New stamped parts and design changes typically go through a tooling development stage before mass production begins. This article outlines what that process generally involves.
Drawing review
Before any tooling is designed, the part drawing is reviewed for stamping feasibility — checking whether the specified geometry, tolerances and material can be produced reliably with a stamping process, and flagging anything that may need design adjustment.
Die design
Once feasibility is confirmed, tooling is designed to match the required forming sequence, target tolerances and expected production volume. Parts with multiple features may be designed around a progressive die, while simpler geometries may use single-station tooling.
Tooling build and trial
The die is built and trial-run to confirm dimensional accuracy, forming quality and process stability before committing to a full production run.
First-article validation
Sample parts from the trial run are measured against the drawing specification. This first-article validation step is what confirms a part is ready to move into production, and typically forms part of the documentation retained for the order.
When tooling development applies
Tooling development is generally required for new part numbers and for design changes to existing parts. Requests that include a complete drawing package allow this process to start without delay — see our related article on preparing drawing data for a quote.