Best Practice – What actually is “bridge tooling”?

Bridge tooling is a concept in plastic part development that aims to produce pre-production tools quickly and cost-effectively in order to produce plastic parts in limited quantities before the final series tools are manufactured. This method is used to ensure a smooth transition between the product development phase and mass production. Compared to conventional development, which often involves the use of 3D-printed prototypes and the subsequent production of series tools, bridge tooling offers several advantages.

Advantages of bridge tooling compared to conventional development

• Time and cost savings: Bridge tooling makes it possible to produce prototypes and limited production quantities faster and more cost-effectively than the production of series tools. 3D-printed prototypes are also fast, but they can be limited in terms of material selection, durability and accuracy.
• Realistic testing: Bridge tooling allows developers to produce parts that are closer to the final products as they are made from the same materials used in mass production. This enables realistic testing and improves product validation.
• Market introduction and risk reduction: Bridge tooling offers companies the opportunity to introduce products to the market with low risk. Instead of producing expensive serial tooling, they can start with limited quantities to test market reaction and gather customer feedback. If changes are required, they can respond quickly without investing heavily in tooling.
• Flexibility: Bridge tooling allows for greater flexibility in customizing parts and products, as changes to tooling are easier and less expensive to make than with production tooling. This is particularly important in the early stages of development where the design has not yet been finalized.
• Knowledge advantage for series production: Thanks to the learning and adaptation phase in bridge tooling, the knowledge gained can be used effectively for series production. This gives companies a further competitive advantage on the road to series production.

Important to know:

Compared to conventional series tools made of steel, bridge tooling is not normally designed for a long service life and high quantities. In order to achieve the advantages mentioned above, the tools are usually made of aluminum and are designed for a limited number of production shots. Once the design and production requirements are more stable and higher quantities are required, the final series tools are produced to enable more efficient mass production. Bridge tooling therefore serves as a bridge between the development phase and mass production and offers companies the opportunity to bring their products to market quickly at low cost and low risk

Further interesting links on the subject of bridge tooling:

Read our case studies to find out how bridge tooling helps start-ups to bring their products to market quickly and with low risk:

ClipClap – Turns any shoe into a click shoe

Samplistick – your desired sample at home

Find out more about the production of small series using the rapid tooling process on our website:

BARLOG Plastics GmbH – Services – Injection molding small series