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Jared Haw comes back to drill into Tooling for manufacturing your Amazon products. We go into the two main kinds of tooling types and processes for manufacturing and the relative costs and complexity of the various fixtures and tools available, plus the steps an Amazon Seller might take from idea to production.
- Tooling is important because it makes the production process as consistent as possible
- Everything needs some kind of tooling
- The more complex the product the more complicated or sophisticated the tooling
Two Main Kinds of Tooling
- There are two main kinds of tooling
- Moulds
- Fixtures
- Moulds are a hollowed out piece of steel like classic injection moulding
- The moulds are pressed together and plastic is shot into the tools
- When the mould is opened then there’s the plastic products
Fixtures
- Fixtures when you’re drilling a piece of wood to drill ti then the clamp is the fixture
Jigs
- Jigs are old school and where not automated you need a jig
- Modern automation these days have gone away
Production Lines that need tools
- Injection moulding requires moulds
- Milling will need a fixture
- Stamping requires fixtures for that
Sheet Metal Fabrication
- During manufacturing process you get coiled up metal that you cut down
- Cutting down needs a tool
- A circular product needs a punch which is a tool
- If it needs CNC to make a shape to it then another tool
- If needs to be bent 45 degrees then again another tool
CNC and Milling
- Milling and Turning you have a block of steel that is placed into the machine and clamped down
- Computer automated from there
- THe machine then does the work and spins out the product
Lead Times on Tools
- Lead time is 1 month for a mould as more sophisticated
- Fixtures are not such a high quality of steel so 2 – 3 weeks
Tools Ownership
- If you own the Intellectual Property (IP) that’s gone into making the tool then you want to own the tool
- The tool will be stored at the suppliers and they will be responsible to oil the tool and make sure it won’t rust
Logistics
- You’ll need a 3rd party involved to inspect the quality of the tool before it leaves the factory
- Make sure it will fit your quality requirements and that it will fit the machine it’s going to
- Transportation – these are big blocks of steel so need to be careful
Mould Costs
- Mould is average $5k but if basic could be down to $3.5k but also could be huge or more complex
Logistics
- Jared makes the tool in-house so not much logistics cost to move it 30 feet 🙂
- A lot of the cost comes down to the quality and cost of the steel
- For short-runs you can do aluminium moulds
- Bigger 500k shots you want a stronger steel mould
- For fixtures it’s the rigidity of the steel you are processing
- If it’s hard steel then you’ll need a harder tool to cut it or bend it etc.
- Cost is rigidity of the steel and complexity
Amazon Seller Knowledge – steps from idea to production
- Partner up with a manufacturing company to hold your hand – you focus on the selling
- Each will be different – silicon, plastic, stamping, milling, etc
- The process can be explained by your contract manufacturer for:
- What is the process
- Estimated cost to get it into production
- TImelines
