How Custom Tooling Impacts the Quality and Cost of Your Stamped Metal Parts

How Custom Tooling Impacts the Quality

When you’re sourcing stamped metal parts, it’s easy to focus on specs, quantities, and price per piece. But underneath every successful project, there’s something else quietly doing the heavy lifting: tooling.

The dies used in stamping—the ones that shape, cut, and form the metal—are custom-built for your specific part. And the quality of those tools has a massive effect on how your parts turn out, how long production takes, and how much you’ll spend in the long run.

Whether you’re sourcing for aerospace brackets, electrical housings, or custom hardware, understanding the role of custom tooling can save you a lot of time, money, and stress.

What Is Custom Tooling in Stamping?

In stamping, “tooling” refers to the dies that go inside the press. These dies are custom-machined to match your part’s geometry and form the metal as it’s fed through the machine.

Depending on the complexity of the part, a die might include features like punches, forming sections, cam actions, and stripper plates. Some dies are built for single-stage operations (like blanking), while others—like progressive dies—perform multiple steps as the metal advances through the tool.

Because every part is different, each die is uniquely built for a specific shape, size, and material. This isn’t off-the-shelf tooling. And it’s not something you want rushed or cut corners on.

How Tooling Impacts Part Consistency

If your parts need to fit together, hold a seal, or perform under pressure, consistency matters. One slightly out-of-spec bracket might not seem like a big deal—until it causes problems down the line.

Good tooling ensures that every part is shaped, punched, or formed exactly the same way. Poorly designed or worn tooling can lead to:

• Variations in hole size or location

• Warped or bent edges

• Inconsistent forming or material stretch

• Burrs or ragged edges that require extra finishing

These inconsistencies mean more rework, more inspection time, and more frustration—especially when problems show up after assembly.

At Jennison, each tool is built and maintained in-house, which helps catch issues early and ensures each run is as consistent as the last.

How Tooling Affects Cost (Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking)

Custom tooling requires an upfront investment. There’s no way around that. But it’s a mistake to focus only on that initial tooling cost without considering how it plays out over time.

Here’s what good tooling actually saves you:

• Fewer defective parts

• Less downtime from tool breakage or poor performance

• Faster production speeds, especially with progressive dies

• Lower per-part costs over high-volume runs

• Minimal need for secondary operations like deburring or realignment

Low-cost dies may seem attractive up front—but if they wear quickly or produce inconsistent results, you’ll pay for it in scrap, delays, and headaches. Quality tooling, especially when it’s well-maintained, delivers real ROI.

Tooling and Lead Times: What to Expect

If you’re planning a stamping project, one of the first questions you’ll probably ask is: How long will this take?

Tooling has a big impact on your timeline. A simple blanking die might be ready in a few weeks. But a complex progressive die could take 6–10 weeks to design, build, and test—especially if it includes custom forming features or tight tolerances.

The upside? Once the tool is built, production moves quickly. Stamping is one of the fastest ways to produce high volumes of parts, and well-built tools can run for years with regular maintenance.

Shops like Jennison can often streamline this process by handling both tooling and stamping in-house—reducing delays and keeping communication under one roof.

Signs of a Strong Tooling Program (What to Look For)

Not every stamping shop takes tooling seriously. Here’s how you can tell if a potential vendor is set up for success:

• In-house die design and build

• Regular tool maintenance and inspection protocols

• Engineering support during part design to optimize for manufacturability

• Ability to repair or adjust tools without shipping them out

• Willingness to collaborate on long-term tool strategies for multi-year programs

Ask how they approach tooling during the quote phase. If they can’t walk you through their tooling process—or if they outsource it entirely—it’s worth asking more questions.

Jennison’s Approach: In-House Tooling and Why That Matters

Jennison Corporation builds and maintains all its tooling in-house at their Carnegie, PA facility. That’s not just a convenience—it’s a quality and efficiency advantage.

Their team includes experienced toolmakers who work closely with engineering and production to make sure every tool is built to spec and tuned for performance. If a part design changes, they can adjust the die quickly—without needing to ship it offsite. That flexibility is valuable, especially in fast-moving industries or early-stage product development.

In-house tooling also means Jennison controls every part of the process. They don’t just run parts through someone else’s die—they design, build, test, and maintain the tools that shape your final product.

Conclusion: Better Tooling = Better Parts

If you care about getting parts that perform the way they’re supposed to—every time—then tooling should be at the top of your list. It’s the foundation of everything else: accuracy, speed, repeatability, and cost.

By understanding the role tooling plays, you can ask better questions, catch potential issues earlier, and choose a stamping partner that’s truly equipped to support your goals.

Jennison’s in-house tooling capabilities, combined with decades of stamping experience, make them a strong partner for teams that need precision, flexibility, and reliability from start to finish.

Ready to get started? Contact us today to learn more.

1. Why does progressive die tooling cost more than single-stage tooling?

Progressive dies are more complex by design. Instead of performing one operation at a time (like a basic blanking or piercing tool), a progressive die includes multiple forming stations arranged in a sequence. As the metal strip moves through each station, it undergoes a new operation—cutting, bending, forming—until a complete part comes out the other end. This setup requires more design time, more machining hours, and more precision to ensure each station aligns perfectly. But that upfront cost pays off in speed and efficiency during production. With progressive tooling, you can often produce a complete part in a single pass with minimal manual labor or secondary steps. So while it’s a bigger investment at the tooling stage, it often leads to lower part costs and shorter production cycles—especially for higher volumes. If your part has multiple features or operations, progressive tooling is often the smartest choice.

2. What happens during tooling maintenance, and how often is it needed?

Tooling maintenance involves regularly inspecting, cleaning, and tuning up the die to keep it performing the way it should. This can include sharpening cutting edges, tightening loose fasteners, re-polishing surfaces, adjusting alignment, or replacing worn components. The frequency depends on the complexity of the die, the material being stamped, and the production volume. High-volume or abrasive jobs (like those using stainless steel) typically require more frequent maintenance. The goal is to catch wear before it affects part quality or causes tool failure during production. Shops like Jennison incorporate maintenance into their standard process—they inspect tools between runs and during long production jobs to avoid surprise breakdowns. It’s one of those things you might not think about as a customer, but if it’s skipped, you’ll feel it in your part consistency and delivery timeline. A shop with a strong maintenance routine keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes.

3. Can custom tooling be reused for future projects or similar parts?

Sometimes—depending on how similar the future parts are. In general, custom tooling is designed for a specific part geometry, so reusing it exactly as-is for a totally different part usually isn’t possible. However, if you’re working on a product line where parts share a lot of features (like similar sizes, hole patterns, or bend locations), your tooling partner might be able to modify the existing die instead of starting from scratch. That’s especially true with modular tooling or flexible die designs. If you know you’ll have a family of parts or expect revisions down the line, it’s worth talking to your stamping partner early about how to plan the tooling for future adaptability. Jennison, for example, will often explore ways to design dies that can accommodate variations if the customer expects multiple iterations. A little foresight in tooling design can save a lot of time and money down the road.

4. Is it ever worth investing in tooling for low-volume production?

It can be, especially if you’re aiming for tight tolerances, faster turnaround, or plan to run the part again in the future. While tooling costs are easier to justify on high-volume jobs, some low-volume parts benefit from custom dies if alternative methods (like machining or waterjet cutting) are too slow, too expensive, or can’t hold the required tolerances. Stamping also tends to produce cleaner, more consistent features once the die is dialed in, even at lower quantities. Shops like Jennison are often willing to work with clients on short runs, and may even be able to create simplified tooling or prototype dies to keep upfront costs down. If you expect to run the part multiple times—or evolve it into a higher-volume component later—it’s usually smart to explore tooling early. You’ll not only lock in repeatable quality, but you’ll also have a ready-to-go process for future runs.

5. What’s the difference between a hard tool and a soft tool in stamping?

In stamping, “hard tooling” refers to traditional production-grade dies made from hardened steel. These tools are designed to handle high volumes, tight tolerances, and long-term use. They’re durable, precise, and built to last—but they also take longer and cost more to build upfront. “Soft tooling,” on the other hand, typically uses aluminum or softer steel, and is meant for lower-volume runs or prototyping. Soft tools are faster and cheaper to produce, but they wear out more quickly and may not hold as tight of tolerances over time. Choosing between hard and soft tooling depends on your project goals: are you testing a design, or are you ready to go into full production? Jennison works with both options and can help you figure out the right tooling approach based on your budget, timeline, and part requirements. It’s not always either/or—it’s about what fits the stage you’re in.