What sets top-performing shops apart?
One key factor is their investment in Tooling.
Across the precision CNC machining industry, data — such as that gathered by Modern Machine Shop’s annual Top Shops program and Science Direct research — shows that top-performing shops consistently treat tooling as a high-return investment while lesser performing shops see it as an annoying expense to be minimized.
The real problems with tool wear are evident:
- Deterioration of dimensional accuracy, circularity, and concentricity.
- Poor surface finish (e.g., roughness, chatter marks, tearout, fraying).
- Variations in cuts due to drift.
- Tool fracturing, chipping, or breakage.
- Conservative feeds and speeds, adding substantially to cycle times.
- Damage to the workpiece, increasing scrap of expensive raw materials.
- Unplanned downtime, adding the expense of emergency parts and labor.
Several sources, including Science Direct, indicate that tool failures account for approximately 20% of machine downtime. Realizing this, top-performing shops invest in high-performance, high-quality tools because they:
- Produce a superior surface finish and end product.
- Last significantly longer.
- Support higher feed rates.
- Optimize machine time, maximizing throughput.
Improving machine cycles is essential to your ROI.
If you spend 20% more on a tool but achieve 32% higher feed rates, you reduce your cycle time considerably, producing more parts in less time. This provides a vastly higher return on investment than saving pennies on consumable tooling.
For example:
| Currently | Premium Tooling | Net Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Part Count</strong | 30 parts | 39.6 parts (32% increase) | +9.6 parts |
| Daily Revenue ($20 per part) | $600.00 | $792.00 | +192.00 |
| Tooling Cost | $50.00 | $60.00 (20% more) | +10.00 |
| Daily Profit | $550.00 | $732.00 | +182.00 |
| ROI= Net Increased Profit ÷ Net Increased Cost = $182.00 ÷ $10.00 = 1,820%. Every $1 spent on tools = $18.20 in net profit. |
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Top-performing shops also know the necessity for timely tool replacement. Trying to squeeze a little extra value from a tool past its limit frequently backfires, resulting in catastrophic tool failure and expensive spindle repairs.
In Summary
By recognizing how vital strategic investment in tooling is to a shop’s overall success, manufacturers unlock the full potential of their existing machinery, turning downtime into productive, revenue-generating cut time.
Onsrud Tooling is here to help your shop to become a top-performing one.
Additional Resources
Donaldson, Brent (editor-in-chief), "How Top Shops Build Around Their Constraints." Modern Machine Shop.