Tooling & Insert Traceability: The Shortcut to Root Cause

Your real risk isn’t tool price; it’s instability. When you supply blocks, heads, carriers, or housings, your customer cares about capability, delivery, and traceability. A partner should de-risk launch, lock Cp/Cpk, and defend CPC over life.

Nine tests to separate partners from vendors

1. Cp/Cpk proof on your machine, material, and coolant—not a brochure.
2. Tool-life distribution (mean & σ), not just “we get 1,000 pieces.”
3. Process windows (rough/finish) and a chatter map you can enforce.
4. Gauge R&R and probe integration plan; who owns MSA gaps?
5. APQP/PPAP documentation support (process sheets, control plan, PFMEA hooks).
6. Preset/traceability: RFID/QR for tools & offsets; serialise critical inserts.
7. Service SLAs: trial staffing, response times, consignment/VMI terms.
8. Training & handover: operator playbooks, offset rules, first-month floor support.
9. TCO model: CPC, changeover minutes, scrap/rework, energy, coolant, gauges.

Red flags

• “We can’t trial on your line.”
• No scatter data, just averages.
• One-time commissioning, no sustain cadence.
• “Just increase feed if it chatters.”

What good looks like

• Pilot Cpk ≥ 1.67; life-based offsets and change points.
• Separate rough/finish windows; inventory plan for A-items; monthly performance review.

Sigma’s stance: outcome-linked KPIs (CPC, Cp/Cpk, OEE) plus the Sigma Circle of Efficiency—design, trials, ZeroSet setup, RunReady training/monitoring, StockSmart inventory, and CapLock capability—so launch speed and stability arrive together.