Prototype Tool
Prototype Tooling for Precision Stamped Components
Prototype tooling at Brunk refers to single-hit dies and simple progressive tools designed and built in-house to produce stamped parts in production material before the full progressive production die is committed. For programs where the target production process is high-volume precision stamping, prototype tooling is the most direct way to generate parts that accurately represent what production will yield in terms of material condition, dimensional output, and edge geometry. Parts produced on prototype tooling can be used for design validation, assembly testing, regulatory submissions, and first-article inspection data without the caveat that the prototype process differs from production.
Why In-House Prototype Tooling Matters
The alternative to prototype tooling for stamped components is producing prototype parts by waterjet cutting, laser cutting, or machining. These methods are appropriate for early-stage evaluation but produce parts with different characteristics than a stamped equivalent. For programs where those differences are relevant to the test objective, prototype tooling is necessary to generate valid data.
Because Brunk designs and builds all tooling in-house using its own journeyman toolmakers, the prototype tool is designed with the production progressive die in mind. The features, datums, and tolerances established in the prototype tool inform how the production tool is built, and the dimensional data collected from prototype parts establishes the baseline against which production first articles are measured. This continuity between prototype and production tooling reduces the likelihood of dimensional shifts at the production tool qualification stage.
Prototype Tooling for Medical Device Programs
For medical device components manufactured under ISO 13485, the traceability of prototype parts to a defined and documented process is a design control requirement. Prototype tooling at Brunk is built and maintained under the same documentation and change control processes as production tooling, which means parts produced on prototype tools have a traceable process record that supports design history file requirements. Material certifications, dimensional inspection reports, and process parameters are documented for each prototype run and are available to support design verification activities.
Brunk’s experience with implantable device components, cardiovascular stampings, surgical instrument parts, and drug delivery device components means the prototype tooling team is familiar with the dimensional and surface quality requirements that regulated device programs impose. This context informs how prototype tools are designed and how the resulting parts are inspected and documented.
Transition from Prototype to Production Tooling
When a program is ready to move from prototype to production, the knowledge embedded in the prototype tool and the data generated from prototype parts form the starting point for progressive die design. Brunk’s toolmakers use dimensional data from prototype runs to refine springback compensation, adjust feature geometry for process variation, and define the strip layout for the progressive die. Programs that go through prototype tooling at Brunk before production tool build consistently require fewer design iterations after first-article inspection than programs that transition directly from flat-cut prototypes to production tooling.
Build Your Prototype Tooling at Brunk
Brunk’s in-house toolmaking team can design and build prototype tooling for your stamped component program, producing parts in production material for validation and regulatory testing.
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