical lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| OEM to drawing | Full drawing and specification | Manufacture, inspect, brand, pack | 15-20 working days |
| OEM from sample | A physical tool to copy | Reverse engineering, drawing approval, manufacture | 20-25 working days |
| ODM development | Operation, material and machine constraints | Geometry development, trial batch, then production | 25-40 working days including trials |
| Private label catalogue | Brand artwork and packaging design | Catalogue geometries under your brand | 15-20 working days |
What protects a brand owner
Three things matter when somebody else grinds your tooling: the geometry stays yours, quality does not drift between batches, and the manufacturer does not appear in front of your customers.
We address those with a signed NDA before any drawing is exchanged, a frozen drawing revision recorded against every batch with the grinding set-up retained for the programme, and an agreement that we do not market your geometry under our own name or approach your customers.
Geometry development is done against the operation
A new geometry is developed against the cut rather than in isolation. That needs the workpiece material and its condition, the machine and its rigidity, the coolant condition, the target parameters, and the failure mode the new tool is meant to solve.
The output is a drawing for approval and a small trial batch. Parameters are confirmed in cutting trials and only then is the geometry frozen. Development without a trial is a guess, and a guess is expensive at the grinding stage.
In this group
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Frequently asked questions
Will you approach our customers directly?
No. OEM and ODM customers are contractually protected. We do not market a customer's geometry under our own name and we do not contact their customers. Confidentiality terms are signed before any drawing is exchanged, as a standard step rather than something to negotiate.
What is the minimum order for a custom tool?
Fifty pieces per geometry for a new programme, because the grinding set-up has to be amortised and then retained for repeat batches. Catalogue geometries under your own branding can start lower, since no new tooling is required.
Can you copy a tool we no longer have a drawing for?
Yes. Send the sample and we measure it, produce a drawing for your approval and manufacture to the approved revision. Where the original is worn we agree which dimensions should be restored to nominal and which should follow the worn condition.
How is quality kept consistent across repeat batches?
The drawing revision is frozen and recorded, the grinding set-up is retained for the programme, and the inspection plan is fixed at drawing approval. A repeat batch therefore runs against the same revision and set-up as the batch you validated.
Do you develop a geometry if we only know the problem?
Yes, that is the ODM route. Describe the operation, the material and what is going wrong with the current tool, and we will propose a geometry, produce a trial batch and confirm the parameters before the geometry is frozen for production.