Case study:
How a tooling engineer managed a complex mould transfer without disrupting production
Assigned expert
Tooling engineer
Challenge
An automotive Tier 1 manufacturer of plastic components was preparing to close one of its production halls. A new tenant was scheduled to take over the facility by the end of June 2026, leaving no room for delays.
The entire tooling inventory, including production moulds, injection moulding tools and related equipment, had to be identified, documented, relocated from several European plants, primarily in Germany, and made available for ongoing production, all while keeping production running.
When our interim tooling engineer joined the project, the situation looked like this:
- no tooling database or technical documentation for the moulds,
- no preventive maintenance history,with many moulds not serviced for years,
- tooling dispersed across several European plants, mainly in Germany,
- machinery, warehouse inventory and finished goods being relocated at the same time,
- the need to maintain uninterrupted production throughout the entire tooling transfer project.
GQ solution
His role was to take control of the entire tooling transfer, rebuild visibility over every production mould and ensure that production planners and manufacturing teams always had the right tooling available at the right time.
Key activities throughout the 8-month project included:
- building a complete tooling database from scratch while production was still running,
- planning tooling transfers between production plants and external suppliers using FIFO and, where necessary, LIFO principles,
- working directly with tool shops on mould repairs, engineering changes and cost evaluations,
- coordinating mould repairs, tryouts and testing with suppliers directly on the shop floor,
- establishing safety stock for critical spare parts,
- managing tooling preservation and storage during relocation,
- working daily with process engineering, quality, purchasing, logistics and warehouse teams,
- delivering key Tool Department milestones for the Audi B10 program, including sampling, testing and tooling handover.
Result
- all production moulds available according to the production schedule and within the required timelines,
- successful completion of the entire tooling transfer before the production hall closure,
- uninterrupted production throughout the 8-month relocation project,
- a fully functional tooling database built from scratch,
- mould repairs, tryouts and sampling completed without delaying production,
- successful completion of the hall closure by the end of June 2026,
- all planned Audi B10 Tool Department milestones completed and handed over.
Good tool management keeps production moving
Moving production tooling is never just about relocating moulds. It requires accurate data, careful planning, close supplier coordination and full control over every tool throughout the entire transfer. Without that, production simply doesn’t move.
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