Tool Testing Paradox

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​You need to try new products to improve your processes, but the costs can be very high.

A shop manager in a magazine guest column wrote that he set aside two hours to a full shift for trial and error testing of a new cutting tool from a vendor.  Let’s use the median of 5 hours. If your shop rate is $75 then the tool test costs you $450, with no guarantee of a successful outcome.  Before you feel too sorry for yourself consider the costs to your vendor.  According to a sales training agency, a field sales application engineer’s total costs are $85 per hour. Assuming that at least one endmill will be run to failure during the test (at their cost), a selling price of $100 per tool with average gross margins, they will have to sell you 25 endmills before they breakeven, ONLY IF their new tool is better.

A tap-test with an instant result Dashboard will take 5 minutes, costing you only $6.25 in spindle time and the vendor makes a profit on the first tool they sell you. No test tools are needed therefore not damaged in the process.

Now, someone has to pay for the tap-testing hardware and software but that can be amortized over several years and hundreds or thousands of tools and in the case of the vendor, hundreds of customers.