In this guide 6 sections
Buy first, then build only the gaps. Three tests decide it: tool job costing, design revision control and trial reports, and a product that handles two of them well is worth buying, then add the third. Build only for true gaps.
Why a tool room is not a normal job shop
Each sale is one tool. A tool is a project of hundreds of parts, including plates, inserts, slides, lifters and hot runner components, all bought, machined, fitted and tried. Few ERPs treat that as one job. Hundreds of parts, one delivery date.
Most off the shelf packages assume repeat products with a fixed bill of materials, whereas yours changes every week while the tool is still in design. That one fact shapes everything.
Write down how a tool moves from enquiry to shipment, then mark every step where someone rekeys information from a drawing, a quote or a spreadsheet into another file. Those steps are your list.
Test one: tool job costing
Costing a tool means collecting hours from CNC milling, wire EDM, sinker EDM, grinding and the bench, plus steel, standard parts and outside heat treatment. Ask for one live example, such as a single core plate costed line by line against its quote and its quoted hours, before you read any brochure.
Rework needs careful handling. When a core is re-cut after a design change, you must see whether the cost belongs to the customer or to you, and few packages split the two.
Quoting matters as much. If you price from past tools, the system must find similar jobs by size, cavity count and steel grade, otherwise estimators fall back on memory and a spreadsheet.
- Hours by machine and by person per tool
- Steel and standard parts against the quote
- Outside processes such as heat treatment
- Rework split by customer change or shop error
Test two: design revision control
A customer sends revision C of the part drawing while the tool is half cut, and the tool room must say which plates change and which inserts need re-cutting. The answer is needed that same day.
Packages built for stock items track a revision on a drawing but rarely link a part revision to the tool components it touches. A custom build can store that link. Here building earns its cost.
Ask how CAD files, STEP models and approval emails are attached, because a folder path typed into a text box means you are buying a filing cabinet.
- Part revision linked to affected tool components
- Customer approval date and who approved
- CAD and STEP files held against the revision
- Change notice raised to the shop floor
Test three: trial reports and what follows
After a first trial you record shots, short fills, flash, sink, warp and the cycle that finally ran, and then comes a list of modifications. Off the shelf software rarely has a place for that list, so it ends up in a spreadsheet nobody else opens.
The trial history is also what the customer asks for at approval and what the next job needs for a similar tool. A structured trial record is specific to your trade, so it is one of the strongest reasons to build rather than buy, since few packages model it for you.
Check the handover too. The final trial record should pass to the moulder with the press settings, the cycle time and the tool details attached, so production starts from what worked.
How to make the call
Score each package against the three tests using your own tools as examples, and if it clears two, buy it and plan a small add-on for the third. Clearing none justifies a focused build.
Ask what happens after year one. A custom system needs a person who understands it, a package needs a vendor who stays, and either way the support tail runs long after go live.
Pick one recent tool and walk its whole history through each option on paper, so the gaps show up before any money is spent. Do it on paper first.
Build or buy comparison worksheet
Three columns, three options. Rows cover tool job costing, revision control, trial reports, CAD file links, quoting from past tools, reporting, support and years of ownership. Score each cell from zero to two and add a notes line, then total each column at the foot of the sheet.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can a mould maker use plain ERP for the accounts side?
Yes, and many shops do exactly that. They keep accounts, payroll and stock in a standard package and build only the tool project, revision and trial records around it, so the custom part stays small.
What if we only make a few tools a year?
Then a spreadsheet will do for now. Move to software once rekeying, lost revisions and chasing drawings start eating hours that the tool room needs for cutting steel and fitting inserts.
How long does a custom build take?
It depends on scope. A focused first release covering tool jobs, revisions and trials is far quicker than a full ERP, so agree a small first release and add from there.
Who should own the data model?
The project lead should own it. They know what a tool, a revision and a trial mean in your shop, and they can spot a wrong field before it spreads into quotes and reports.