Tool and Die Steward

Typical China Problems & Solutions

If you have done any business in China, you have probably heard the horror stories relating to the misuse of foreign buyers’ tooling.  Most buyers of customized products are wise enough to contractually own their tools and dies. But even if you own the tooling how do you protect your interests when the tooling is on the other side of the world in the possession of a Chinese supplier?  Here are some real cases demonstrating what can go wrong, even if you own the tooling:

1)  American Company spent tens of thousands of USD on tooling in China. Non-Disclosure/ Non-Compete clauses were even signed with the factory. But when the tooling was not being used for the American buyer’s order, the factory rented out the client’s tooling to another factory who supplied the American buyer’s direct competition!

2)  German company had clear ownership paper in place on the tooling they had made in China. Tooling was even clearly tagged as their property.  Supplier went out of business on short notice and liquidated their tool and die room.  German company’s precious tools were sold for scrap before the German company even knew the supplier was out of business.  Resulting court case proved ineffective and no compensation ever achieved.

3)  Australian company worked with a Chinese supplier to develop highly precise designs for production tooling.  Due to the tight tolerances and precision mating of complex components, the tooling was very fragile.  While in the supplier’s possession, the supplier not only failed to oil and maintain the tooling, but they dropped it from a 2 meter high fork lift while moving it around their warehouse.  Supplier refused to pay any damages claiming it was not their fault as the design was “too sensitive as dropping stuff happens all the time in China”.   70,000 AUD tooling was rendered useless and court case went on for 3 years before the Australian buyer gave up.

You can’t trust your supplier; you can’t trust the Chinese courts. But you can trust your “Tooling Steward”.

The “tooling steward” service can include the following:

• Storing the tool and dies at PassageMaker’s warehouse between production runs. PassageMaker’s primary facility is conveniently located in the heart of China’s production base in Guangdong province.  Additional storage locations can be arranged upon request.
• Pickup and Delivery service to ensure a clear record of possession and accountability.
• Tagging and Tracking.  You will know the location and status of your tooling at all times.
• Scheduling Maintenance on your tooling.
• Our “tool and die watchmen” can even be made available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anywhere in China, to literally stand next to your tooling while in production at your vendor.
• Most importantly, as a 100% American Owned company, we understand and fully respect Non-Disclosure/ Non-Compete Agreements plus we have a comprehensive service agreement and warranty policy in the unlikely event of damage while in our care.
• Our Sourcing Feasibility Study and Vendor Coordination can be engaged to help find tool and die makers in situations where the client has not yet opened tooling.

Cost Structure

Contact us for a current rate sheet, but fees are calculated as follows:

1)  Storage:  Based on the days and space needed.

2)  Handling: Set fee based on size and weight of tooling applied each time the tools enter or leave the facility.

3)  Account Management: English speaking staff will be made available to provide periodic updates to client.  Invoiced in the form of a small monthly retainer reflecting the expected level of activity.

4)  Tool and Die Watchmen:  Calculated by the “man day”.  One man day is a standard work day of 8 hours and is inclusive of time traveling to site, time on site and daily meals.   Budget for transportation and accommodations will be pre-approved by the client and depends on destination and desired time on site.  For round-the-clock projects, multiple watchmen are assigned.

5)  Project Expenses:   Trucking, Tagging, Maintenance, Repair, Insurance and other project expenses are invoiced at cost directly from the service provider, based on pre-approved budget. No mark ups added by PassageMaker.  Client is welcome to have PassageMaker coordinate the use of client’s existing vendors or if the client doesn’t have sources in advance, our approved vendor list can be leveraged for service providers of trucking and tooling maintenance for example.

6) Client can leverage PassageMaker’s Endorsed Service Providers list if the following Additional Resources are desired.  Fees can be invoiced direct from the service provider with no additional mark ups for PassageMaker.

a)     Specialists can be introduced in the event the client wishes to have a reliable 3^rd party inspect production pieces or conduct tool trails after maintenance or repair.

b)      English-speaking China-based lawyers can be engaged to review tooling terms and contracts and also help buyers take action in cases where the factory has violated the terms of the agreement.

c)      Independent investigators are also available to expose any potential wrong doing at the factory level such as non-compliant labor force and intellectual property infringement.

d)      Sourcing Feasibility Study, Vendor Coordination and Engineering Expertise can be engaged to help find and manage tool and die makers in situations where the client has not yet opened tooling or desires to make new tooling.

Interested in hiring the “Tool and Die Steward”? Here are the next steps:

Simply contact us with the following information and our new project development team will coordinate a quotation for your review:

1. Size and Weight of Tooling?

2. Any special requirements for storage?

3. Any special requirements for maintenance?

4. Desired Intensity Level of Intellectual Property Protection

• Level 1:  Tooling is stored at Passagemaker and delivered to client’s supplier for production runs
• Level 2:  Level 1 PLUS PassageMaker tool and die watchmen remain on site at client’s supplier for entire production run.

5. Location of production sites where tooling needs to be delivered?

6. Estimated days per production run?

7. Is there any other relevant information?