Engineered Tooling Solutions for CNC Manufacturing
Custom fixturing, tool selection, and workholding strategies that reduce cycle time and improve part quality across your entire operation.
The Triangle That Drives Part Quality and Cycle Time
Engineered tooling solutions optimize the interface between your machine, your tooling, and your parts — the triangle that determines cycle time, surface finish, and dimensional accuracy. The right fixturing and tool selection strategy can reduce cycle times by 15-30% while improving part consistency across shifts and operators.
At The Streamline Group, we evaluate your current tooling inventory, fixture designs, and workholding methods to identify where you are leaving performance on the table. From collet selection and holder rigidity to quick-change systems and tombstone configurations, every element of your tooling strategy either helps or hurts your spindle utilization.
According to Modern Machine Shop, tooling-related issues account for up to 20% of total manufacturing cost in CNC operations. That includes premature tool wear, excessive changeover time, suboptimal feeds and speeds, and fixtures that lack the rigidity to hold tolerance under production conditions.
We bring a systematic, vendor-agnostic approach to tooling optimization — analyzing what you have, identifying what needs to change, and implementing solutions your operators can sustain.
CNC machine tooling setup with custom fixture and workholding in place
Tooling Services We Provide
From fixture concept to validated production tooling, we cover every aspect of the tooling equation.
Custom Fixture Design & Development
Purpose-built fixtures designed for your specific part geometry, tolerance requirements, and production volume. From soft jaw profiles to dedicated tombstone fixtures, we design workholding that maximizes rigidity and repeatability while minimizing setup time.
Workholding Strategy Assessment
Comprehensive evaluation of your current workholding methods — vises, chucks, collets, vacuum tables, and specialty clamps. We identify where insufficient clamping force, poor repeatability, or excessive deformation is costing you tolerance, finish, or cycle time.
Tool Selection & Application Optimization
Match the right insert geometry, coating, and substrate to your material and cutting conditions. We analyze your current tool application data — feeds, speeds, depth of cut, and tool life — and recommend changes that improve metal removal rates while extending tool life.
Quick-Change Tooling System Implementation
Reduce changeover time with quick-change workholding and tool presetting systems. Whether you are evaluating CAT40, BT30, or HSK interfaces, or looking at zero-point clamping for fixture plates, we help you select and implement the right quick-change solution for your part mix.
Tool Life Management Programs
Establish systematic tool life tracking and replacement schedules based on actual wear data rather than guesswork. Reduce unplanned tool failures, eliminate the scrap parts that come with catastrophic breakage, and build predictable tooling costs into your job costing.
Tooling Standardization Across Part Families
Group similar parts into tooling families that share fixtures, tool assemblies, and programs. Standardization reduces the number of unique setups, simplifies tool crib management, and means your B-shift operator can run the same part the same way as your A-shift lead.
Close-up of CNC tool holder and cutting tool being inspected
When You Need a Tooling Review
Most shops do not schedule a tooling review until something breaks — literally. But the signs that your tooling strategy needs attention are usually visible long before a catastrophic failure. If any of the following sound familiar, a systematic tooling assessment will pay for itself quickly.
- Cycle times that should be shorter based on the material you are cutting and the geometry of the part — you know you should be faster, but chatter or deflection force conservative parameters
- Excessive tool breakage or premature wear that drives unplanned downtime, scrap, and unpredictable tooling costs per part
- Surface finish or tolerance issues that require secondary operations like deburring, honing, or re-machining to hit print specifications
- Setup times driven by complex fixturing — operators spend more time indicating and clamping than cutting metal
- Different operators getting different results from the same setup, pointing to runout issues, inconsistent clamping force, or undocumented tribal knowledge
- Quoting new parts with uncertain tooling costs — you are unsure of the optimal approach and end up padding quotes or absorbing losses
Our Approach to Tooling Optimization
A structured, six-step process that moves from assessment to validated production results.
Audit Current Tooling Inventory
We catalog your existing tool holders, inserts, fixtures, and workholding devices. We document condition, runout measurements, and actual usage patterns — not what the tool crib spreadsheet says, but what is actually happening on the floor.
Analyze Part Requirements
Every tooling decision starts with the part. We review dimensional tolerances, surface finish callouts, material properties, and production volumes to define what the tooling actually needs to deliver — not what it was set up to do five years ago.
Evaluate Fixturing Performance
We assess your current fixtures for rigidity, repeatability, and changeover speed. Insufficient clamping force causes chatter and tolerance drift. Overly complex fixtures extend setup times and introduce operator variability. We find the balance point.
Design Targeted Solutions
Based on the data, we design specific improvements — custom fixtures, revised tool selections, holder upgrades, or quick-change implementations. Every recommendation includes expected cycle time impact and cost justification.
Test and Validate on Production Parts
We do not hand over a report and leave. Revised tooling is tested on actual production parts under real cutting conditions. We measure cycle time, surface finish, dimensional accuracy, and tool wear to confirm the improvements before calling the job done.
Document for Repeatability
Every validated change gets documented — setup sheets, tool assembly instructions, feeds and speeds, and fixture locating procedures. Your team can reproduce the results on any shift without relying on the one operator who "knows how to run it."
The Cost of Tooling Done Wrong
Industry research quantifies what most shop managers already feel on the floor.
Tooling Solutions — Common Questions
Yes. We design custom fixtures from initial concept through validated prototype, tailored to your specific part geometry, machine envelope, and production requirements. That includes soft jaw designs, dedicated fixtures, tombstone configurations, and multi-part nesting layouts. Every fixture design prioritizes rigidity, repeatability, and fast changeover — not just holding the part, but holding it in a way that supports aggressive cutting parameters.
Absolutely — bring us your toughest part. Some of our best work starts with a single problem part that nobody on the floor can get right consistently. We will analyze the part requirements, evaluate your current approach, and develop a tooling strategy that solves the specific issue — whether it is chatter on a thin-wall section, tolerance drift on a long bore, or a surface finish that falls short of print callout. We test our solution on production parts before handing it off.
We are completely vendor-agnostic. We recommend the tooling that works best for your specific application, material, and machine — whether that is Kennametal, Sandvik, Iscar, OSG, Haimer, Schunk, or any other manufacturer. We have no vendor agreements or kickback arrangements. Our only incentive is getting the best result for your operation, which means recommending the tool that performs, not the tool that pays us a commission.
Often within days of implementing revised tooling strategies. Simple changes like correcting feeds and speeds, switching to the right insert geometry, or upgrading a worn holder can show measurable cycle time and tool life improvements immediately. Custom fixture projects take longer — typically 2-4 weeks from concept to validated production fixture — but the payback period is usually measured in weeks, not months. We prioritize the highest-impact changes first so you see ROI while we continue optimizing.