Prima Tooling undertook a complete kitchen manufacturing tooling redesign covering more than 30 cutting-tool styles across four UK production sites.
The challenge
Through an established tooling distributor, Prima Tooling was asked to help resolve persistent cutting-tool problems affecting production across four UK factories operated by one of the country’s largest kitchen manufacturers.
The sites were producing kitchen cabinets, panels and doors from materials including MDF, chipboard and laminated panels.
The existing tooling range was causing several recurring production issues:
- Inconsistent machining performance
- Unreliable tool life
- Short service intervals
- Variable finish quality
- Differences in performance between production lines
Rather than replacing individual tools one at a time, the project required a comprehensive review of the tooling used throughout the manufacturing process.
Reviewing the complete tooling range
The distributor worked directly with the kitchen manufacturer’s production teams across all four UK sites, gathering feedback about the problems experienced on each line.
Prima Tooling then used this information to review and redesign more than 30 different tool styles and configurations.
The range included:
- Edgebanding blocks
- Profiled router cutters
- Hoggers
- Compression router cutters
- Trepanning cutters
- Scoring saws
- Finger-pull cutters
Each tool had to perform consistently when machining MDF, chipboard and laminated panels under demanding production conditions.
Redesigning the tooling
The development and implementation programme took several months.
Rather than reproducing the existing tools, Prima reviewed the underlying design of each cutter. Changes were made where required to:
- Cutting geometry
- Clearance angles
- Tooth and tip configuration
- PCD grade and quality
- Tool construction
- Suitability for the material and machining operation
The objective was to create a coordinated tooling range designed around the manufacturer’s actual production requirements, rather than continuing with tools that were proving unreliable in service.
The result
The redesigned tooling delivered improvements across the manufacturer’s UK production sites, including:
- More consistent machining results
- Improved finish quality
- Greater tooling reliability
- Longer tool life
- Improved service life between maintenance cycles
- Better repeatability between production lines
The project developed into a long-term manufacturing and servicing programme. Prima Tooling continued to manufacture, service and maintain the tooling range on a repeat basis for more than five years.
Replicating the tooling for a US factory
After the redesigned tooling had been established across the four UK locations, the kitchen manufacturer opened an additional production facility in the United States.
Prima Tooling was asked to reproduce the tooling range for the new factory, allowing the manufacturer to introduce the proven designs at its US site.
This required the tooling to be manufactured consistently from the retained specifications and design information developed during the original UK programme.
Supporting distributors with specialist tooling
Prima Tooling works primarily through tooling distributors, helping them support manufacturing customers that require specialist, modified or completely bespoke cutting tools.
This project demonstrates how that partnership can extend beyond supplying an individual cutter. By combining information gathered by the distributor with Prima’s tooling design and manufacturing experience, a complete production tooling range was reviewed, redesigned, implemented and supported over several years.
Need support with a difficult tooling application?
Prima Tooling designs, manufactures, services and repairs PCD, TCT, solid carbide and HSS cutting tools for woodworking, panel processing, composites, metals and other manufacturing applications.
Whether the requirement involves improving an existing tool, reproducing a discontinued design or developing a complete tooling package, speak to us about the application.
